Japanese Magazines
Young Teen Fashions Find Venue in Girls' Comics
Low-teen comic magazines published in massive quantities
The Japan Magazine Publishers Association (JMPA) reports that there are over 15,000 magazine titles published in Japan with total annual circulation near the 5 billion mark. That would mean that Japan's population, on average, is reading over 30 magazines a year. A not so little niche in this huge magazine market has developed in the young girls-low teen's market providing a ready advertising media for fashion, cosmetics and accessory makers to reach this group of young consumers. These young readers range from girls in their last year of primary school, 6th grade in the Japanese 6-3-3 system, up to the last year of middle-school, or 9th grade.
Up to 1 million copies per issue
The JMPA data for 2004 lists 15 magazines aimed at low-teen girls with printings of over 100,000 issue per issue (see Chart 1). In fact, the top 6 positions are held by magazines that average well over 300,000 copies per issue. The current leaders are Ciao (over a million copies per issue) and Ribbon (nearly 730,000). But the rapid turnover in fads and trends means that they will not necessarily hold onto those top rankings. So, any overseas advertiser thinking to target this group should check to be sure of current standings so that its ad budget is working efficiently on behalf of the ad sponsor.
These "young girls' comic magazines" -- as they are called here -- are priced to sell to youngsters, costing the equivalent of about US$3.50. The contents are in the cutesy-cutesy style preferred by Japanese low-teen girls. Most of these magazines are thick affairs, printed on inexpensive newsprint. They are generally wrapped with a ribbon to hold a gift item, such as earrings, pencil case, hair clips and other essentials of teen life.
By way of comparison, the next rung up the teen magazine ladder, the teen magazine category, has a mere 10 titles with issuance at the 100,000 copy or above mark. The perennial leader in this category is Seventeen (see Chart 2.)
The articles in the "young girls' comic magazines" cover fashion, teen trends, sports, and of course, comics featuring the burning issues of low-teen girl life - how to be very cute, slightly cool, and win lots of friends. Cut-out shopping coupons are included to arm the girl shoppers for weekend shopping forays. On a recent visit to our local Seven-Eleven convenience store to check titles in the low-teen magazine category, there was a shelf spanning about 4 feet across devoted to magazines in this category.
