Yen Press was founded in 2006 by former
Borders buyer Kurt Hassler and DC Comics VP
Rich Johnson. In July 2007, it was announced that Yen Press was to absorb
ICEkunion, a Korean publisher that had been publishing
manhwa in the United States. While the manga titles bearing ICEkunion's label would continue to be sold in stores, subsequent printings would bear the Yen Press logo. Hassler assured fans, "We plan to pick up all the existing [ICEkunion] titles...We're going to continue everything, so fans shouldn't worry. None of these series are going to fall into a void." The first issue of Yen Press's comic magazine
Yen Plus was published on July 29, 2008. The magazine became online-only in 2010 and was discontinued altogether in 2013. In 2009, Yen Press announced that it had acquired the rights to
Kiyohiko Azuma's manga
Yotsuba&! and
Azumanga Daioh from their former licensee,
A.D. Vision. In September 2009, Yen Press reissued the first five volumes of
Yotsuba&!, in addition to publishing the sixth volume;
Azumanga Daioh was reissued with a new translation in December 2009. On April 11, 2016, it was announced that Yen Press would function as a joint venture between
Hachette Book Group and major Japanese publisher
Kadokawa Dwango, with Kadokawa owning 51% of the company. In 2017, Yen Press launched JY, an imprint for publishing graphic novels aimed at middle-grade readers. On April 15, 2022, Yen Press, in collaboration with REDICE Studio and RIVERSE, launched Ize Press, an imprint for publishing Korean
webtoons and novels, with their first titles being,
7Fates: Chakho,
Dark Moon, and
The Star Seekers all written and illustrated by HYBE in collaboration with
BTS,
Enhypen, and
Tomorrow X Together respectively. Other titles included were
Tomb Raider King,
The World After the Fall,
The Boxer,
My Gently Raised Beast,
The Remarried Empress, and
Villains Are Destined to Die. At
Anime NYC 2022,
J-Novel Club announced its partnership with Yen Press in order to print their titles. In June 2023, Yen Press began licensing novels from
Kadokawa's Tsukasa Bunko novel imprint for its JY imprint. ==Titles==