Nintendo 3DS getting e-book service in Japan on October 20th

Nintendo is launching an e-book service for the 3DS in Japan on October 20th, a free downloadable application via the eShop called "Bookstore Anywhere."

Nintendo is launching an e-book service for the 3DS in Japan on October 20th, a free application available on the eShop called "Bookstore Anywhere," reports Nikkei.

Literature can be purchased via the application, with over 100 serialized manga series available when the service begins. Novels and magazines will be added to the service post-launch.

The service is run by digital publications company Librica, comprised of Japanese publishers Kadokawa Shoten (serialized Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion), Kodansha (Weekly Shonen Magazine), Shueisha (Shonen Jump magazine), and Shogakukan (CoroCoro magazine). The company was formed in 2008 to bring a manga reading program to the Wii similar to the Wii no Ma video service.

We have reached out to Nintendo to ask if the company may launch a similar service internationally, and will update this story with more information as we receive it.