{"id":53156,"date":"2025-10-22T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=53156"},"modified":"2025-10-21T18:46:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T09:46:46","slug":"japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Happinet, Japanese entertainment company and subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings, recently conducted a survey on the \u201ckidult phenomenon\u201d in Japan. As reported by GameBiz<\/a>, the survey suggests that Japan has around 5.35 million people aged 18-60 who fall into the so-called kidult demographic, estimating that the kidult market has reached a whopping 78 billion yen (over $500 million USD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The term \u201ckidult\u201d is a portmanteau of the words \u201ckid\u201d and \u201cadult,\u201d and it refers to adults who engage in content consumption and hobbies that are originally targeted towards for children.\u201d A total of 15,875 men and women aged 18~60 were asked whether they had purchased any such toys\/merchandise for personal use in the past year \u2013 and 15.8% said they did. Furthermore, 8.3% of the overall participants confessed to buying products that specifically have \u201ckidults\u201d as their main target audience. If we apply these percentages to the population estimates set by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, it can be presumed that the overall number of \u201ckidults\u201d in Japan has reached approximately 5.35 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Covering a sample of 1,089 men and women aged 18~60, the next question Happinet had for the survey participants was about their motives behind purchasing toys. Apparently, 48.6% of them answered that \u201cthey buy toys on a whim, because they make them feel nostalgic,\u201d and 27.6% said that their reason was \u201cbecause they wanted\/couldn\u2019t buy them when they were kids.\u201d This data suggests that most kidults\u2019 purchasing decisions are heavily influenced by childhood nostalgia, as well as gaining more financial freedom in adulthood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most popular type of item among Japanese kidults was stuffed toys, with 48.5% of participants admitting to buying them most frequently. Collector toys, character figures and toy cars were also shown to have a decent amount of popularity. However, what\u2019s interesting is that approximately 50% of buyers of each of these categories of toys (except collector toys) were customers that have been purchasing the same toys since childhood. The survey data also shows that around 30% of participants are returning customers that came back to buying toys after achieving financial independence or becoming parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Finally, when asked how satisfied they were with their purchases, 57.4% of participants said they were highly satisfied, and 36.5% said they were somewhat satisfied \u2013 making it a total of 93.9% of participants in the \u201csatisfied\u201d category. Furthermore, 91.6% expressed interest in making more purchases in the future. The high level of satisfaction leads to more consumption, and as the survey suggests \u2013 this could open the door for the \u201ckidult\u201d market to expand even further. Data shows that kidults spend an average of 14,574 yen ($96 USD) per year on toys and merchandise, which when applied to the overall population of over 5 million, led Happinet to estimate the \u201ckidult market\u201d to be worth around 78 billion yen (over $500 million USD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost 19% of Japanese people in their 20s have spent so much money on gacha they struggled with covering living expenses, survey reveals\u00a0
<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent survey by Happinet suggests Japan’s “kidult” population has reached 5.35 million people and a market worth more than $500 million USD. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":53160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,65],"tags":[17,66],"class_list":["post-53156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-nongaming-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-non-gaming-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recent survey suggests Japan's "kidult" population has reached 5.35 million people and a market worth more than $500 million USD.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent survey suggests Japan's "kidult" population has reached 5.35 million people and a market worth more than $500 million USD.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251021-53156-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"739\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u0110or\u0111e P\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u0110or\u0111e P\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"A recent survey suggests Japan's \"kidult\" population has reached 5.35 million people and a market worth more than $500 million USD.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Japan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"A recent survey suggests Japan's \"kidult\" population has reached 5.35 million people and a market worth more than $500 million USD.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":739,"height":330,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251021-53156-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"\u0110or\u0111e P","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u0110or\u0111e P","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/"},"author":{"name":"\u0110or\u0111e P","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e62deb6406bad91fe5f441afc29c1696"},"headline":"Japan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows","datePublished":"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/"},"wordCount":495,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251021-53156-header.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)","Non-Gaming News"],"articleSection":["News","Non-Gaming News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/","name":"Japan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251021-53156-header.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-21T17:00:00+00:00","description":"A recent survey suggests Japan's \"kidult\" population has reached 5.35 million people and a market worth more than $500 million USD.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251021-53156-header.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/20251021-53156-header.jpg","width":739,"height":330},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japan-has-a-kidult-population-of-over-5-million-consumption-of-toys-and-kids-content-fueled-by-nostalgia-survey-shows\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Japan has a \u201ckidult\u201d population of over 5 million. Consumption of toys and kids\u2019 content fueled by nostalgia, survey shows"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e62deb6406bad91fe5f441afc29c1696","name":"\u0110or\u0111e P","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/profil-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/profil-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/profil-150x150.jpg","caption":"\u0110or\u0111e P"},"description":"Automaton West Editor","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/djordje-p\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53156"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53174,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53156\/revisions\/53174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}