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Maruzen CHI Holdings sells books, magazines, and stationery, and it also runs libraries and educational facilities for schools and public institutions in Japan.
Maruzen CHI Holdings is a Japanese company that sits at the crossroads of books and buildings. It sells books, magazines, and stationery through its retail stores, and it also manages libraries, educational facilities, and publishing for schools and public institutions. So it is part bookseller, part outsourced operator of the places where people read and learn.
The retail side is the part most people see. The company runs bookstores and stationery shops, the kind of places where students buy notebooks and commuters pick up a magazine. But the quieter and often steadier business is the contract work: running libraries and school facilities on behalf of local governments and institutions. Those customers pay for reliable day-to-day management, not just for books on a shelf. The group was formed when two old Japanese book businesses, Maruzen and CHI Group, combined under a holding company. Maruzen itself dates back to the 19th century, which gives the company a long history in Japanese publishing and retail. Today the holding structure lets it run these different businesses under one roof.
The business is exposed to the same forces hitting bookshops everywhere: online shopping and changing reading habits. That makes the institutional side important, because long-term contracts with schools and public bodies provide steadier revenue than selling a novel at a retail counter. The company's challenge is to keep the retail business relevant while growing the service side that pays the bills.
Saved answer 路 last researched 15 Nov 2026