Kodansha is breaking new ground in response to steadily declining print runs in Japan.  In the future, the country’s largest publisher will print some of its mangas, bunkos and shinjos with runs of between 400 and 3,000 copies using a T300 digital printing press by HP. The publications will be bound using a SigmaLine digital book production system by Muller Martini, which consists of a SigmaFolder (folding), a SigmaCollator (gathering) and a SigmaBuffer (buffering), as well as a Pantera digital perfect binder with a Esprit three-knife trimmer connected inline.

The SigmaLine at Kodansha, consisting of a SigmaFolder, a SigmaCollator and a SigmaBuffer, is connected inline with an HP T300 digital printing press and a Pantera perfect binder with a Esprit three-knife trimmer.

As Kodansha explained, the new production methods are designed to lower production and storage costs, as well as simplify the printing of new editions of out-of-print works. Kodansha itself has a small printing plant, but largely works together with various book binderies. The new digital book production system will be put into operation coming spring at one of those partner companies located in Saitama, a neighboring province of Tokyo.