Kakuyomu

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Kakuyomu (Japanese: カクヨム) is a Japanese website for publishing and reading web novels, operated by Kadokawa Corporation. It was developed jointly by Kadokawa and the internet company Hatena and officially opened on February 29, 2016. Several novels first serialized on the site have been published as light novels and adapted into anime and film.

History

Kadokawa began accepting submissions in December 2015, together with entries for the first Kakuyomu Web Novel Contest, which offered a prize of one million yen and a chance at book publication in each of seven genres. At its official launch, the site allowed users to post fan fiction based on a list of approved commercial titles, including Overlord, Haruhi Suzumiya and Log Horizon.

The contest was later renamed the Kakuyomu Contest from its tenth edition. For the site's tenth anniversary in 2026, its editors selected 100 works from the roughly 600,000 posted since launch.

Notable works

Works first serialized on Kakuyomu include:

• Hige o Soru. Soshite Joshi Kōsei o Hirō by Shimesaba, serialized from March 2017 and later adapted into a television anime.
• My Stepmom's Daughter Is My Ex by Kyōsuke Kamishiro, serialized from August 2017.
• Kinki Chihō no Aru Basho ni Tsuite by Sesuji, a mockumentary horror story that spread through social media and was adapted into a live-action film.
• Sentenced to Be a Hero by Rocket Shōkai, adapted into a television anime that began airing in January 2026.

References

External links

• Official website