In 1888, it became independent and published primarily textbooks and reference books in the fields of mathematics, physics, geography and agriculture.

[4][5] In 1951, Kawade Shobō published the major best-selling nonfiction book by Shintarō Ryū [ja], titled Mono no Mikata ni Tsuite (ものの見方について).

[7] Many of the Prize's winners became major bestsellers, including Yasuo Tanaka's 1981 novel Somehow, Crystal,[8] and Akemi Hotta's 1981 novel 1980 Aiko 16-sai  [ja].

[15] In 1987, Kawade Shobō Shinsha published Machi Tawara's debut collection of tanka poems, Salad Anniversary  [ja].

[17] In the 1990s, Masaya Nakahara[18] and Shū Fujisawa[19] and other writers published their debut works through Kawade Shobō Shinsha.

In 1998, Kawade Shobō Shinsha coined the term J-bungaku [de], a genre of easily consumable contemporary Japanese literature for the average young city dweller.

[citation needed] In January 2004, Risa Wataya was awarded the 130th Akutagawa Prize for her novel I Want to Kick You in the Back (蹴りたい背中, Keritai Senaka).

Kawade Shobō Shinsha organized an in-store fair to sell objective publications about Japanese social issues, titled 今、この国を考える〜「嫌」でもなく「呆」でもなく (Ima, Kono Kuni o Kangaeru〜 "Iya" de mo Naku "Hō" de mo Naku).

The selection was conducted in collaboration with writers and critics, including Eiji Oguma, Toshiki Okada, Kazuhiro Soda, Kyoko Nakajima, Keiichiro Hirano, Tomoyuki Hoshino and Tatsuya Mori.