Arya News - An era centered on magazines and paperbacks has passed, and digital editions, adaptations into films and animation, and licensing revenue are becoming the main pillars of revenue for major publishers.
TOKYO – The circulation of Shueisha Inc.’s Weekly Shonen Jump manga magazine, which produced numerous popular titles such as “Dragon Ball” and “Slam Dunk,” once boasted a circulation of 6 million copies. Now, the figure has fallen below 1 million. At the same time, the use of manga apps continues to expand rapidly due to the widespread adoption of smartphones.
An era centered on magazines and paperbacks has passed, and digital editions, adaptations into films and animation, and licensing revenue are becoming the main pillars of revenue for major publishers.
The Weekly Shonen Jump was first published in 1968 — a latecomer compared to Kodansha Ltd.’s Weekly Shonen Magazine and Shogakukan Inc.’s Weekly Shonen Sunday, both of which were launched in 1959.
Focusing on discovering and nurturing new talent and backed by hits such as “Dokonjo Gaeru” (“The Gutsy Frog”,) the magazine steadily increased its circulation. In December 1994, while serializing titles such as “Dragon Ball,” it reached 6.53 million copies — the highest circulation in the history of manga magazines.
However, following a downturn in the publishing industry, circulation began to decline. In 2017, circulation fell below 2 million copies, and according to the Japan Magazine Publishers Association’s certified print circulation figures, the three-month average from April to June was 985,000 copies — falling below the 1 million mark.
However, Shueisha hasn’t been sitting idly. Since 2014, it has distributed the manga app Shonen Jump Plus and released a string of popular titles, such as “Spy×Family” and “Kaiju Hachigo” (“Kaiju No. 8”).
In recent years, the company has placed a strong emphasis on its intellectual property (IP) division — which handles film adaptations and character licensing — in addition to its core publishing business.
This year, they opened The Jump Shop Jimbocho in Tokyo’s Jimbocho district, stocking the store not only with merchandise for titles like “One Piece” but also products aimed at adults, such as reproductions of original artwork and high-quality art posters.
According to its financial results for the fiscal year ending in May, revenue from IP-related businesses and other sources accounted for 50% of total sales, surpassing publishing revenue for the first time. This was reportedly driven in part by the success of the movie adaptation of the popular manga “Kimetsu no Yaiba” (“Demon Slayer”).
The trend of publishing companies evolving into comprehensive entertainment enterprises is also evident from the movements of other companies.
According to Kodansha’s financial results for the fiscal year ending last November, revenue from print publications as “products” totaled ¥43 billion (down 8.6% year-on-year), while “digital revenue” from digital editions totaled ¥86.3 billion (up 8.2% year-on-year), performing strongly and accounting for half of total revenue. The company distributes the manga app “Comic Days,” and its story-reading service is reportedly performing well.
Kodansha’s Magazine once exceeded 4 million copies at its peak in the 1990s. However, circulation has declined at an accelerating rate, falling below 1 million copies in 2016. Its most recent three-month average circulation stands at 281,000 copies, having fallen below the 300,000-copy mark.
Similarly, Shogakukan’s Sunday,” which once exceeded 2 million copies, now stands at 120,000 copies.
Success stories in digitization
Amid the ongoing slump in print publishing, manga has emerged as one of the few success stories in digitization.
According to the Research Institute for Publications, the estimated sales value of the manga market combining print and digital formats in 2025 was ¥692.5 billion, down 1.7% year-on-year. Print sales fell 14% year-on-year to ¥165.2 billion, while digital sales rose 2.9% year-on-year to ¥527.3 billion, accounting for more than 70% of the market.
“The digitization of manga is definitely progressing,” said Masaaki Hara, director of the institute who analyzed the decline in Weekly Shonen Jump circulation below 1 million copies. “It can no longer be understood solely in terms of print and digital sales, but its influence is growing as a massive IP that includes adaptations into films and TV shows, as well as merchandise sales.”
While major publishers specializing in digital manga are performing well, bankruptcies in the publishing industry (with liabilities of ¥10 million or more) are surging, particularly among long-established publishers that rely primarily on print books.
According to Tokyo Shoko Research, Ltd., bankruptcies from January to July of this year totaled 21 cases — a 90.9% increase compared to the same period last year — marking the first time in seven years that the number has exceeded 20. The company noted, “Publishers without manga titles find it difficult to enter the IP business and are also hesitant to embrace digitization.”