Apple Updates iBooks with Paid Japanese Books, Greater Asian Language Support - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Updates iBooks with Paid Japanese Books, Greater Asian Language Support

by

Apple today updated iBooks to version 3.1, bringing new support for paid books in Japan and enhanced support for Asian languages.

What's New in Version 3.1

The iBookstore in Japan now has hundreds of thousands of books available for purchase, including fiction,
manga, light novels and more. This version of iBooks also includes a number of improvements for reading
Asian language books.

ibooks_paid_japan
iBooks is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

175 months ago
Buy direct from Japan

I've got a question for those in the know. Is Apple building an iBookstore where people anywhere can buy ebooks from any country? It would certainly be simpler for the Japanese iBookstore handle all the Japanese language titles but sell to people anywhere.

I'm sure there may be rights issues, but that could be worked around if the publisher has the rights in both countries. And it'd be great if iBooks knew how to find and buy books from all the countries where's there's a store.

Books shouldn't be bound by borders.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ChristianVirtual Avatar
175 months ago
Books shouldn't be bound by borders.

Books shouldn't be, music and movies too. But they are. At least with Kindle I still can buy English books also while beeing in Japan. The border-thinking makes digital content for me difficult to fully adopt. As much as I would like to.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
a0me Avatar
175 months ago
And yet I had to buy the Kindle version of Steve Jobs because the Japanese iTunes store only sells the Japanese version. (Amazon and the Kindle store sells both the original and the Japanese translation)

----------

And yet they still display the date in the USA format. :rolleyes:
The screenshots is taken with the US settings.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
175 months ago
I like how the pic is One Piece!

Love that manga!!!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
175 months ago
And yet they still display the date in the USA format. :rolleyes:

Couldn't possibly be because that iPad is set to English language mode :rolleyes:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
175 months ago
And yet they still display the date in the USA format. :rolleyes:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Wednesday July 29, 2026 11:39 am PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system that is essentially a mix of tvOS, watchOS, and iOS, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said the operating system will feature a grid of icons, widgets, and apps, along with customizable clock faces. The new software platform is intended for Apple's long-rumored smart home hub. With built-in facial recognition,...
imac video apple feature

Apple Made Its Second-Biggest Acquisition Ever This Year

Wednesday July 29, 2026 12:03 pm PDT by
Apple this year acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014. This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019. Q.ai...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Twelve Changes Coming to Apple's Next Flagship

Thursday July 30, 2026 3:43 am PDT by
We're less than two months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a dramatic change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year,...

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors