E-book deal brings Japanese works to China

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Tokyo-based media firm Creek & River Co. has signed a contract to supply content to Hanvon Technology Co., the largest producer of e-book readers in China, it has been learned.

Creek & River plans to start supplying content originally published in Japanese by small and mid-sized publishing firms and individuals, including comics, novels and magazine articles, as early as autumn.

Creek & River has previously sold the rights to Japanese content to other publishing firms in China through its Shanghai subsidiary.

Beijing-based Hanvon Technology has sold more than 1 million e-book reader devices in China.

Both firms expect Japanese comics, novels and magazine articles to sell well in electronic format, as the popularity of such content is established in China. The two firms plan to share the work of translating the Japanese content into Chinese.