KADOKAWA Acquires SOZO, Organizer of One of Southeast Asia's Largest Anime Events and Promoter of Top J-POP Artists' Overseas Concerts

KADOKAWA CORPORATION (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Chief Executive Officer: Takeshi Natsuno; hereinafter “KADOKAWA”) hereby announces that in November 2025, the company acquired shares in SOZO Pte Ltd (pronounced: Souzou; Headquarters: Singapore; Founder and Managing Director: Shawn Chin; hereinafter “SOZO”), an entity that organizes Southeast Asia's largest anime event, “Anime Festival Asia” (hereinafter “AFA”), and promotes overseas concerts for top J-POP artists. As a result of this transaction, SOZO has become a consolidated subsidiary of KADOKAWA.

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Background and Objectives

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SOZO is a leading company driving the expansion of Japanese related entertainment content and platforms in Southeast Asia. Centering on the planning and operation of large-scale events such as AFA, Southeast Asia's largest anime event, SOZO conducts diversified business in the entertainment sector, including producing concerts for top Japanese artists in Southeast Asia, hosting exhibitions and events for popular anime titles, and developing and distributing related merchandise.

Since its first event in Singapore in 2008, AFA has in the past expanded its reach across Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and even Japan, serving as a platform for Japanese pop culture, centered on anime, comics, and games. Held over 32 times in numerous cities across Southeast Asia, the event has attracted close to 3M attendees since it started back in 2008, it has firmly established itself as one of Southeast Asia's largest anime events. Last year's AFA Singapore 2024 drew approximately 130,000 attendees over 3 days. The event features expansive exhibition grounds featuring both commercial and community exhibitors, extensive stages housing talk shows from behind-the-scenes guests (Voice actors, Directors, Producers, Industry Staff) , as well as top-tier Japanese Performing Music Artists on a world-class concert stage.
Furthermore, the Southeast Asian market is experiencing a rapid surge of interest in Japanese pop culture, concurrent with remarkable economic growth. The popularity of diverse media, such as anime, manga, games, and music, is expanding. In recent years, collaborations with companies outside the entertainment industry have also increased. The presence of Japanese content is strengthening year by year.

The KADOKAWA Group has adopted a business strategy of promoting “Global Media Mix with Technology,” centered on the stable creation and extensive global distribution of a diverse portfolio of intellectual property (IP) and has focused on strengthening and expanding its business in North America, Greater China, Southeast Asia, and Europe territories thus far.
In Southeast Asia, KADOKAWA already operates local bases in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, undertaking a broad range of entertainment businesses, including translation and publication of comics and light novels, operation of an e-book platform, planning and distribution of merchandise (MD), operation of direct retail stores, and film distribution. SOZO and the KADOKAWA Group have collaborated in the Southeast Asian market for over 10 years. In 2014, KADOKAWA Group company DWANGO Co., Ltd. co-hosted an overseas edition of its large-scale cultural event Niconico Chokaigi alongside AFA. Last year, DWANGO launched the international creator collaboration program Asia Creators Cross with SOZO and exhibited at and sponsored AFA Singapore 2025. KADOKAWA has also deepened its partnership through initiatives such as anime stage presentations at AFA.

The acquisition of SOZO will enable the KADOKAWA Group to strengthen its real-world event and D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) businesses, including large-scale anime events such as AFA, music concerts featuring anime songs, and IP-related events. This aims to enhance the recognition of KADOKAWA Group IP, expand revenue through comprehensive media mix development, and strengthen the overall outreach of Japanese content, including IP owned by KADOKAWA. Furthermore, the Group will focus on initiatives to expand the talents of creators and artists active on the video community service “Niconico” into the Asian market through overseas concerts and appearances at large-scale events.

［KADOKAWA Group's Business Development in Southeast Asia］

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SOZO's integration into the Group enables the strengthening of our Event and Retail/D2C businesses.

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［AFA Venue, where fans who love Japanese content gather］

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Comment from Shawn Chin, SOZO

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I have always admired KADOKAWA, and it feels like a dream to see the company I founded become part of such a long-standing and respected group. Since its inception 17 years ago, SOZO has been committed to pioneering and growing the Japanese entertainment market in Singapore and across Southeast Asia. With SOZO joining the KADOKAWA group, I am confident we will become even better and stronger. I look forward to working closely with KADOKAWA’s dynamic management to bring SOZO to new heights in Southeast Asia and beyond. The future can only get brighter from here.

Comment from Takeshi Natsuno, KADOKAWA

I am delighted to welcome SOZO, our trusted long-time partner, into the Group.
SOZO is a leading company that has consistently driven the passion for Japanese pop culture in Southeast Asia through AFA. This integration adds crucial real-world event and D2C businesses to our existing publishing and IP creation businesses, establishing a seamless system to deliver experiences from IP creation to delivery across the region.
Towards the realization of our basic strategy of “Global Media Mix with Technology,” we look forward to working with Mr. Shawn and the entire SOZO team to deliver even greater excitement to fans around the world.

SOZO Company Profile

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Company Name :
SOZO Pte Ltd

Location :
Singapore

Establishment :
2009

Representative :
Shawn Chin (Founder and Managing Director)

Website :
https://sozo.sg/

Business :
･ Planning and operation of large-scale anime, comic, game, and music-related events in Southeast Asia
･ Promotion of live concerts for top artists from Japan and other Asian countries
･ Hosting content-related exhibitions, such as pop-up events
･ Development and distribution of related merchandise

Shareholder Composition :
･ KADOKAWA 80%
･ Shawn Chin (Managing Director) 10%
･ Maria Hendro (Executive Director) 5%
･ HoriPro Inc. 5%

Future Prospects

The impact of this matter towards KADOKAWA’s consolidated business results is expected to be immaterial.

About KADOKAWA CORPORATION

KADOKAWA CORPORATION develops a wide range of entertainment including publication, videos, games, Web services, education, operating IP experiential facilities such as TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN. By utilizing technology, KADOKAWA CORPORATION implements a global media mix strategy, focusing on stable Intellectual Property (IP) creation and delivering it to the world in a variety of forms.
https://group.kadokawa.co.jp/global/

Reference Information: KADOKAWA Group's Southeast Asia Bases

Thailand

KADOKAWA AMARIN COMPANY LIMITED

KADOKAWA AMARIN was founded in 2016 by KADOKAWA and AMARIN, the leading  Japanese entertainment content publisher in Thailand. To date, the company has been operating a wide range of businesses such as the translation and publication of Japanese light novels and comics, e-commerce, film distribution and the production of animation-inspired and copyrighted merchandise.

First Page Pro Company Limited

The company operates a translation and publishing business of Japanese light novels and comics, differentiating itself from its competitors by showing particular strength in the romantic comedy and sensual titles. Its published titles often rank within the top 20 in sales on major e-book platforms.

Indonesia

PT PHOENIX GRAMEDIA INDONESIA

PT PHOENIX GRAMEDIA INDONESIA was established in 2024 as a joint venture between Gramedia, the largest publisher and the largest bookstore chain in Indonesia, and KADOKAWA. The company executes a media mix in Indonesia, focusing on the translation and publication of Japanese light novels and comics, merchandise sales, live event business and so on.

Malaysia

KADOKAWA GEMPAK STARZ SDN. BHD.

KADOKAWA GEMPAK STARZ is a major publisher of comics and books for children in Malaysia. In 2015, KADOKAWA acquired a stake in it. The company publishes original content, including the Primal Power series, in Japan, greater China, English-speaking countries and Southeast Asian countries. Going forward, the company will strive to maximize the value of its content by means of its media mix.

Singapore

KADOKAWA GEMPAK STARZ(S) PTE. LTD.

A subsidiary of KADOKAWA GEMPAK STARZ SDN. BHD. It engages in the translation and publication of Japanese comics, merchandise sales, and event exhibitions in Singapore, promoting media mix development in the country.

End of document

Notice:
This document is a translation of the original Japanese document and is only for reference purposes. In the event of any discrepancy between this translated document and the original Japanese document, the latter shall prevail.

For Inquiries and Media Requests:
Public Relations Division, KADOKAWA CORPORATION
E-mail: pr-dept@kadokawa.jp

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