Seiji Noma

was a Japanese writer and publisher who was the founder of Kodansha, a leading publishing company, which his family still wholly own today. He was the founder and publisher of many well-known newspapers and magazines.

Early life and education Noma was born in 1878.

Noma was educated as a teacher. The company would be later renamed as Dainippon Yūbenkai-Kodansha, which later be shortened as simply Kodansha. The first publication of the company was Yūben, a monthly magazine on public speech. His goal in starting these titles was to modernize, entertain and educate Japanese society. These publications included Kōdan Club (from which Kodansha is named for), Shōnen Club, Omoshiro Club, Gendai (Japanese: Present Generation), Fujin Club, Shōjo Club and Kingu. In 1930 he established Hochi Shimbun (Japanese: Intelligence Newspaper) which also became an influential publication. He died of heart attack in Tokyo on 18 October 1938.