The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Yohan leaves Japan in the cold

07.08.08 Catherine Neilan

The bankruptcy of Japanese distributor Yohan has left UK and US publishers out of pocket and without a route back into the country.

Yohan, which filed for bankruptcy at the Tokyo District Court last week, had according to one publisher been the only "significant" distributor of trade books into the country, following its acquisition of competitor Tuttle in 2003.

Chris Ashdown, from international sales agency Publishers International Marketing, said Yohan's demise could see the high street English books market shrink. "We have a rep out there... and his feeling is that a lot of stores would simply reduce their English book section as a result," said Ashdown.

According to Publishers Association data supplied by HM Revenue & Customs, Japan is UK publisher's eleventh biggest export market, accounting for export sales of £42.8m in 2007, down 10% on the previous year, and lower than the £44.4m worth of books supplied in 2003.

Sylvia May, international sales director at HarperCollins, said: "It's a worry. Business in Japan has been dropping off for a while, so of course it's a concern... We are hoping other distributors to step up, but it certainly won't be quick and easy." She said there were a number of smaller distributors - notably a company called Miyoshi - which UK publishers were encouraging to take on Yohan's former role.

Ashdown said PIM had already been approached by a number of smaller distributors looking to take over from Yohan, but said it would take time for suitable firms to emerge. "None of this is good news for publishers or the book trade in Japan," he said.

He also claimed a number of UK publishers were still owed money, in certain cases "six-figure sums" from Yohan.

However, some publishers spoken to by The Bookseller said they had stopped supplying the firm as early as January because of its failure to pay invoices.

In an email sent to a UK publisher at the start of July, seen by The Bookseller, a representative of Yohan said bringing logistics operations back in-house to lower overheads had "led to [a] short-term increase in cost[s], which was unanticipated, and to be honest has put a strain on our cash flow which I regret has caused delays in our payments". The email added Yohan was "starting to see positive results from the move and [was] working to sort out the payables situation".

Japan Global Catherine Neilan Yohan