Shopping Guide
Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball, Bleach, Hunter x Hunter, Toriko... The one thing all these popular works have in common is the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Since launching in 1968 by Shueisha, Weekly Shonen Jump has been loved by kids due to its continued low price even in the face of inflation in Japan. As of April, the price of Weekly Shonen Jump is 250 yen per issue, which is, by any measure, cheap.
Jump Shop, which sells goods intended for fans of works from Weekly Shonen Jump, has been basking in attention both inside and outside Japan. They don’t just sell manga and DVDs, they also sell stationery, illustrations, sundries, and accessories. In total, they have between 3,000-4,000 different items. In addition, their lineup is updated every month. The authors’ intentions of how they want their works seen by fans are taken into account in every item offered at Jump Shop. Other than the products they have for sale, popular voice stars are routinely invited to the stores for signing events, which are hugely popular among fans.
There are 9 Jump Shops in Japan, with the newest being in Tokyo Sky Tree Town’s Soramachi. In the past, the company has participated in overseas events in Shanghai, China. This year, a shop was also opened in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Jump Shop’s best strength is its use of items that are designed after original illustrations of popular works. Focusing on works like Naruto and Dragon Ball that are recognizable worldwide, Jump Shop offers a wide range of items that use original illustrations in merchandise that is exclusive to Jump Shop. Because the shops are full of goods that can’t be bought anywhere else in the world, many overseas fans of Jump works frequent them. Many of these fans will first check Jump Shop’s official website (http://shonenjump.com/e/jumpshop/index.html), print out the items that they want, and take the printout to the store with them.
According to Naoki Ota, manager of Jump Store Tokyo Dome City, and Yuko Morimoto of Benelic (the company that manages Jump Shop), “People who come from overseas have a strong tendency to like and buy T-shirts and clear files and things that have large prints of pictures.” They also talked about the spread of “Jump Love,” saying, “I want people to better know of Jump, which has cultivated the growth of Naruto and Dragon Ball. [Because we’ve started an English version to target overseas fans (http://shonenjump.com/e/)] I definitely want fans to experience the excitement of reading popular works in real time and the heart-throbbing feeling of anticipation for the next issue.”
In 1995, while simultaneously publishing Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, and Rurouni Kenshin, Weekly Shonen Jump had a regular circulation of 6.53 million copies. Together with the popular works serialized at that time, a generation of youth has been brought up on Jump, and many of them still enjoy reading it. This is the reason for its fanbase spanning such a wide age group and the love for Jump that they all share. It can be said that the unshakable fact is that Jump is a catalyst that is propelling Japan’s beloved manga culture forward. It’s also true that Jump has given rise to many manga that people all over the world are crazy about.
If you are someone who loves manga, make sure to check out the Jump Shop because it is brimming with “Jump love”!
Jump Shop:
http://www.shonenjump.com/j/jumpshop/ (Japanese)
Jump Shop Locations:
Tokyo Skytree Town Soramachi:
http://www.shonenjump.com/j/jumpshop/store_soramachi.html (Japanese)
UNIVERSITY CITY WALK OSAKA:
http://shonenjump.com/e/jumpshop/osaka_univ/index.html
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