Hokusaido Druckerei

Founded in 1914, Hokuseido Press is one of Japan's oldest publishers of English-language books. It was based in Tokyo and played a significant role in cultural and literary exchange between Japan and the West throughout the 20th century.

The press specialized in several overlapping areas: English-language teaching materials for Japanese students, translations of Japanese literature into English, and translations of Buddhist and Zen texts. Their catalog included works on Japanese literature, poetry, drama, history, and translations of figures like Lafcadio Hearn, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, and Yukichi Fukuzawa.

Hokuseido was a significant publisher in the field of Zen and Buddhist literature in English. R. H. Blyth, the renowned English writer on Zen and haiku, published nearly all of his books through Hokuseido Press, including his landmark Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics (1942) and his multi-volume Haiku series.

The press remained active well into the 2000s. Hokuseido published a study on Blyth's Zen as late as 2005, showing considerable longevity. (Source: Claude.ai)