Robust Adult Demand Boosts Japan's Toy Market

Japan’s toy market is expanding despite the country’s declining birthrate, fueled by strong demand from adults who view gadgets as an affordable hobby and a way to connect with others through social media, Mainichi Japan reported.

Toy spending has grown particularly among single-person households without children, with average expenditures in 2024 surging 3.5-fold to 14,498 yen from 2014.

The market grew 7.9% in fiscal 2024 from a year earlier to a record 1.1 trillion yen ($7.4 billion), led by trading cards and character merchandise, according to the Japan Toy Association.

The market has expanded 36% over the past decade.

Other categories seeing strong growth include high-tech toys such as the “Original Tamagotchi,” a small egg-shaped video game, and stuffed animals, which have become popular among both adults in Japan and foreign tourists.

“The conventional image of toys being for kids has started to change, as they became a hobby for adults and a means of self-expression in recent years,” said Satsuki Kimura, an economist at the Meiji Yasuda Research Institute.

Supporting this view, toy spending has grown particularly among single-person households without children, with average expenditures in 2024 surging 3.5-fold to 14,498 yen from 2014, according to the firm’s analysis of government data, Kyodo News also reported.