DoCoMo will acquire 1,031,000 shares in the holding company, or 3.78% of total issued shares, for about four billion yen through a third-party share allocation on December 12, 2006. Under the agreement, DoCoMo will also tie up with the group companies Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co., Ltd., Kadokawa Herald Pictures, Inc., Kadokawa Mobile, Inc., Herald Enterprise, Inc. and Kadokawa Media House Inc.

DoCoMo’s dominant position in mobile subscription will offer Kadakowa an expansion in media for its printed and visual content.

The parties will develop mobile content related with Kadokawa movies and animation, including original video content developed initially for the mobile environment, prior to release via other media. The parties will also consider possibilities for DoCoMo to join the film producing project which Kadokawa manages.

Customers will be able to use the iD™ mobile credit service on Osaifu-Keitai™ e-wallet phones for payments at 11 Cineplex theaters (92 screens) of Herald Enterprise by the end of June 2007. In addition, DoCoMo's ToruCa™ information-capture service is planned to be introduced at the theaters.

The ToruCa™ service enables a DoCoMo user to download gift coupons and flyers onto their phone to obtain discounts at participating stores. The user just waves the phone in front of a ToruCa reader/writer to download the coupon or flyer. The latter can be exchanged with other FOMA users. A useful feature particularly for the youth sector although the attraction will undoubtedly spread amongst the age groups.
The Kadokawa Group is one of Japan’s largest multimedia groups. In 2002, the group bought Daiei Motion Pictures and is a major shareholder (around 40%) of Nippon Herald Pictures. Daiei Motion Pictures was behind the production of Kurosawa’s Rashomon as well as the successful series of Zatoichi films of the 1960s and 1970s. They also licensed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Japan from Golden Harvest. Nippon Herald Films produced Kurosawa’s RAN and is also licensed to distribute Chaplin’s films as well as Chaplin merchandise.

The trend for collaboration, not a new one in Japan, is unlikely to stop here. The Kadokawa Group has already inked deals with Hong Kong distributor Intercontinental Group to make films, distribute movie, video and games, cinema operation and multimedia publishing in China and Southeast Asia. In October last year, the Group has also signed with Sun Wah Media Group to build and manage multiplexes in China. With that kind of connection, DoCoMo is clearly positioning themselves to broaden their subscriber base not just through their i-mode service but also through their partner content providers.