14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has announced the launch of its iBookstore in Japan, where the Cupertino giant now offers titles from major and independent publishers, as well as a range of books from Kodansha, KADOKAWA, Bungeishunju, Gakken and Gentosha.
In Japan, Apple’s iBookstore will initially offer a selection of authors both new and old, including Shyotaro Ikenami, Jiro Akagawa, Atsuko Asano and Ryu Murakami, according to the company’s press statement issued yesterday.
Available in 155 countries at the moment, the iBookstore is accessible via the iBooks iOS app and on computers with iTunes installed.
The venue offers hundreds of categories of books, including cookbooks, history books, biographies, picture books, children’s books, and more. Paid books are only available in 51 countries.
Apple has also updated its iBooks app to version 3.1 to include enhancements for Asian users.
According to the company’s press release, “the iBooks app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has been downloaded 130 million times worldwide.”
“We’re excited to launch the iBookstore in Japan with a wide selection of Japanese publishers and authors,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services.
“We think customers are going to love how engaging and interactive the books are to read, and how beautiful they look on iPad.”
Apple cites Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chairman of KADOKAWA Group Holdings, as saying, “We’re thrilled to have our books on the iBookstore.”
“More than anything, I think it’s great the iBookstore lets us offer our readers a wide variety of reading experiences that they can’t have anywhere else and that they can only have on their iOS device,” said Kadokawa.
Author, novelist and filmmaker Ryu Murakami chimed in to say, “I’m excited to offer three of my works exclusively on the iBookstore, and hope that readers love them as much as I do.”
Murakami added, “As an author and Apple user for 20 years, the arrival of the iBookstore allows me to tell stories in a way you simply can’t in a physical book.”