Shoukabou

Shoukabou is a Japanese publishing company with origins dating back to the early 1700s, when it operated as an official book supplier (goyō itagakari) to the Sendai Domain. At that time it published works on arithmetic, calendars, and meteorology. The modern company was established in Tokyo in 1895 by the 10th-generation head, Yoshino Hyakusaku, under the name Gōmei Gaisha Shōkabō. Since then, it has focused on natural science textbooks, exercise books, and specialized journals in fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. Its publications are well known among science and engineering students, researchers, engineers, and junior/senior high school science teachers. Shoukabou also publishes general-audience science books, notably the 'Popular Science' series. In 2022, it participated in an experimental project by the Waseda-Keio Japanese Book Digitization Promotion Consortium. The company remains a private, independent publisher based in Tokyo.

Shoukabou's history begins in the early 1700s, when it was already active as an official book supplier (goyō itagakari) to the Sendai Domain. At that time, it published books on arithmetic, calendars, and meteorology. Examples from this early period include 'Hayawari Nippyō Sanpō-ki' (1802), 'Suimeisho' (1831), 'Man'en Ni Kanoeto Koyomi' (1861), and 'Bunkyū Yonen Kinoene Toshi Seiu Kō' (1863). In the mid-Meiji period, the 10th-generation head, Yoshino Hyakusaku, moved from Sendai to Tokyo and on February 11, 1895, established 'Gōmei Gaisha Shōkabō' at 3-13 Nihonbashi Hongokuchō, Tokyo (present-day 4-1 Nihonbashi, Chūō-ku, Tokyo). After opening in Tokyo, the company published the 'Ijin Shisō' series, including the biography 'Hayashi Shihei' (1896), which was well received. Other notable publications include 'Sapporo Nōgakkō' (1898), Nitobe Inazō's 'BUSHIDO: The Soul of Japan' (1900) and 'Nōgyō Honron' (1898), Matsumura Shōnen's 'Nihon Konchūgaku' (1898), 'Nihon Igakushi' (1904), Ikeno Seiichirō's 'Shokubutsu Keitōgaku' (1906), the moon-themed book 'Tsuki' (1909), Harashima Yonosuke's 'Sanba Taikan' (1908), Takeuchi Tanzō's 'Kansūron Jōge' (1920), Sameshima Sanzaburō's 'Kōshitsugaku' (1934), and Shibata Yūji's 'Bunkō Kagaku' (1944). In 2022, it participated in the experimental project of the Waseda-Keio Japanese Book Digitization Promotion Consortium. The company continues to publish textbooks and journals in the natural sciences.

• 2022

  Participated in the Waseda-Keio Japanese Book Digitization Promotion Consortium experimental project.

• 2009

  Changed reprint indication from edition number to printing number.

• 2005

  Ended publication of the journal 'Genetics: The Science of Living Things' (transferred to NTS).

• 1900

  Published Nitobe Inazō's 'BUSHIDO: The Soul of Japan'.

• 1896

  Published the biography 'Hayashi Shihei', part of the 'Ijin Shisō' series.

• 1895

  Established as 'Gōmei Gaisha Shōkabō' in Tokyo by Yoshino Hyakusaku.

A prestigious academic publisher specializing in the natural sciences, with a history spanning over three centuries.

• Popular Science series

  General-audience science books.

• Materials Science and Engineering: Journal of the Materials Science Society of Japan

  Academic journal published for the Materials Science Society of Japan. ISSN 1347-4774.

• Materials Science: Journal of the Materials Science Society of Japan

  Former journal title, published until Vol. 38 No. 6 (2002). ISSN 0388-3930.

• Genetics: The Science of Living Things

  Journal published for the Genetics Popularization Society until Vol. 59 No. 6 (November 2005). ISSN 0387-0022.

• Genetics: The Science of Living Things, Supplementary Volume

  Supplementary series published until No. 18 (April 2005). ISSN 1340-7376.

1. 1Shoukabou - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2裳華房 - Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org