Wired Japan

In the last quarter of 1994, Wired Ventures and Dohosha Publishing entered into a licensing agreement to publish a Japanese edition of Wired. When asked about the strategy behind the alliance, Jane replied,

"We never thought we could go in and do the magazine ourselves. What we've done is bring in a partner sensitive to Japanese culture, Dohosha Publishing. They have started out three generations ago as the in-house publishing arm of a Buddist temple. They're an innovator. They published Madonna's book, "Sex," in Japanese, which was a radical thing."

The four-year contract allows Dohosha to publish under the Wired trademark for a flat rate, until the venture's advertising profits reach a certain level, at which time Dohosha will also have to pay royalities. The joint-venture is owned 40% by Dohosha and 60% by Wired Ventures, which permits Wired legally to have the final decision over content in the magazine. However, until recently, nobody at Wired could even read the Japanese edition. But with recent addition of John Couch, Foriegn Editions Associate, who is fluent in Japanese, Wired now will be informed of the editorial content of their Japanese edition.

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