Tuttle Mori Agency

What Tuttle Mori Agency does

Tuttle-Mori Agency (株式会社タトル・モリ エイジェンシー, TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC.) is a privately held Japanese literary and media rights agency headquartered in Kanda Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, with scout offices in London and New York. Founded in 1948 as the literary agency department of Charles E. Tuttle & Company and formally established as an independent entity in 1978, the firm is the oldest and largest literary agency in Japan, accounting for approximately 60% of the domestic market. It operates a department-structured platform spanning Translation Rights, Foreign Rights Export (Japanese works), Manga Licensing, International Co-editions, Television/Film Program Distribution, Performance Rights, Merchandising Rights, Newspaper/Magazine Rights, Photo Reproduction Rights, Internet Rights, Ebook Rights, and Lecture Coordination. Exclusive Japanese sales agency appointments include Channel 4 International and National Geographic Television International, and exclusive character merchandising mandates include Macmillan Alice (Alice in Wonderland), Moomin, and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. The platform also extends to a Greater China subsidiary (Big Apple Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., 1990) and an audiovisual/merchandising subsidiary (T.M. International, 1985).

The business model is commission-based rights intermediation: Tuttle-Mori matches rights holders (authors, publishers, broadcasters, character owners) with counterparties in target markets, negotiates contracts, collects royalties, and remits net proceeds to rights holders, retaining a commission on the gross. Long-term representation agreements with major Japanese publishers (Shueisha, Shogakukan, Kodansha) cover flagship manga properties such as Dragon Ball, Weekly Shōnen Jump, and Afternoon series, and the manga division has facilitated licensing to 31+ countries in 19+ languages with 80,000+ historical contracts handled. GTM is sales-led and relationship-driven, with department-specific B2B contacts and a global scout network. International cooperation agreements with peer agencies in Korea, Germany, France, Italy, the US, and the UK underpin cross-border deal flow.

Technology is not proprietary; Tuttle-Mori describes itself as operating with no platform technology, and no AI/ML capabilities are evidenced beyond a 2026 deployment of an AI voice operator for inbound phone reception. Revenue is generated entirely through licensing and royalty commissions across the firm's content-type verticals, with annual sales stated as approximately 5 billion JPY (~$33M USD) on a headcount of 50-64. The firm is privately held by the Mori family and affiliated directors, with no external private equity or venture capital ownership indicated in the source material.

Name

Tuttle Mori Agency

Legal name

株式会社タトル・モリ エイジェンシー

Website

https://tuttlemori.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Tuttle-Mori Agency is Japan's oldest and largest literary and media rights agency, intermediating translation, manga, character merchandising, and TV/film licensing between Japanese rights holders and international publishers, broadcasters, and merchandisers, and accounting for roughly 60% of the domestic market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary and Media Rights Agency

NAICS

Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Production (7819)

akta.pro primary industry

Translated & International Trade Publishing (Rights/Localizations) (MPAJAAAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Publishing Administration (Catalog Admin, Global Subpublishing) (MPAIABAB), Rights, ISBN & Publishing Administration Services (Identifiers, Metadata, Royalties) (MPAJAJAK), Manga Publishing (Japanese & Global) (MPAJAGAA), Merchandising, Character & Brand Licensing (MPADALAF)

Keywords

• Translation rights agency
• Manga licensing
• Character merchandising rights
• Literary agency Japan
• TV program distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Translation Rights Intermediation: Commission-based intermediary services for translation rights of foreign works into Japanese and Japanese works abroad, handling contracts, royalty collection, and remittance to rights holders
2. Manga Licensing: Facilitating Japanese manga licensing to international publishers across 31+ countries and 19+ languages
3. Character Merchandising Rights: Merchandising rights intermediation for international characters including Moomin, Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, and others in Japan
4. Television/Film Program Distribution: Exclusive Japanese sales agent for Channel 4 International and National Geographic Television International programming
5. Performance/Theatrical Rights: Brokerage of performance rights for plays, theatrical adaptations, and stage productions

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Tuttle-Mori Agency is a literary and media rights agency that intermediates intellectual property rights between Japan and overseas markets. The company brokers translation rights, manga licensing, character merchandising, television/film program distribution, performance rights, and other ancillary rights on behalf of rights holders and publishers. Services include contract negotiation, royalty collection and remittance, tax treaty compliance, and international co-publishing coordination, with specialized departments for Fiction, Non-fiction, Children's, Manga, Merchandising, and TV/Film rights.

Product overview

Tuttle Mori Agency is a traditional literary and media rights agency operating as a unified platform for intellectual property licensing. The agency offers a comprehensive suite of rights mediation services organized by content type and market direction, including Translation Rights (bringing foreign works to Japan), Foreign Rights Export (licensing Japanese works abroad), Manga Licensing, Co-editions for illustrated works, Television/Film Distribution, Performance Rights, Merchandising Rights, and ancillary services like Lecture Coordination and Internet Rights. The agency handles over 80,000 contracted works and manages approximately 60% of Japan's literary translation rights market. Services are provided through specialized departments staffed by domain experts, with downloadable tax forms and contract documents available via the company website.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Translation Rights Mediation
• Foreign Rights Export (Japanese Works)
• Manga Licensing
• Co-editions and Illustrated Books
• Television and Film Program Distribution Represents international TV and film distributors including Channel 4 International and National Geographic Television International for Japanese sales, handling television, film, and video rights.
• Performance Rights Facilitates dramatic rights, stage adaptation rights, and theatrical licensing for plays and musical adaptations of literary works for Japanese productions.
• Newspaper and Magazine Publication Rights Handles the licensing of excerpt and serialization rights for newspapers and magazines.
• Merchandising Rights Manages character merchandising and licensing for international properties including Moomin and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, handling product commercialization and advertising use rights.
• Lecture Coordination Organizes and coordinates lecture visits to Japan by international authors and speakers, including Nobel laureates and prominent figures.
• Internet Rights Handles digital and internet rights for online publication and digital distribution of literary works.
• Photo Reproduction Rights Manages photo reproduction and image licensing rights for international authors and publications.
• Ebook Rights Digital publishing rights for electronic book formats and digital distribution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Handled over 80,000 rights contracts in its history
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• S.J. Greenburger AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation agreement signed in 1979 for international rights intermediation. S.J. Greenburger Associates is based in New York City.
• Eric Yang Agency (Korea)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation agreement signed in 1995 for Korean market representation.
• Gutmann + Gutmann GmbH (Germany)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation agreement signed in 1995 for German market representation.
• Frédérique Porretta Agence Littéraire (France)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation agreement signed in 1996 for French market representation.
• International Publishing Studio (Italy)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation agreement signed in 1997 for Italian market representation.
• M.P. Robert (formerly of F. Porretta Agence)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScouting agreement signed in 2002 following the closure of F. Porretta Agence.
• Channel 4 InternationalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive Japanese sales agent for Channel 4 International television programming. Established as in-house Program Licensing Department in 2007.
• National Geographic Television InternationalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExclusive Japanese sales agent for National Geographic Television International programming. Part of in-house Program Licensing Department established in 2007.
• Big Apple Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSubsidiary company (invested in 1990) based in Taiwan/China for Greater China market representation. Originally 大蘋果股份有限公司 before investment and renaming.
• Maria B. Campbell AssociatesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNew York-based scout office for US market. Located at 381 Park Avenue South, Suite 1321, New York, NY 10016.
• Koukla MacLehose AssociatesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLondon-based literary scout covering Europe including the UK. Located at 3 Westbourne Road, London N7 8AR.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ICM Partners (now part of CAA): CAA/ICM is one of the largest global talent and literary agencies, representing authors and brokering film/TV, translation, and merchandising rights at scale — a broader incumbent operating in adjacent author-rights space.
• Shueisha (集英社): Shueisha is one of Japan's largest manga publishers and a key Tuttle-Mori principal; it operates its own expanding international rights business and represents both customer-side and increasingly competitive overlap with Tuttle-Mori.
• VIZ Media: VIZ Media is the largest English-language manga publisher in North America and a major manga rights licensee; it is both a major customer of Tuttle-Mori's manga licensing business and a comparable manga-IP intermediary.

Direct peers

• Andrew Nurnberg Associates: Andrew Nurnberg Associates is the largest international literary agency focused on translation rights between Asia (including China and Russia) and Western publishers, directly comparable to Tuttle-Mori's cross-border translation and rights intermediation model.
• Japan UNI Agency: Japan UNI Agency is a leading Japanese literary agency handling translation rights in both directions between Japan and overseas publishers, making it the closest direct competitor to Tuttle-Mori within the Japanese market.
• Janklow & Nesbit: Janklow & Nesbit is a top-tier New York literary agency handling translation, film/TV, and subsidiary rights for major authors, comparable to Tuttle-Mori's high-end outbound rights representation work for Japanese content.
• The Wylie Agency: The Wylie Agency is a major international literary agency representing authors worldwide and brokering translation, film/TV, and subsidiary rights globally — a direct functional analog to Tuttle-Mori's outbound rights business.
• Curtis Brown Group: Curtis Brown is one of the world's leading literary and talent agencies, representing authors and brokering translation, film/TV, and performance rights — directly comparable to Tuttle-Mori's full-stack rights intermediation model.
• Japan Foreign-Rights Centre (JFRC): JFRC is a Japan-based rights agency that intermediates translation and subsidiary rights between Japanese and foreign publishers, operating in the same addressable market as Tuttle-Mori's translation rights division.

Others

• Maria B. Campbell Associates: Maria B. Campbell Associates is a New York-based literary scouting firm that serves as Tuttle-Mori's US scout, illustrating the broader ecosystem of literary scouts and intermediaries that complement or compete with full-service literary agencies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tuttle-mori-agency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tuttle Mori Agency