• Zen-On Music Co., Ltd. is one of the oldest and largest music publishers in Japan. It was founded by Teiji Shimada in 1931 in Tokyo.

    Since its establishment, Zen-On has been distributing sheet music and musical instruments for musicians and educational institutions. The company sells published works of classical, popular, educational, and contemporary music for variety of instruments. In addition, Zen-On provides rental and licensing services for performers.

    The publisher’s wide range of catalog includes works of Yasushi Akutagawa, Joe Hisaishi, Shin-ichiro Ikebe, Hitomi Kaneko, Michio Mamiya, Minoru Miki, Akira Miyoshi, Tokuhide Niimi, Akira Nishimura, Ichiro Nodaira, Kenji Sakai, Somei Satoh, and Joji Yuasa, among others. Zen-On’s publications are available through its headquarters in Tokyo and its network of distributors all over the world.
  • Ninety years ago, on May 20, 1931, a small printing office opened on a street corner in downtown Tokyo. This was to be the forerunner of Zen-On Music Company. The founder, Teiji Shimada, started out printing many different things, but he would gradually find a future in printing and publishing sheet music.
  • After surviving the severity of wartime, Teiji Shimada returned to Tokyo from evacuation at the end of August, just after the war ended. Amidst the devastation there, he spent about two months looking for lost authors, engravers and bookbinders. He singlehandedly dealt with editing, production, operation, delivery and accounting, and was ready to publish again as early as November. Shimada said later that “Zen-On published until the end, all through the war, and Zen-On was the first to start publishing after the war.”
  • In 1947, it was reorganized into a publicly traded company. In step with Japan’s postwar reconstruction and economic growth, it enlarged its business from publication and sale of sheet music and music books to production and sale of musical instruments. We live for our music, and with the patronage of our many customers who continue asking for more, our publishing enterprise is today expanding in the following ways.
Planning & Publishing Sheet Music and Books
Regardless of whether it is classical or popular music, we issue several thousand different publications. As we pursue the perfect sheet music, we continue development of printing paper and improvement of the binding.
Education
From preschool education to specialized training, we publish instructional books, plan workshops all over the country and dispatch lecturers.
Our Approach to Contemporary Music
As a Japanese music publishing company, we feel it is our mission to pass things down to future generations. So, we publish modern musical works and introduce them widely at home and abroad, along with various other activities.
Rental
We rent scores and parts for orchestras and wind ensembles, and support the performances of many groups, whether professional or amateur.
International Publishing
While translating many overseas publications, we export and license our own publications and promote them for overseas markets.

SUPPORT

2-13-3 Kami Ochiai, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 161-0034, Japan
Tel : (+)81 3 3227 6283
Fax : (+)81 3 3227 6288
[email protected]

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