Tokyo International Book Fair Rides Digital Wave

Opening tomorrow, the Tokyo International Book Fair has become an important destination for booksellers interested in finding Asian readers–last year the fair drew 61,000 attendees from 41 countries.

Publishing Perspectives went behind the scenes at the fair, studying how the ‘Rights Trade Support Service’ helps international visitors study deal-making options in English. Despite the global recession, 800 exhibitors signed up this year–registration is up compared to last year.

According to the article, the real conference draw is the booming digital market. Here’s more: “In Japan, the market for digital publishing continues to grow at a rate of 200% per year since 2003 and in 2007 is estimated to have hit $335 million in annual sales. (Still, this represents just a fraction of the overall annual market, estimated to be approximately $20 billion.)”

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