【Market Exceeding 2 Trillion Yen】Will You Create the Next "Chiikawa"? Kodansha's Children's Magazine Guarantees Professional Debut in the 2nd "Readers' Choice New Picture Book Award"
Kodansha has launched applications for the 2nd "Readers' Choice New Picture Book Award." This year, a new "Illustration Division" has been established, aiming to discover next-generation character creators by capturing the trend of picture books becoming a source of global IP, not just reading material.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 28, 2026 at 19:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 28, 2026 at 10:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 15:16 (4h 44m after Collected)
May 5th is "Children's Day."
Furthermore, April 23rd to May 12th is "Children's Reading Week."
Currently, an unprecedented change is occurring in the world of "reading" and "picture books."
That is the fact that picture books are not just reading material, but are becoming a source of globally popular "IP (Intellectual Property)."
The Japanese government's goal of "20 trillion yen in overseas content sales" and an expanding market
In 2024, the Cabinet Office revised the "Cool Japan Strategy," setting a goal to increase overseas sales of Japanese content (anime, games, characters, etc.) from the current 4.7 trillion yen to 20 trillion yen by 2033.
Domestically, the character business market is also expanding.
The domestic market size is projected to exceed 2.8 trillion yen,
and the economic value generated by characters is becoming enormous.
Reference: Yano Research Institute "Survey on the Character Business (2025)"
"Japan-born IPs" dominating the world – astonishing top 15 ranking
Looking at the profitability of global media franchises (a business model that develops a single work into various industries such as anime, games, and merchandise),
it is clear at a glance that Japanese characters are dominating the world.
1. Pokémon (Japan) – $92.121 billion (approx. 14.6397 trillion yen)
2. Hello Kitty (Japan) – $80.026 billion (approx. 12.7176 trillion yen)
3. Winnie the Pooh – $75.034 billion (approx. 11.9243 trillion yen)
4. Mickey Mouse & Friends – $70.587 billion (approx. 11.2175 trillion yen)
5. Star Wars – $65.631 billion (approx. 10.4300 trillion yen)
6. Anpanman (Japan) – $60.285 billion (approx. 9.5804 trillion yen)
7. Disney Princess – $45.187 billion (approx. 7.1810 trillion yen)
8. Super Mario (Japan) – $36.143 billion (approx. 5.7438 trillion yen)
9. Shonen Jump / Jump Comics (Japan) – $34.117 billion (approx. 5.4218 trillion yen)
10. Harry Potter – $30.871 billion (approx. 4.9060 trillion yen)
11. Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – $29.128 billion (approx. 4.6289 trillion yen)
12. Spider-Man – $27.078 billion (approx. 4.3032 trillion yen)
13. Mobile Suit Gundam (Japan) – $26.457 billion (approx. 4.2045 trillion yen)
14. Batman – $26.448 billion (approx. 4.2031 trillion yen)
15. Dragon Ball (Japan) – $24.031 billion (approx. 3.8190 trillion yen)
Reference: TITLEMAX "The 25 Highest-Grossing Media Franchises of All Time"
*Calculated based on the exchange rate of April 20, 2026 (1 USD = 158.918 JPY)
Although not in the ranking, in the Japanese domestic market,
"individual creators" are currently making a huge splash.
In particular, "Chiikawa," which became a social phenomenon originating from SNS,
was created by Mr. Nagano and has now grown into a giant IP generating economic effects worth tens of billions of yen annually.
Additionally, new characters like "Opantyu Usagi" and "Puppet Susun" are gaining support, especially among the younger generation.
The covers of children's magazines are lined with various characters.
Furthermore, in recent years, works that express a worldview with high-quality illustrations,
such as "Kimi ga Iru Kara" (Manatsu & Mafuyu), are also attracting attention,
expanding their reach by being adapted into picture books from SNS posts.
The value of characters is higher than ever before.
"Snoopy" and "Miffy" also started from a single drawing.
The "cute" or "interesting" characters you draw
might become beloved worldwide in a few decades.
Evaluating "the power of characters" that breathes life into stories
The 2nd "Readers' Choice New Picture Book Award," for which applications began on April 14,
has captured this trend by establishing a new "Illustration Division."
What is sought in this newly established "Illustration Division" is not merely "illustrations."
It is "the power to create charming characters that transcend the story and begin to walk on their own."
The challenge is to model the characters appearing in the 1st Text Division winning work, "Rengetsu Rengetsu!" (Text: Yuuki Inaba), with your own sensibilities.
"Illustration
Furthermore, April 23rd to May 12th is "Children's Reading Week."
Currently, an unprecedented change is occurring in the world of "reading" and "picture books."
That is the fact that picture books are not just reading material, but are becoming a source of globally popular "IP (Intellectual Property)."
The Japanese government's goal of "20 trillion yen in overseas content sales" and an expanding market
In 2024, the Cabinet Office revised the "Cool Japan Strategy," setting a goal to increase overseas sales of Japanese content (anime, games, characters, etc.) from the current 4.7 trillion yen to 20 trillion yen by 2033.
Domestically, the character business market is also expanding.
The domestic market size is projected to exceed 2.8 trillion yen,
and the economic value generated by characters is becoming enormous.
Reference: Yano Research Institute "Survey on the Character Business (2025)"
"Japan-born IPs" dominating the world – astonishing top 15 ranking
Looking at the profitability of global media franchises (a business model that develops a single work into various industries such as anime, games, and merchandise),
it is clear at a glance that Japanese characters are dominating the world.
1. Pokémon (Japan) – $92.121 billion (approx. 14.6397 trillion yen)
2. Hello Kitty (Japan) – $80.026 billion (approx. 12.7176 trillion yen)
3. Winnie the Pooh – $75.034 billion (approx. 11.9243 trillion yen)
4. Mickey Mouse & Friends – $70.587 billion (approx. 11.2175 trillion yen)
5. Star Wars – $65.631 billion (approx. 10.4300 trillion yen)
6. Anpanman (Japan) – $60.285 billion (approx. 9.5804 trillion yen)
7. Disney Princess – $45.187 billion (approx. 7.1810 trillion yen)
8. Super Mario (Japan) – $36.143 billion (approx. 5.7438 trillion yen)
9. Shonen Jump / Jump Comics (Japan) – $34.117 billion (approx. 5.4218 trillion yen)
10. Harry Potter – $30.871 billion (approx. 4.9060 trillion yen)
11. Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – $29.128 billion (approx. 4.6289 trillion yen)
12. Spider-Man – $27.078 billion (approx. 4.3032 trillion yen)
13. Mobile Suit Gundam (Japan) – $26.457 billion (approx. 4.2045 trillion yen)
14. Batman – $26.448 billion (approx. 4.2031 trillion yen)
15. Dragon Ball (Japan) – $24.031 billion (approx. 3.8190 trillion yen)
Reference: TITLEMAX "The 25 Highest-Grossing Media Franchises of All Time"
*Calculated based on the exchange rate of April 20, 2026 (1 USD = 158.918 JPY)
Although not in the ranking, in the Japanese domestic market,
"individual creators" are currently making a huge splash.
In particular, "Chiikawa," which became a social phenomenon originating from SNS,
was created by Mr. Nagano and has now grown into a giant IP generating economic effects worth tens of billions of yen annually.
Additionally, new characters like "Opantyu Usagi" and "Puppet Susun" are gaining support, especially among the younger generation.
The covers of children's magazines are lined with various characters.
Furthermore, in recent years, works that express a worldview with high-quality illustrations,
such as "Kimi ga Iru Kara" (Manatsu & Mafuyu), are also attracting attention,
expanding their reach by being adapted into picture books from SNS posts.
The value of characters is higher than ever before.
"Snoopy" and "Miffy" also started from a single drawing.
The "cute" or "interesting" characters you draw
might become beloved worldwide in a few decades.
Evaluating "the power of characters" that breathes life into stories
The 2nd "Readers' Choice New Picture Book Award," for which applications began on April 14,
has captured this trend by establishing a new "Illustration Division."
What is sought in this newly established "Illustration Division" is not merely "illustrations."
It is "the power to create charming characters that transcend the story and begin to walk on their own."
The challenge is to model the characters appearing in the 1st Text Division winning work, "Rengetsu Rengetsu!" (Text: Yuuki Inaba), with your own sensibilities.
"Illustration