Top 50 Literary genres in Japan

This curated ranking covers the 50 largest literary genres in Japan, ordered by estimated audience size from Rascasse's anonymized search-behavior signals. Out of 103 literary genres tracked in Japan, the 50 ranked here account for the largest measured audience reach. Manga, Anime and manga fandom and Comic book lead the list with a combined estimated audience of 74,797,135 people. Across all 50 entries the average audience size is 5,596,961, and the largest, Manga, reaches around 28,315,898 people in Japan. Audience size is the estimated number of unique people in Japan who actively engage with each literary genre, derived from search demand signals. Rankings reflect search-behavior signals collected across Japan and are refreshed weekly.

Ranking

Rank	Name	Audience size	Country share	Subtype	Category
1	Manga	28,315,898	13.4%	Literary genre	Literature
2	Anime and manga fandom	23,292,408	16.5%	Literary genre	Literature
3	Comic book	23,188,829	13.6%	Literary genre	Literature
4	Shōjo manga	22,976,639	53.1%	Literary genre	Literature
5	Shōnen manga	22,755,555	36.2%	Literary genre	Literature
6	Seinen manga	22,132,424	72.3%	Literary genre	Literature
7	Fiction books	17,396,584	5.9%	Literary genre	Literature
8	Bestseller	11,678,811	11.6%	Literary genre	Literature
9	Humour	9,501,583	2.3%	Literary genre	Literature
10	Children's literature	8,236,776	12.9%	Literary genre	Literature
11	Non-fiction books	8,161,830	8.0%	Literary genre	Literature
12	Romance novels	7,396,463	4.5%	Literary genre	Literature
13	Fairy tale	7,033,726	5.8%	Literary genre	Literature
14	Sketchbook	6,721,250	23.4%	Literary genre	Literature
15	Mystery fiction	5,028,059	3.8%	Literary genre	Literature
16	Web fiction	4,970,219	12.3%	Literary genre	Literature
17	Dōjinshi	4,028,861	84.0%	Literary genre	Literature
18	Detective fiction	3,764,421	6.5%	Literary genre	Literature
19	Crime fiction	3,487,085	5.5%	Literary genre	Literature
20	Fandom	3,132,555	3.0%	Literary genre	Literature
21	Satire	2,981,934	2.7%	Literary genre	Literature
22	Adventure fiction	2,840,482	8.2%	Literary genre	Literature
23	American comic book	2,659,593	6.3%	Literary genre	Literature
24	Novella	2,307,750	5.4%	Literary genre	Literature
25	Contemporary romance	2,276,596	5.2%	Literary genre	Literature
26	Dark fantasy	2,267,300	13.7%	Literary genre	Literature
27	Psychological thriller	2,174,113	3.9%	Literary genre	Literature
28	Graphic novel	1,705,473	7.1%	Literary genre	Literature
29	Urban fantasy	1,619,282	13.0%	Literary genre	Literature
30	Speculative fiction	1,560,153	3.7%	Literary genre	Literature
31	Historical fiction	1,528,955	6.5%	Literary genre	Literature
32	Young-adult fiction	1,512,727	5.7%	Literary genre	Literature
33	New-adult fiction	1,499,898	6.0%	Literary genre	Literature
34	Japanese literature	1,474,276	19.6%	Literary genre	Literature
35	Extended essay	1,375,817	3.4%	Literary genre	Literature
36	Women's fiction	1,112,256	3.5%	Literary genre	Literature
37	Comic science fiction	885,162	13.8%	Literary genre	Literature
38	Superhero fiction	733,611	3.2%	Literary genre	Literature
39	Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction	711,404	3.7%	Literary genre	Literature
40	Historical romance	558,492	6.4%	Literary genre	Literature
41	Regency romance	420,177	11.9%	Literary genre	Literature
42	Supernatural fiction	386,440	10.0%	Literary genre	Literature
43	English literature	366,874	4.6%	Literary genre	Literature
44	Gothic fiction	311,743	5.7%	Literary genre	Literature
45	Furry fandom	262,632	3.5%	Literary genre	Literature
46	Medieval fantasy	244,345	14.0%	Literary genre	Literature
47	Legal thriller	233,622	12.3%	Literary genre	Literature
48	Memoir	214,624	2.8%	Literary genre	Literature
49	Japanese mythology	212,227	4.7%	Literary genre	Literature
50	Chinese literature	210,116	9.5%	Literary genre	Literature