The Japanese manga and comic book market size reached a record high of about 700 billion yen (roughly $4.4 billion USD) in the 2020s. But while this may give the impression that manga are being read more than ever in the past couple of years, Japanese author, print journalist and publishing industry researcher Ichishi Iida suggests otherwise. In a column for President Online, Iida compiled numerous recent research reports supporting his theory that the manga industry is seeing a big decline in readership, specifically children and teens.
Traditionally, serialized manga in Japan was largely popularized through magazines and anthologies, such as The Weekly Shonen Jump. Up until 2004, the manga market was significantly larger for manga magazines than for standalone books, Iida suggests. According to data by the Japan School Library Association, at the peak of magazines’ popularity during the 80s, middle and junior high schoolers would read about 10 magazines per month. Fast forward to 2025, that number dropped to just 1. Additionally, the proportion of those who don’t read magazines at all has reached 77.7%.
Iida cautions that, with there being few long-term surveys that provide insight into manga readership over the years, it might be difficult to determine how these trends apply to the readership of standalone manga publications. However, when it comes to manga magazines, school surveys over the years confirm the trend that readership is decreasing among children. Iida points out that, for example, while Corocoro Comics still had a strong following among elementary school boys in both 1996 and 2019, the same couldn’t be said for Shonen Jump among middle and high schoolers, with readership plummeting to roughly one tenth of what it used to be (research data provided by an undisclosed school).
Using data from multiple different surveys, including the 1985 and 1995 data by Japan School Library Association and 2023 data by Benesse Educational Research & Development Institute and Tokyo University, Iida concludes that manga readership among children and teenagers is declining both with physical publications and in digital form. Note that due to the difference in survey methods and sample populations, these results are only for reference, as the author explains.
In 2023, physical manga readership rates for 4th~6th grade elementary schoolers, middle schoolers and high schoolers were 68%, 60% and 49% respectively, which is almost a 20% decline for all three categories compared to 1985 (88%, 85% and 77% respectively).
Interestingly enough, physical manga is still more popular than digital manga among Japanese kids and teenagers, with a 15% readership rate among elementary schoolers, 35% readership rate among middle schoolers and 49% readership rate among high schoolers.
Comparing Japan to Korea, which boasts a much bigger digital comic (webtoon) readership among the same demographics, Iida notes that the “digital manga” culture didn’t have the chance to take off among Japanese children due to several factors. Most notably, the adult-oriented nature of digital comics, whose market has grown primarily thanks to frequent and pricy in-app transactions and subscription plans. As a result, children and young teens, who don’t hold purchasing power and often can’t afford pricier options are neglected, Iiida suggests. Consequently, there are few digital manga that are aimed at younger children. While Corocoro Comics did come out with its own designated manga reading app in 2022, Iida hints that, under these circumstances, it will still be difficult to draw kids and teens to read manga as much as they used to, even in digital form.
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