‘End Of An Era’: Weekly Shonen Jump’s Print Circulation Falls Below 1 Million For First Time

Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump has fallen below the one million mark in certified print circulation for the first time, according to newly released industry figures by The Japan Magazine Publishers Association.

The magazine only averaged 985,000 certified print copies between April and June 2026, marking the first time that the number has dipped below the seven-digit threshold since the association began publishing circulation figures in its current reporting system.

These circulation numbers are audited in cooperation with the Japan Federation of Printing Industries and published quarterly, covering three-month periods.

According to the association, Weekly Shonen Jump’s decline also means no print magazine in Japan now has a certified circulation above one million copies.

During the same April–June period, Weekly Shonen Magazine averaged 281,000 copies, Weekly Shonen Sunday recorded 120,000 copies, and Monthly CoroCoro Comic reached 213,333 copies.

Nobuhiko Saito, an editor specializing in shonen manga, described the milestone as “the end of an era,” adding that the continued decline of print manga magazines could have a major impact on bookstores and limit the variety of titles readers discover.

The decline comes despite the magazine remaining home to some of Japan’s most recognizable manga franchises, including One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Sakamoto Days, Kagurabachi, Akane-banashi, among others.

Over the decades, the magazine has also serialized numerous global hits such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, Bleach, Slam Dunk, and Demon Slayer, with multiple series surpassing 100 million copies in cumulative manga circulation.

Interestingly, the magazine reached a record circulation of 6.53 million copies with its combined New Year’s 1995 issue, released in December 1994, at a time when both Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk were running.

As digital manga consumption expanded, however, the magazine’s circulation fell below 2 million copies in 2017 before dropping under one million for the first time this year.

The latest figures reflect a broader downturn in Japan’s print magazine market.

According to the Research Institute for Publications, estimated print magazine sales in Japan fell 10% year over year to 370.8 billion yen in 2025, less than one-quarter of the market’s 1.5644 trillion yen peak in 1997.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun, Oricon