Bunkyo-do Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1918 as a stationery shop along the Ōyama Road in Mizunoguchi, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Established (founded on December 1, Meiji 31)

Established Shimizaki Bunkyo-do Co., Ltd. in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, for the purpose of selling books and magazines.

Opened the "Ichigao Store" (franchise) at Ichigao Station on the Den-en-toshi Line. Subsequently, four more stores were opened along the same line, marking the start of a full chain expansion.

Opened the suburban flagship "Hoshigaoka Store" in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, featuring a parking lot for 30 cars. This began the chain expansion of suburban stores.

Opened the "Nosei Store" on the second floor of the Seiryu Rosen Shopping Center in front of Seine Station on the Yokohama Line.

Made the headquarters building in Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City, its own corporate building, merged the distribution center, and centralized headquarters functions.

Changed the company name to "Bunkyo-do Co., Ltd.".

Registered shares on the open market with the Japan Securities Dealers Association.

Expanded the second floor of the "Shin-Yokohama Station Store" and began selling software and other computer-related products under the name "The Soft Bunkyo-do."

Opened the "Odawara Naku Store" in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture. In addition to computer software, it also sold music CDs and game software, operating as the large "Super Books Bunkyo-do".

Opened the "Kawaguchi Asahi Town Store" in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture. In addition to books, it started renting videos and music CDs.

Established "J-Book Co., Ltd." (now a consolidated subsidiary) in Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City. From August 1999, it began mail-order sales of books, PC software, music CDs, and other multimedia products via the internet.

Acquired part of the sales division from "Bunno-Tei Iwamoto Co., Ltd.," a chain operating mainly in Sapporo, Hokkaido, expanding the sales network in Hokkaido.

Acquired part of the sales division from "Uchida-ya Bookstore Co., Ltd.," a chain operating in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Acquired 100% of the shares of the bookstore chain "Aisin Co., Ltd.," which operates many stores in central Tokyo, expanding the sales network for large stores in the city center.

Renamed "Aisin Co., Ltd." and "Shimamura Ltd." to "Bookstore Dan Co., Ltd." and "Shimazaki Ltd.," respectively.

Renovated the Green Books store in Aoba-ku, Yokohama City, and opened the largest hobby shop in the metropolitan area, "Aoba-dai Hobby Hall."

Cancelled the open market registration with the Japan Securities Dealers Association and listed shares on the JASDAQ Stock Exchange.

Entered into a comprehensive business partnership with "Geico Co., Ltd.".

For business efficiency, merged "Bookstore Dan Co., Ltd." as the surviving company with "Riburu Azami Co., Ltd." and "Royal Books Ltd.".

Moved the Mizonokuchi Main Store and reopened it with a renewal.

Transitioned to a pure holding company structure and split into the newly established 100% subsidiary, Munkyojo Co., Ltd. (now a consolidated subsidiary), and the parent company, Munkyojo Group Holdings, Inc. The book and magazine sales business was transferred to Munkyojo Co., Ltd.

Entered into a business partnership with Junkudo Bookstore Co., Ltd.

Listed on the Osaka Stock Exchange JASDAQ market following the merger of the JASDAQ Securities Exchange and the Osaka Stock Exchange.

Entered into a capital and business partnership with Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Acquired part of the sales division from Cap Bookstore Co., Ltd., which operates a chain primarily in the Kansai region.

Entered into a business partnership with Japan Bookstore Co., Ltd.

Merged Munkyojo Co., Ltd. as the surviving company with Bookstore Dan and Shimizaki Ltd. to improve business efficiency.

Sold the headquarters building and relocated headquarters functions to the Mizonokuchi Main Store location.

Established a special dispute resolution procedure (business revival ADR) under the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Act, following the agreement of the creditor financial institutions involved in the business revival plan.

Transferred the anime character goods sales business (Anime GA business) from Munkyojo Co., Ltd. to Sofmap Co., Ltd. to strengthen the selection and concentration of management resources.

Merged Munkyojo Hobby Co., Ltd. into Munkyojo Co., Ltd. as the surviving company to improve business efficiency.

Joined the programming classroom "Programming Education HALLO powered by Playgram × Yaru Ki Switch TM" and opened the HALLO Munkyojo Mizonokuchi classroom.

Moved from the JASDAQ (Standard) market to the Standard market following a review of the Tokyo Stock Exchange market classification.