Line Corporation
Japanese subsidiary of South Korean internet search giant Naver
Line Corporation (LINE株式会社, LINE Kabushiki gaisha) was a Japanese internet company headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, best known for the messaging app Line. It was majority-owned by the South Korean internet company Naver from 2013 to 2021. From March 2021 it was a wholly owned subsidiary of Z Holdings, which was in turn controlled by A Holdings Corporation, a joint venture in which SoftBank Corp. and Naver each held a 50% stake.
On the 1 October 2023, Line Corporation transferred its Japanese business to LY Corporation and was renamed Z Intermediate Global Corporation, itself becoming a subsidiary of LY Corporation. It continues to hold the group's overseas subsidiaries under the new name.
History
Line Corporation was founded on September 4, 2000, as Hangame Japan as a part of Hangame, a South Korean game company owned by NHN at the time. In August 2003, the company was renamed to NHN Japan.
In 2007 Naver established another Japanese subsidiary Naver Japan, which managed the Naver search engine in Japan before its demise. Naver Japan acquired Livedoor in 2010.
The public source identifies “Line Corporation” as japanese subsidiary of South Korean internet search giant Naver. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Line, Corporation and Japanese.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Line Corporation”, the useful work is to connect “japanese subsidiary of South Korean internet search giant Naver” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q11229109. VIAF identifies the subject as 315196587. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013, 2021, 2023 and 2000.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Line Corporation”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Line Corporation primary sources, Line Corporation archive and Line research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Line Corporation”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Line Corporation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.