In 2022, Japan’s estimated comic sales of both electronic and print comic books were recorded to be ¥677 billion. With this record figure, Japan achieved a third consecutive annual high for sales of comic books. The data comes from the Research Institute for Publications and the All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association. Now, comic sales’ contribution to the publishing industry increased by 1.1 percentage points to 41.5%.
In 2020, Japan’s comic sales crossed ¥600 billion, and this growth was attributed to the massive popularity of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series. Another factor that contributed towards the sales hit was the pandemic when people would spend more time indoors due to the lockdown. In 2021, an additional 10.3% increase was recorded, but in 2022, comic sales in Japan only increased slightly.
When it comes to media type, sales of e-comics read no mobile devices rose every year by 8.9% and reached ¥447.9 billion. And the sales of print-based tankōbon digest comic books dropped by 16.0% to reach ¥175.4 billion. In addition, the total sales of comic magazines also declined by 3.8% to ¥53.7 billion.
According to recent trends, the market scale for printed comics remained flat at nearly ¥250 billion. This is for combined sales of tankōbon books and magazines. In 1995, it was estimated that print-based comics made total sales of ¥335.7 billion. Over the past two and a half decades, the market has shrunk by nearly one-sixth. On the other hand, the e-comic market size has grown by two and a half within the past five years.
Weekly Shōnen Jump reported total sales of 6.53 million copies in 1994. But this figure has dropped to 1.26 million. Also, Shūeisha is very active in the e-comics industry, distributing comics through its mobile app and website, Shōnen Jump+.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.
