It was Poplar Publishing that introduced “絵本picture books” to China.

According to the “China Book Market Research Report,” the only book data available in China, sales of books in China in FY 2007 totaled 89.4 billion yuan (approximately 1.37 trillion yen), with children’s books accounting for 25% of the total since around 2005, the largest share in the publishing market. Among these, children’s books have held the largest share of the publishing market at 25% since around 2005, and picture books translated from Western countries, Japan, and Korea account for 90% of sales. This is because it has been less than 20 years since the picture book market was established in China. Poplar Publishing is the pioneer of the Chinese picture book market.

Until the 1990s, children’s books in China were printed on flimsy, straw-like paper and lacked sufficient binding technology. In addition, picture books from abroad were not available due to the Cultural Revolution, which shut out foreign cultures. It was not until around 1996 that state-run publishers began to produce picture books from overseas, and it was not until 2000 that “Miffy” and “The Cat That Lived a Million Times” were finally published.

Poplar Publishing Co., Ltd. established an office in Beijing in 2000 and began researching the possibility of business development while conducting copyright business, starting with the first participation in the Beijing Book Fair in 1995 by then president Hirokazu Sakai via Hong Kong and Shenzhen. In 2004, following the lifting of the ban on retail and wholesale to foreign companies in China in 2003, he established a local corporation, Beijing Gamabalan Cultural Development Co. At the time, restrictions on foreign investment in the publishing business were still in place, so Gamalan entered the market by first establishing a bookstore. Not just any bookstore. In 2005, he established Kid’s Republic Picture Bookstore, China’s first “picture book” bookstore. In Chinese, books with pictures and text are called “illustrated books” or “picture books,” and the term “picture book,” which is derived from Japanese, was not in circulation. However, Poplar Publishing chose to brand its books as “picture books” out of a desire to “present a new culture that has never existed before. The concept of the Beijing Gamabalan Picture Book Store, a small 100 square meter store, is “Rainbows and Carpets. The moment a parent and child enter the store, they are greeted with a fun, dreamlike world, and the space is designed to make them feel that “this is a ‘picture book. For those who have not yet had the opportunity to experience picture books, simply putting books on the shelves and selling them is not enough to convey the benefits of picture books. The Kamabaran Picture Book Museum has been a center for the promotion of picture book culture for many years. The Gamalan Picture Book Center was covered by many media and introduced as “the most beautiful in the world” by the American magazine flavorwire.com, which led to the birth of thousands of copycat stores all over China. The influence of the bookstore’s name “picture book” became widespread.

Entry into publishing business

As a matter of policy, China still does not open “publishing” to foreign or private companies. Only state-owned publishing houses can call themselves “publishing houses. Foreign and private enterprises are allowed to engage in the wholesaling and retailing of publications (distribution business), copyright business, and editorial outsourcing. However, this is only the “public face. In fact, since the “reform and opening up” of the country, private and foreign-owned publishing houses have gradually become involved in the publishing business through “partnerships” and “joint publishing” with state-owned publishing houses. In the case of a simple license-out (selling the copyright), the rights holder on the side of the seller is basically only minimally involved in what the local publisher does, such as checking the layout. On the other hand, in a “tie-up” or “joint publishing” arrangement, the foreign or private company is essentially involved in the publishing itself, including editing and printing, and handles almost all aspects of the publishing process.

In the picture book market, foreign companies began to take the lead around 2004. Private publishers also joined in, and picture books from Japan and Taiwan, as well as picture books produced in China, began to be published. Beijing Gamabalan was established in 2004, and obtained the qualifications to wholesale and retail publications and to buy and sell copyrights. It entered the publishing business in 2000, when it was still in the preparatory stage of establishment, in partnership with the State Publishing House.

Chinese Picture Book（絵本） Market Developing Rapidly

In the short time since the establishment of the Gamalan Picture Book Center, the Chinese picture book market has developed rapidly.

The market developed significantly with the appearance of online bookstores around 2006 and their focus on children’s book sales. As a result, a large number of publishers, mainly private publishers, have entered the picture book market since 2005. By concluding exclusive sales contracts with the market-leading e-commerce site “Toto.net” and publishers, the monthly (!) sales of picture books from Toto have increased from 1 million to 2 million hits. The book has also become a hit, selling 1 to 2 million copies per month (!). Although Gamaran has basically avoided an exclusive contract with Toto due to the terms and conditions of the agreement, thanks to Toto’s efforts, the “Kuma-kun no akachan ehon” series has grown into a huge hit with cumulative sales of approximately 1 million copies.

After this, the Chinese picture book market entered a period of “rapid growth” from 1998 to 2005. By this time, almost all of the world’s famous picture books had been published in China. Chinese publishers rushed to the Bologna Book Fair, an international children’s book fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest book fair, and competition for publishing rights intensified. Royalties (contract fees) skyrocketed.

In 2003, investment firms entered the picture book publishing market and “bombed” foreign companies for picture book publishing rights.

Around the same time, a publicly traded publishing company began acquiring a picture book company in China with leading titles. Gamalan also received takeover bids, but turned down all offers, emphasizing the independence and originality of its business, and expanded its scale while maintaining its independence. After returning to profitability in 2002, the company’s business performance doubled in 2003 and 2004. In 1998, the total number of titles published by the company (or more precisely, those published through alliances) was approximately 200, but by 2004, it had increased to 400, the largest number of titles among picture book publishers in the industry. During this period, the company focused on introducing rights not only to Poplar and Japanese titles, but also to long-selling and hit titles from Europe and the United States to increase sales.

However, the situation in the Chinese picture book market changed drastically in 2005, and the market entered a “period of confusion.

The government began to issue administrative instructions to domestic publishers, telling them to produce domestically produced children’s books that would enable children to learn about Chinese traditions and history, and to maintain a one-to-one ratio between imports and exports (if they sold the rights to one domestically produced picture book, they could produce one overseas book). Suddenly, exports could not be increased, and from this time on, the number of new publications declined sharply. In 2006, the ISBN regulations were also introduced. In China, ISBNs (International Standard Book Number. In China, ISBNs (International Standard Book Number, a code required to be attached to books before they can be sold through agencies and bookstores) are assigned by the state to each state-owned publishing house. In the past, publishers could obtain an ISBN if they applied for one based on their publishing plan, depending on the size of their publishing house, but since 2008 the number of ISBNs has been reduced by 30–40%.

The ostensible reason for this is to “curb shoddy production. In China, for example, the Complete Works of World Literature and the Complete Works of Hans Christian Andersen are published in similar formats by almost all state publishers. In addition to pirated editions that ignore copyrights, there is also the problem of “bandit editions,” or imitations made to resemble popular works. However, many industry insiders believe that this is probably not the only reason for the restrictions, but rather that the restrictions are a result of China’s growing strictness on ideology and culture in conjunction with the political situation in the country.

It remains to be seen whether the picture book market will reach a healthy maturity in the future.

The loophole of IP development and “China First” publishing

However, it is not all negative material; new developments are also taking place.

For example, Tatsuya Miyanishi’s “Boku wa Panda!”, which is very popular for his “Tyrannosaurus” series (see below). and Tatsuhide Matsuoka’s new work “変成了青蛙” (“Turned into a frog”), the author of “Pyon,” which became a million-seller in Japan, were published in China before in Japan. This was an attempt to clear a policy requirement to “increase the number of works that can be exported originating from state-run publishing houses” for smooth publication.

In addition to publishing books, the company is also promoting IP development originating from picture books. Tatsuya Miyanishi’s “Tyrannosaurus” series, which has sold over 2 million copies in Japan, has become a big hit in China, with a total of over 800 million copies published by Gamalan. In China, as in Japan, the key to the popularity of the series seems to be its tear-jerking storylines, especially the love between parents and children, friendship, the emotion of the weak helping the strong, and the process of the rampaging Tyrannosaurus awakening to love and affection. In Gamarang, which took note of this popularity, a shopping mall has partnered with the company to create a gallery for “Tyrannosaurus” and hold exhibitions of original artwork and dinosaur drawing contests, and real estate companies and government agencies have also partnered to hold reading contests, nature education, and science exploration events in various locations, and Miyanishi Tatsuya travels throughout China many times a year.

Gamalan will continue to take on the challenge of twisting and turning measures for the fast-moving and highly regulated Chinese market, while always returning to its fundamental business objective and original intention of “establishing a rich picture book culture in China. Now that picture books have become popular in China, many new companies are entering the market. However, competition is fierce and moving fast, making it difficult to create brands and long-selling titles like those established by the early entrants. Many people and companies think, “It’s too early to tell, so let’s wait and see.” By jumping into the Chinese picture book market first, Poplar Publishing has established a position and credibility as a picture book brand that is recognized by various circles and readers in China. Today, China’s GDP is about three times that of Japan. However, China’s GDP in 2000 was about a quarter of that of Japan. The success of Gamabalan today is due to the fact that it was able to make a decision in 2000.