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Kodansha's Shonen Magazine Circulation Drops Below 1 Million
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association reported on Wednesday that Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine dipped in circulation below one million. The verified average circulation number for the July-September 2016 period stood at 995,017.
The manga magazine's circulation fell by about 20,000 from the April-June period when it was 1,015,659. The average circulation number for the July-September period was about one fourth of the magazine's record circulation of more than 4 million during 1997-1998.
Circulation of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump and Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazines also fell during the July-September 2016 period. Weekly Shonen Jump's circulation fell by about 17,000 from the April-June period to 2,151,667. Weekly Shonen Sunday's circulation fell by about 40,000 to 330,000. The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association noted that each company is putting effort into digital publication, which may account for part of the decrease in print circulation.
The graph below shows circulation numbers for Weekly Shōnen Magazine in blue, Weekly Shonen Jump in red, and Weekly Shonen Sunday in green. The graph shows the periods from January-March 2014 to July-September 2016.
| Period | Weekly Shōnen Magazine | Weekly Shonen Jump | Weekly Shonen Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|
| January-March 2014 | 1,277,500 | 2,715,834 | 461,250 |
| April-June 2014 | 1,245,417 | 2,677,500 | 445,500 |
| July-September 2014 | 1,211,750 | 2,665,834 | 428,417 |
| October-December 2014 | 1,192,267 | 2,605,000 | 411,250 |
| January-March 2015 | 1,156,059 | 2,422,500 | 393,417 |
| April-June 2015 | 1,127,042 | 2,395,000 | 388,417 |
| July-September 2015 | 1,107,840 | 2,376,667 | 369,231 |
| October-December 2015 | 1,085,110 | 2,321,667 | 356,584 |
| January-March 2016 | 1,038,450 | 2,238,333 | 345,667 |
| April-June 2016 | 1,015,659 | 2,168,333 | 369,833 |
| July-September 2016 | 995,017 | 2,161,667 | 330,000 |
The Japanese Magazine Publishers Association reported in April 2015 that Weekly Shōnen Magazine's circulation's dropped about 10% in the previous year. Weekly Shonen Jump and Weekly Shonen Sunday's circulation also dropped 11% and 15%, respectively, in that same year.
This year's 49th issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine (pictured above right) shipped in Japan on Wednesday. Kodansha launched its Shonen Magazine Edge in September 2015 to publish works "at the extreme exterior of the 'Magazine' group." The publisher launched its Magazine Pocket app manga app for iOS and Android devices in July 2015.
