Kodansha Partners With Jinjiang Literature City to Bring Chinese BL Novels to Japan
The Japanese publisher's first two translated titles are already out, with manga adaptations in development — the biggest formal bridge yet between China's danmei fiction scene and the Japanese BL market.
Kodansha has partnered with Jinjiang Literature City — the Beijing-based platform behind most major Chinese danmei (BL) web novels — to translate and publish Chinese BL fiction for the Japanese market, with the initiative announced around the Boys Love Tokyo 2026 event in June.
The first two titles are already out in upper-volume form, with lower volumes due in September: Chen Sensan's 养黑莲花皇帝当替身 (published in Japan as "The Blackhearted Emperor Substitute Plan to Avoid BE") and Mo Xike's 魔尊他念念不忘 ("The Demon Lord's Unwavering Affection"), both translated by Sun Minqiao. Kodansha's International Planning Editorial Team, which is running the collaboration, says manga adaptations of both are already in development.
It's a formal, publisher-level version of a pipeline that's mostly run on fan translation until now — and Kodansha's own framing leans on the global reach of Chinese BL IP that's already made the crossover, citing The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (the novel behind The Untamed) and Heaven Official's Blessing as the genre's proof of concept.
Source: Kodansha (news.kodansha.co.jp), SouNova
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