February 01, 2010
Manga circulation in Japan
When analyzing the social and literary importance of manga in Japan, the discussion must set aside the nerdy pop culture niche comics occupy in the U.S. (except when Hollywood turns a superhero comic into another blockbuster). Not even the term "graphic novel" elevates its image much beyond Comic Book Guy in The Simpsons.
In 2009, manga in Japan sold a little over five billion units (periodicals and compilations), coming to a quarter of the entire publishing business in gross sales, and constituting a third of all print runs. To make a rough analogy, manga is to publishing in Japan what romance is to publishing in the U.S. (the snob factor among critics is similar too).
The reason for the misalignment between gross sales and print runs is that the business is run on such tight margins. Manga compilations and anthologies sold in the most popular "perfect bound" format—"Ko B-ban"—retail for less than five dollars.
A better analogue is Hollywood television production, with hundreds of thousands of people generating thousands of hours of content 24/7 for the networks and cable channels. The economic models are similar too. Like the television studios, manga magazines loss lead on first serial rights and turn a profit on licensing and compilations.
Manga is basically in the same visual storytelling business on a tenth of the budget. But with Japan's population in decline, the aging of the tween/teen audience is weakening manga's hold on its customer base, leading to the problem of monetizing content in new media markets.
These declines, though, are more like glaciers melting. It's the slow, steady slide that worries the accountants, not the falling off of cliffs. Even so, the circulation numbers make clear how big a cultural influence manga remains in Japan. When it comes to periodicals focused almost entirely on narrative fiction, nothing in the U.S. compares.
I've sorted the top five in each category (entire list here). For comparison purposes, Japan's population is about a third that of the U.S.
In 2009, manga in Japan sold a little over five billion units (periodicals and compilations), coming to a quarter of the entire publishing business in gross sales, and constituting a third of all print runs. To make a rough analogy, manga is to publishing in Japan what romance is to publishing in the U.S. (the snob factor among critics is similar too).
The reason for the misalignment between gross sales and print runs is that the business is run on such tight margins. Manga compilations and anthologies sold in the most popular "perfect bound" format—"Ko B-ban"—retail for less than five dollars.
A better analogue is Hollywood television production, with hundreds of thousands of people generating thousands of hours of content 24/7 for the networks and cable channels. The economic models are similar too. Like the television studios, manga magazines loss lead on first serial rights and turn a profit on licensing and compilations.
Manga is basically in the same visual storytelling business on a tenth of the budget. But with Japan's population in decline, the aging of the tween/teen audience is weakening manga's hold on its customer base, leading to the problem of monetizing content in new media markets.
These declines, though, are more like glaciers melting. It's the slow, steady slide that worries the accountants, not the falling off of cliffs. Even so, the circulation numbers make clear how big a cultural influence manga remains in Japan. When it comes to periodicals focused almost entirely on narrative fiction, nothing in the U.S. compares.
I've sorted the top five in each category (entire list here). For comparison purposes, Japan's population is about a third that of the U.S.
| Boy's Comics | ||
| Weekly Shonen Jump Weekly Shonen Magazine Coro Coro Comic Monthly Shonen Magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday | Shueisha Kodansha Shogakukan Kodansha Shogakukan | 2,809,362 1,650,205 911,667 904,084 773,062 |
| The next 11 | 1,526,337 | |
| Men's Comics | ||
| Young Magazine Weekly Young Jump Big Comic Original Weekly Manga Goraku Big Comic | Kodansha Shueisha Shogakukan Nihon Bungeisha Shogakukan | 857,013 852,938 791,917 500,000 487,834 |
| The next 30 | 5,307,910 | |
| Girl's Comics | ||
| Ciao Nakayoshi Bessatsu Margaret Ribon Hana to Yume | Shogakukan Kodansha Shueisha Shueisha Hakusensha | 815,455 306,667 275,834 274,167 226,542 |
| The next 12 | 1,329,664 | |
| Ladies' Comics | ||
| YOU BE-LOVE Cookie Chorus Kiss | Shueisha Kodansha Shueisha Shueisha Kodansha | 179,542 173,125 165,000 150,417 145,542 |
| The next 10 | 713,112 | |
Related posts
Buying Japanese manga
Manga economics
The manga development cycle
Marketing manga
Labels: japan, literature, manga, pop culture, publishing
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