On November 13th, 2021, the Japan Magazine Publishers Association (JMPA) released its circulation figures for physical copies of Japanese magazines. The numbers reveal that the downward trend in readership for some of the biggest names in Manga will continue well into 2021, with Weekly Shonen Jump falling below 1.4 million weekly copies for the first time since the early 1970s.

Since Oct 2018, physical copy sales dropped. And it’s not just for one or two publications. Almost all Magazines of Shueisha are getting decreasing sales numbers.

October 2018-September 2019 (Weekly Shounen Jump)

Calculation period	Number of copies with print certification
43rd: October 2018-December 2018	1,706,923
44th: January 2019-March 2019	1,692,000
45th: April 2019-June 2019	1,655,833
46th: July 2019-September 2019	1,628,462
Annual average number of copies	1,670,245

October 2019-September 2020 (Weekly Shounen Jump)

Calculation period	Number of copies with print certification
47th: October 2019-December 2019	1,602,083
48th: January 2020-March 2020	1,572,833
49th: April 2020-June 2020	1,539,091
50th: July 2020-September 2020	1,516,818
Annual average number of copies	1,559,000

October 2020-September 2021 (Weekly Shounen Jump)

Calculation period	Number of copies with print certification
51st: October 2020-December 2020	1,475,000
52nd: January 2021 to March 2021	1,435,833
53rd: April 2021-June 2021	1,404,167
54th: July 2021-September 2021	1,371,818
Annual average number of copies	1,422,766

Weekly Shonen Jump had an average weekly circulation of 1,422,766 copies in 2021, with the July to September period seeing a weekly average of 1,371,818 copies. This is significantly less than the average weekly circulation of 1,559,000 copies in 2020 and 1,670,245 copies in 2019.

Some of the comments from the public when asked why they didn’t purchase the magazine are as follows:

I thought it was too much jumping at a convenience store

Isn’t it useless even though the devilish blade and the magical warfare were popular …

I didn’t buy it after the Chainsaw Man was over

Many people seemed to feel the trend of the times when the circulation of “Jump” was decreasing

In fact, the drop in figures holds true for other popular magazines under Jump.

October 2020 to September 2021 (V-Jump)
(Average sales in 2019 – 159,583
Average sales in 2019 – 170,417)

Calculation period	Number of copies with print certification
No. 51: October 2020-December 2020	150,000
No. 52: January 2021-March 2021	145,000
Chapter 53: April 2021-June 2021	156,667
Chapter 54: July 2021-September 2021	146,667
Average number of units per year	149,583

October 2020 to September 2021 (Weekly Young Jump)
( Average sales in 2019 – 421,553
Average sales in 2019 – 467,338)

Calculation period	Number of copies with print certification
No. 51: October 2020-December 2020	404,077
No. 52: January 2021-March 2021	376,364
Chapter 53: April 2021-June 2021	354,167
Chapter 54: July 2021-September 2021	340,000
Average number of units per year	369,229

Though, this doesn’t mean doom and gloom for the publisher.

In the instance of “Jump,” an independent service called “Shonen Jump +” that distributes the electronic version has been launched, and it appears to have gained a significant amount of traction.

Not only are the works published in this magazine becoming more popular, but so are the original serialized works of “Jump +” such as “SPY x FAMILY” and “Tis Time for Torture.”

In fact, viewers of the jump work stated that “electronics are too convenient…” and “honestly plus is more enjoyable.” After all, in these days of electronic periodicals, it may be foolish to judge success solely by magazine sales.

However, compared to other magazines, it has a massive circulation and is truly a “leap”. For example, “Weekly Shonen Magazine” has a circulation of around 500,000 from July to September 2021, less than half that “Jump”. Weekly Shonen Sunday is half that, with a circulation of around 190,000.

Magazines with relatively young readers are likely to be more affected by digitization.

Jump, often known as Jump Comics and occasionally stylized JUMP, is a manga magazine series published by Shueisha. It all started with the Shōnen Jump manga magazine in 1968, which was later renamed Weekly Shōnen Jump. The name’s origin is uncertain. The Jump publications are largely aimed towards teen male readers, while the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine is also popular with females.

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga anthology published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines in Japan. It is the best-selling manga magazine and one of the longest-running, with the first issue being published on August 1, 1968.

The manga series in the magazine are aimed at young teen male readers and feature a lot of action and a lot of humor. Every two to three months, the chapters of series that run in Weekly Shōnen Jump are collected and released in tankōbon volumes under the “Jump Comics” name.

Source: JMPA via Myjitsu & Crunchyroll