Kadokawa Corporation launches international EJ ANiME STORE for Animé and Manga fans

By John Freeman on January 30, 2020

Offered through the new EJ ANiME STORE: a limited edition 1/7th scale figure from Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World. Pre-orders are being accepted until 15th April 2020

The Kadokawa Corporation, known as the entertainment company behind globally popular works including Re: Zero – Starting Life in Another World and Sword Art Online, has announced the opening of the EJ ANiME STORE, an online store where people living outside Japan can purchase official merchandise for anime, comics, light novels, games and more.

As of 2018, the anime market in Japan has continued to increase for nine years, reaching sales of 2,180 billion JPY. The rapid increase in the overseas market is contributing to this major growth, with over 1 trillion JPY in sales and accounting for 46.3% of the market, according to figures published in the Anime Industry Report 2019 by The Association of Japanese Animators.

The Kadokawa Store, the online store operated by Kadokawa and aimed at the Japanese domestic market, has also seen an increase in overseas traffic (increasing roughly 170% over four years since 2016), demonstrating a high level of interest in Kadokawa products among people living overseas, mainly in North America and Asia.

Based on all of this, Kadokawa decided to establish the online EJ ANiME STORE, where people living outside Japan can buy true genuine products (official merchandise) and that also features premium products that are difficult to obtain overseas, products with extras, and many more items.

They have gathered a variety of products for this site, centred on popular products with high added value based on the keywords “limited-edition sales” and “extras” as an online store operated directly by a publishing company and aiming to respond to the wide-ranging demand of fans of anime, comics, light novels, games, and more.

The site has already begun accepting reservations for figures from Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! and Date A Live. They are also planning to offer special limited-edition sales of collaborative Ukiyo-e woodblock prints between Japanese anime, light novels, and traditional art.

When the site opens, target areas for sales will include 17 countries and regions, including the UK, the US., France, Spain, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia – with plans to expand to 80 areas, including China.

The EJ from “EJ ANiME STORE” refers to “Entertainment Japan”. The company also hope to develop the site into a base for delivering Japanese entertainment abroad, including not only Kadokawa products, but also products from other companies, as well.

• The EJ ANiME STORE is online at ejanimestore.com | Facebook | Twitter @ejanimestore

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.