One of the larger Japanese independents, Asmik Ace Entertainment is in fact an offshoot of two major corporations: Sumitomo, which set up its Asmik division to develop video games; and Ace Pictures, once part of the historic Nippon Herald, which was merged into Kadokawa in 2005. Asmik Ace Entertainment was set up in 1997 and is a producer and sales agent as well as a distributor of independent and non-English-language titles in Japan.