
In response to an inquiry from the Japan Book Publishers Association, Nichipan Group HD responded in writing acknowledging the fact that it sells books to Anthropic in the US.
AI-generated summary
Trends surrounding the suspicion that Nippon Group, a major publishing agency, was selling books to a US AI company.
Nichipan Group Holdings (GHD), a major publishing agency, was suspected of selling large volumes of Japanese books to American artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic.In response to an inquiry from the industry group Japan Book Publishers Association (Shokyo), it was revealed through interviews with related parties that Nichipan Group Holdings (GHD) acknowledged the sale.
According to people involved, Nippan GHD responded in writing on the 5th. Nippan IPS (IPS), a group company that handles overseas-related publishing and distribution businesses, has confirmed that it entered into a business agreement with Anthropic in November 2024 and sold books from December 2024 to December 2025.
Nippan IPS confirmed with Anthropic the purpose of use before signing the contract, but claims that it did not come to the conclusion that the purchase was for the purpose of learning about AI. The company declined to comment on the total number of books or prices, saying it would respond to individual inquiries from each publisher.

Japan Exchange Group (JPX) announced on the 7th that it will significantly change the constituent stocks of the Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX) from the current 1,634 companies to 986 companies. As part of market restructuring, this will be implemented in stages from the end of October to July 2028.

In a speech in Singapore, IMF Managing Director Georgieva expressed caution about soaring long-term interest rates in countries such as Japan and the United States, and praised the interest rate hikes by central banks in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Emphasizing the need for urgent measures as fiscal deterioration and public debt expansion will affect the global economy.

The Japan Fair Trade Commission has launched a compulsory investigation with the possibility of criminal prosecution, alleging that four major beer companies have been raising shipping prices in unison over many years, including in years when the Liquor Tax Law was not revised.

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It has emerged that Nippon, a major publishing agency, may have sold a large number of Japanese books to the American AI company Anthropic without consulting the publishers in advance. Publishers protested that the books may have been shredded and used for AI learning, and the Japan Book Publishing Association (Shokyo), an industry group, sent a letter to Nichipan Group Holdings asking them to confirm the facts and stop selling books for AI learning purposes. Nippan GHD insists on complying with the law and says it will refrain from responding to individual transactions.

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