Blog 3: Circulation figures

Circulation figures in the Japanese Magazine Publishers Association

The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association reported on Tuesday that Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump dipped in circulation beneath two million. The average circulation number for March (2017) period was around 1,915,000.

The manga magazine's circulation suddenly fell by about 91,000 from the December (2016) period when it was about 2,005,833. It was the average circulation number for the July to September period, which was less than one third of the magazine's record circulation of 6.53 million in (1994).

The circulations of Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine and Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazines unfortunately did also fall from January-March (2017). Weekly Shonen Magazine's circulation decreased around 22,000 from the previous period to around 964,158. Weekly Shonen Sunday's circulation increased about 3,600 to around 319,667.

Moreover, The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association reported in (2015) that circulation in all three magazines had suddenly dropped by more than 10% in the previous year. Although JMPA reported that Weekly Shonen Jump rose slightly in circulation in (2009) and (2010), Japan's manga magazine circulation has been reported as falling since at least (2006). Weekly Shōnen Magazine's circulation dropped below two million in and below one million last year. JMPA previously noted that each company is putting effort into digital publication, which may account for part of the decrease in print circulation.

The chart below shows the circulation numbers for all three magazines beginning with the January-March (2014) period.