The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST) and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (Director KIM Jun Hee, KPIPA) will be jointly hosting the 2022 Visiting Korean Book Fair in Tokyo on July 28th (Thur) and 29th (Fri) at the Park Hyatt Tokyo in Japan to support Korean publishers entering the Japanese market.

  MCST and KPIPA have been hosting the Visiting Korean Book Fair, a publication and copyright export fair, since 2015 to support the overseas market entry of Korean businesses engaged in content publication. From 2020 to the first half of 2022, the fair was held as an online consultation forum due to the pandemic. Following the virtual export fair held in 2020 for Japan, the book fair will be held once more in Japan as an in-person event this year.

  Japan boasts the world’s third largest publishing market, following the US and China, and has witnessed increasing interest in and demand for Korean books thanks to the influence of the popularity of Korean Culture. In particular, since SOHN Won Pyung’s “Almond” took first place in the translated novel category in Japan’s bookstores in 2020, her new book “Counterattack of the Thirty” has once again regained the top spot this year. In addition, a number of Korean books in various genres are gaining popularity in Japan, including “Kim Ji-young Born 1982” by CHO Nam-ju with 280 thousand copies sold and “I Decided to Live as Me” by KIM Soo-Hyun with more than 500 thousand copies sold.

  It is also worthwhile to note that the main audience in Japan for Korean books has expanded from the previous segment of females in their 30s to 40s to teenagers and those in their 20s. As essays by Korean writers bring messages of comfort to those in their teens and 20s, these readers are emerging as a strong readership. Moreover, the Korean book content published in Japan is diversifying, with reproductions of Korean books into plays and comics. The interest in Korea books which began with the recommendations of Korean idol groups has now shifted towards the publication content itself, starting the 4th Korean Wave in the country.

  A total of 35 Japanese publishers are to take part in the upcoming book fair, including Japan’s leading publishers Bungei Shunju (文藝春秋), Gakuen ((株)学研), Popura-sha (株式会社ポプラ社), and Tuttle-Mori Agency, the largest overseas copyright agency in Japan. Twenty Korean companies, including Munhakdongne, Chunjae Education, Mirae-N, and Dasan Books will participate in the event, with JM Content Agency, a publishing copyright agent, providing export consultations for roughly 270 consigned books from Korea.

  On the morning of the 28 (Thur), the first day of the event, there will be two presentation sessions to provide an introduction to the publication market in Japan. A  staff from Japanese publishing sector will be briefing participants on the status and trends in the Japanese publishing market, interact with Korean publishers, and deepen mutual understanding. Following this book export fair in Japan, MCST and KPIPA plan to hold export conferences between domestic and overseas publication firms in Vietnam (Sept) and in North America (Nov).