In the age of AI summaries, three paper genres in Japan still grew
Behind the “books won’t sell” story, children’s books, business titles, and map/guidebooks are holding the line. For printers: where to take margin, and which jobs to decline—on purpose.
In 2025, Japan’s print publishing market fell to 964.7 billion yen (about $6.4B), dropping below 1 trillion yen. Yet in the same year, ORICON reported that “BOOK” sales excluding bunko paperbacks and comics totaled 453.34 billion yen (about $3.0B) and turned positive year-on-year for the first time in nine years. ORICON even named the categories that grew: maps/guides, business books, and children’s books.
Gathered with AI. Thought through on the shop floor. Written for the future of print.
BPJ WIRE: stories selected and drafted by the BPJ desk from world news, fact-checked against the source ledger — published alongside the editor's own picks.
Translated from Japanese by AI. The Japanese original is authoritative.
A year when print (books + magazines) fell below 1 trillion yen—and yet some “paper shelves” grew
In 2025, print (books + magazines) fell below 1 trillion yen, with Japan’s print (books + magazines) market at 964.7 billion yen (about $6.4B). Meanwhile, Japan’s total publishing market (print + digital) in 2025 was 1,546.2 billion yen (about $10.2B), and it was down year-on-year.…
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Sources
- 国立国会図書館カレントアウェアネス（出版科学研究所発表の言及） / 2026-01-26
- 出版科学研究所（ニュースリリース） / 2026-01-26
- 出版科学研究所（ニュースリース） / 2026-01-26
- ORICON（プレスリリース）
- Poets & Writers（Circana BookScanデータに基づく記事） / 2026-01-12
- Association of American Publishers（AAP StatShot Annual）
- Publishers Weekly
- arXiv（プレプリント 2607.20349）
- Publishers Weekly
- 総務省統計局（Statistical Handbook of Japan 2025）
- e-Stat（調査項目ページ）
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