Over two-hundred chapters identified as a "Lesson" have been serialized. Viz Media licensed Gin Tama for publication in North America. A 55-page preview from the series was first featured in the January 2006 Shonen Jump issue. Viz acquired the license to publish chapters from the series in the Shonen Jump during the San Diego Comic-Con International from 2006. The chapters were serialized in Shonen Jump from January to May 2007 at a rate of one chapter a month. Shueisha is also publishing the first chapters of Gin Tama online on their Weekly Shōnen Jump official website. On April 4, 2006, an anime adaptation from the series, developed by Sunrise and directed initially by Shinji Takamatsu and later by Yoichi Fujita, premiered on TV Tokyo.