- 15 Nov 2002
- 1,837
- 64
Harry Potter works magic on Japanese publishing
TOKYO - Brisk demand for the new Harry Potter novel and mounting interest in Japanese fiction offset slumping magazine sales to boost overall publishing sales about 0.7% to 2.24 trillion yen (US$21.6 billion) in 2004, the sector's first growth in eight years, according to data compiled by the Research Institute for Publications.
Estimated book sales rose 4.1% to 942.9 billion yen, marking the first hike in two years, the research institute said on Tuesday.
The first edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth novel in the series whose Japanese version debuted in September, saw 2.9 million copies printed. And 1.8 million volumes of Sekai no Chushin de Ai wo Sakebu (Shouting Love in the Middle of the World) were published during the year, while the number of printed copies of Keritai Senaka (The Back I Want to Kick) by the youngest fiction writer ever to win the prestigious Akutagawa Prize topped 1 million.
In contrast, estimated sales of magazines fell 1.7% to 1.29 trillion yen, declining for the seventh straight year.
The research firm said that a variety of Internet resources for products and events information has kept consumers from buying magazines. Fashion magazines sales were lower in the past year due to Japan's declining population of younger generations.
(Asia Pulse/Nikkei)
TOKYO - Brisk demand for the new Harry Potter novel and mounting interest in Japanese fiction offset slumping magazine sales to boost overall publishing sales about 0.7% to 2.24 trillion yen (US$21.6 billion) in 2004, the sector's first growth in eight years, according to data compiled by the Research Institute for Publications.
Estimated book sales rose 4.1% to 942.9 billion yen, marking the first hike in two years, the research institute said on Tuesday.
The first edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth novel in the series whose Japanese version debuted in September, saw 2.9 million copies printed. And 1.8 million volumes of Sekai no Chushin de Ai wo Sakebu (Shouting Love in the Middle of the World) were published during the year, while the number of printed copies of Keritai Senaka (The Back I Want to Kick) by the youngest fiction writer ever to win the prestigious Akutagawa Prize topped 1 million.
In contrast, estimated sales of magazines fell 1.7% to 1.29 trillion yen, declining for the seventh straight year.
The research firm said that a variety of Internet resources for products and events information has kept consumers from buying magazines. Fashion magazines sales were lower in the past year due to Japan's declining population of younger generations.
(Asia Pulse/Nikkei)
