Amazon.com Inc may enter the Japanese e-book market this year and launch its Kindle readers in the market, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The largest internet retailer, which plans to set up an online e-book store this year, is in final stages of negotiations with publishers like Shogakukan Inc, Shueisha Inc, Kodansha Ltd and Shinchosha Publishing Co, the Nikkei said.

Midsize publisher PHP Institute Inc is expected to provide about 1,000 digitized titles To Amazon, the daily reported.

Japanese publishers have been reluctant to provide content to Amazon over concerns that the retailer will sell e-books at up to a discount of 90 percent, as in the U.S., the daily said.

The Japanese e-book market was estimated at only 65 billion yen ($846.9 million) in fiscal 2010, compared with about 2 trillion yen for printed books and magazines, Nikkei said.

(Reporting by Arpita Mukherjee in Bangalore)

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