Japan and Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER to Fully Launch Cross-Border Sales of Doujinshi on May 15
Providing a New Reading Experience Beyond Language Barriers Through Mantra’s Automatic Manga Translation
Dwango Co., Ltd. and Taiwan Man Du Co., Ltd. will fully launch cross-border sales of manga doujinshi viewable through a viewer equipped with automatic translation on Friday, May 15, 2026, on the comprehensive e-book stores “BOOK☆WALKER” and “Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER,” operated by the respective companies, in cooperation with Mantra Inc.
©頸椎 ©三月館
BOOK☆WALKER is a comprehensive e-book store operated by the KADOKAWA Group that launched in 2010. In addition to books published by commercial publishers, BOOK☆WALKER began offering doujinshi created by individuals and circles in 2015. Today, it provides services across both sales and production, including the sale of more than 10,000 doujinshi titles and the provision of an electronic comic creation tool. Meanwhile, Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER, which launched in 2016, began expanding its handling of doujinshi in earnest in 2024 in response to the growing popularity of doujinshi in Taiwan in recent years.
At doujinshi events in Japan, the number of overseas fans attending has been increasing year by year, driving greater demand for multilingual doujinshi. At the same time, individual creators face various hurdles when expanding overseas, including the high cost of translation. To overcome this language barrier, Mantra, which develops and provides an automatic translation system dedicated to manga, has partnered with BOOK☆WALKER in Japan and Taiwan. Since spring 2025, the companies have been trialing a pioneering cross-border sales initiative in which Japanese-language manga doujinshi are sold on Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER, while Traditional Chinese manga doujinshi are sold on Japan’s BOOK☆WALKER. Purchased doujinshi can be read through a viewer with automatic translation, which displays natural translations that take context into account directly on the reading screen.
The number of eligible titles has now been expanded to approximately 340, and the lineup will continue to grow in stages. A campaign will also be held to commemorate the official launch.
In the highly passion-driven field of doujinshi, creating opportunities for works and readers to connect across countries and languages is a role that Dwango’s e-book business—whose vision is to “create a world where ‘loves’ connect”—believes it should fulfill. Starting with this initiative for manga doujinshi, the companies aim to further expand the scope of eligible works and supported languages, providing an environment where readers can enjoy books seamlessly.
Feature Overview
How to Read with Translations Displayed
After purchasing an eligible doujinshi title, readers can tap or mouse over speech bubbles on the reading screen to display and read the translation at the bottom of the page.
- Translation is supported only for dialogue inside speech bubbles. Sound effects and other text outside speech bubbles cannot be translated.
- Translations are available only via web browser, and are not supported in the app or for preview reading.
▲ Japanese translation displayed for a Traditional Chinese doujinshi / ©頸椎
▲ Chinese translation displayed for a Japanese doujinshi / ©三月館
Eligible Titles
Japan: https://bookwalker.jp/tag/10458/
Taiwan: https://www.bookwalker.com.tw/search?v=1264&series_display=1
How to Sell Eligible Doujinshi
Creators can register, submit for review, and sell their manga works as usual through the BOOK☆WALKER Author Center in Japan or Taiwan. If a work becomes eligible for cross-border sales using automatic translation, the relevant service will contact the creator before the sales begin.
No additional application is required.
BOOK☆WALKER Author Center
Japan: https://author.bookwalker.jp/
Taiwan: https://www.bookwalker.com.tw/selfapply
Translation Quality
This feature uses a machine translation engine developed by Mantra Inc. specifically for manga. Equipped with manga-specific text recognition and character identification technologies, the engine achieves high-quality manga translation by enabling an advanced understanding of story context and relationships between characters.
Launch Commemorative Campaign
BOOK☆WALKER
Campaign details: +20% coin back on eligible titles
Campaign period: Friday, May 15, 2026 – Sunday, May 31, 2026
Special websites:
Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER Doujin Works Campaign: https://bookwalker.jp/select/4407/
Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER BL Doujin Works Campaign: https://bookwalker.jp/select/4408/
Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER
Campaign details: 15% off one title, 21% off three titles, 31% off five titles
Campaign period: Friday, May 15, 2026 – Sunday, May 31, 2026
Service Overview
BOOK☆WALKER
BOOK☆WALKER is a comprehensive e-book store operated by Dwango Co., Ltd. that will celebrate its 15th anniversary in December 2025. It offers one of Japan’s largest selections of e-books, with more than 2 million titles from over 1,500 publishers, spanning a wide range of genres including manga, light novels, novels, business books, and practical guides. In addition to individual title purchases, BOOK☆WALKER offers uniquely digital reading experiences such as “BOOK☆WALKER Unlimited,” a subscription service for enjoying manga, manga magazines, Kadokawa Bunko titles, light novels, and more, as well as “Maruyomi 10 Minutes,” which allows users to preview all pages of eligible titles for 10 minutes per person per day.
Official website: https://bookwalker.jp
Official X: https://x.com/BOOK_WALKER
Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER
Taiwan BOOK☆WALKER is an e-book store operated by Taiwan Man Du Co., Ltd. that launched in 2016. As a pioneer in Taiwan’s e-book market, it offers a wide range of e-books, including Traditional Chinese editions of Japanese manga and light novels, works from local Taiwanese publishers, and doujinshi.
Official website: https://www.bookwalker.com.tw/
Mantra Inc.
Mantra Inc. was founded in 2020 under the slogan “Bringing manga to the world, in every language.” The company conducts research and development in AI technologies specialized for manga, and provides services including “Mantra Engine,” a translation tool that enables fast manga translation, and “Langaku,” an English extensive-reading app using manga. Mantra has received numerous awards, including the HONGO AI Award (2019), Weekly Toyo Keizai’s “Amazing Venture 100” (2020), the AAMT Nagao Award (2021), the JEITA Venture Award Early Edge Award (2022), the Digital Publishing Award Challenge Mind Award (2024), the Grand Prize in the Self-Improvement Category of Google Play Best of 2025 (2025), and the Excellence Award in the Learning App Category of the Appliv Best App Award (2025).
Official website: https://mantra.co.jp
Contact
Mantra Inc.: Funakoshi
E-mail: info@mantra.co.jp