Living in Japan over the past fifty years, physical manga was everywhere. Chain bookstores, small independent shops and untold millions reading then on the train to work or school. Things have dramatically shifted in the past couple of years. Last year print and digital combined sales were 4.67 billion US.
It marked the fifth consecutive year of record sales, with digital formats now making up 72.7 percent of the market. Sales of print versions continued to decline after a boost in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic faded, the Research Institute for Publications said.
One of the key driven factors is the sheer number of existing and new entrants to the digital markets. Bookwalker, MangaMee, Jump+, Amazon Japan, Honto and tons of others. People in Europe and North America are also buying more physical and digital manga these days from Viz, Barnes and Noble, Google, Amazon, Kodansha, Kobo and tons of new startups.
I find it very interesting on how just ingrained the manga market is on Japanese culture. It represents 44.8 percent of the country’s publishing market.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.