VIZ Media Europe Names New President

PARIS: Hyoe Narita has been promoted to the role of president of VIZ Media Europe (VME).

Narita, the former executive VP at VIZ Media in San Francisco, will replace John Easum, who will be stepping down at the end of the month to pursue new initiatives. Narita will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations in Europe, along with Cedric Littardi, the managing director of Kazé, and Nicolas Weber Krebs, the managing director of VIZ Media Switzerland.

After nine years working in the publishing industry for Shogakukan in Japan, Narita spent the last nine years at VIZ Media in San Francisco, helping VIZ Media become a market leader in manga distribution. Narita was responsible for all of VIZ Media’s publications in the U.S., including the negotiating process for rights to publish Japanese products in North America.