Stephen King is currently shaking up American publishers with his experiment in making his novel "The Plant" available for downloading one chapter per month directly from his own Web site. In Japan, too, various ventures are taking place in digital publishing and distribution.
Recently two e-bookstores have started up in the hope of becoming the Amazon.com of Japan: BOL at www.jp.bol.com and bk 1 at www.bk1.co.jp . According to the Shukan Asahi (Aug. 11), Kinokuniya Bookstore's Book Web went into the black in its third year (1998), but many remain skeptical about the chances of purely Web bookstores in Japan where, unlike the United States, book discounting is not possible.
The influence of the Internet is starting to make itself felt in the area of content as well. The Yomiuri pointed out a few months ago (June 10) that several authors have started magazines resembling home pages, like Sakura Momoko's Fujisan, or magazines based on Web sites like Murakami Ryu's JMM (Japan Mail Media).