[GamePea Exclusive, Reproduction Prohibited!] GamePea reports—"Japan's youth no longer read manga." This isn't the rant of an online troll, but the conclusion of Japanese publishing industry analyst Kazushi Iida. In early 2026, Iida analyzed data from the Japan School Library Association's "School Reading Survey" and Benesse Educational Research and Development Center, among other sources, to reach a startling conclusion: the number of children and teenagers reading manga in Japan is declining significantly. The very foundation of the manga powerhouse may be crumbling from the ground up. Teens are "jumping ship," and the data is harsher than imagined.
