Culture Convenience Club (CCC), the company that operates Japan’s media retailer and rental chain Tsutaya, announced on Tuesday its plans to acquire publisher Tokuma Shoten.
Tokuma Shoten publishes several manga and anime magazines, including Monthly Comic Ryū, Monthly Comic Zenon, Animage, and Chara.
Studio Ghibli was founded as a subsidiary to Tokuma Shoten in 1985 and the studio was absorbed by Tokuma Shoten in 1997, but it split from the publisher and went independent in 2005.
Tokuma Shoten is primarily a print material publisher, but it is known for funding the early work of anime director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.