Japan's Publishers See Declining Sales, Digital Comics Offer Bright Spot

Sales Estimates Show Growth in Electronic Sales, Slump in Print

TOKYO, Jan 28 (News On Japan) - Despite strong sales of digital comics, a significant decline in the sale of print books led to a combined decrease in overall sales of published materials for the second consecutive year.

According to a summary by the Research Institute for Publications, the estimated sales of published materials for the past year, combining print and digital, were 1.6 trillion yen ($10 billion), a 2.1% decrease from the previous year.

This marks the second consecutive year of decline. Digital publishing sales exceeded the previous year by 6.7%, reaching 535.1 billion yen, with 'digital comics' in particular thriving due to strategies such as services that allow the purchase of individual episodes and collaborations with publishers to offer exclusive early releases, accounting for 90% of total digital publishing sales.

Sales of 'print' publications, including books and magazines, fell by 6%, amounting to 1.0612 trillion yen ($7.1 billion). In the book category, despite the success of genres such as 'literature' and 'educational books', driven by notable works like Haruki Murakami's first novel in six years and Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's sequel after 42 years, 'business' and 'practical books' did not perform well.

The Research Institute for Publications suggests that "the decline in sales of print books is attributed to the convergence of the nesting demand caused by COVID-19, as well as a historic rise in prices leading to consumer restraint in book purchases."

by Brian Dentry

Source: NHK

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