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37 Japanese Publishers to Launch N. American Manga Portal (Update 3)

37 Japanese publishers are collaborating to set up a joint portal site for North American anime fans this year. The tentatively named J Manga Portal Site will digitally distribute manga whose rights are held by each of the companies. Shueisha Managing Director Kazuhiko Torishima outlined the plans for the site during a talk at the Denshi Shoseki Comic Summit in Tokyo's Akihabara UDX building on Friday.

The publishers involved include Akita Shoten, Kadokawa Shoten, Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan. The publishers aim to open a beta version of the site within the year, and the site is slated to start full distribution next March. The publisher cannot announce which titles and how many titles they will put on the site yet.

Thanks to Cloud668 to the news tip.

Source: animeanime.biz

Update: More background information added.

Update 2: The other publishers include Akaneshinsha, ASCII Media Works, East Press, Ichijinsha, Enterbrain, Inc., Oakla Publishing Co., Ltd., Ohzora Publishing Co. , Gakken, Kasakura Shuppansha, Gentosha Comics, Inc., Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha, Ltd., June-Net, Shogakukan-Shueisha Production, Shodensha, Shonen Gahosha Co., Shinshokan Publishing, Shinchosha, Takeshobo, Tatsumi Publishing Co., Ltd. , Tokuma Shoten, Nihonbungeisha, Hakusensha, Fujimi Shobo, Fusosha, Futabasha, France Shoin, Bunkasha Publishing Co., Ltd., Houbunsha, Magazine House, Media Factory, LEED Publishing Co., Ltd., and Libre Publishing Co., Ltd.

Update 3: The industry news site animeanime.biz reports that the portal site will distribute free manga periodically and release news and information regarding manga from the participating publishers.