Who owns Niconico?
Niconico is owned by Kadokawa (Japan, TSE: 9468).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: KADOKAWA Group — Group companies, KADOKAWA CORPORATION. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- KADOKAWA CORPORATION reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇯🇵 Japan, Tokyo
- Origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- Founded
- 2006
- Category
- Internet & digital › Search & social › Video platforms
- Parent ticker
- TSE: 9468
- Last verified
- · 3 sources
About Niconico
Niconico is a Japanese video and live-streaming service launched in 2006, distinguished by viewer comments that scroll across the picture as it plays. It is operated by Dwango, a consolidated subsidiary of Kadokawa, which describes it as the core of its web services business and holds the annual Niconico Chokaigi event to bring the online community together in person.
Ownership timeline of Niconico
Where Niconico sits in Kadokawa
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Kadokawa ownership tree →
See the full Kadokawa brand portfolio (9) →
Other brands owned by Kadokawa
Kadokawa controls 9 brands on Brandtree, 6 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
- Acquire (1994)
- BOOK☆WALKER (2010)
- FromSoftware (1986)
- Kakuyomu (2016)
- Spike Chunsoft (2012)
Other brands in video platforms, and who owns them
The 18 brands in video platforms on Brandtree belong to 13 owners. The largest is Kuaishou, with 2.
About the owner: Kadokawa
Kadokawa is a publicly listed company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1945. Brandtree records 9 brands under its control, and it is listed as TSE: 9468.
Kadokawa is a Japanese entertainment group that began on 10 November 1945, when the literary scholar Genyoshi Kadokawa set up a publishing company. It moved into film in 1976 and combined with the internet company Dwango on 1 October 2014, the date of establishment of the present corporation. It now publishes more than 5,500 new titles a year, produces animation and live-action film, develops video games through FromSoftware, Spike Chunsoft and Acquire, runs the Niconico video service and operates schools. Its shares trade on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
🇯🇵 Niconico and other Japanese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 437 brands that began in Japan. 21 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Niconico is not one of them.
- ABEMA — CyberAgent 🇯🇵
- Animal Crossing — Nintendo 🇯🇵
- Dragon Quest — Square Enix 🇯🇵
- Elden Ring — Bandai Namco 🇯🇵
- Ikyu.com — LY Corporation 🇯🇵
- Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu — Konami 🇯🇵
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Niconico?
The parent company of Niconico is Kadokawa, a publicly listed company headquartered in Japan.
Is Niconico Japanese?
Yes. Niconico originated in Japan in 2006 and its owner, Kadokawa, is also headquartered in Japan.
Is Niconico still owned by Kadokawa?
Yes. As of 4 October 2026, Niconico is still owned by Kadokawa. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (3) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] KADOKAWA Group — Group companies — KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Official document; retrieved 4 October 2026.
- [2] KADOKAWA Group — Business overview: Web services — KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Official document; retrieved 4 October 2026.
- [3] KADOKAWA Integrated Report 2025 — KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Annual report; retrieved 4 October 2026.
Report a correction Opens a pre-filled GitHub issue. See our corrections policy.