Publishing situation of children's books in Japan from the perspective of the International Library of Children's Literature's collection

As a dedicated children's library that forms part of the National Diet Library (NDL), the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL) maintains a comprehensive collection of children's materials such as books, magazines, study-aid books, and DVDs and CD-ROMs for children (defined as materials intended primarily for users aged up to 18 years) published in Japan, based on the legal deposit system, under which publishers are required by law to furnish a copy of every new publication to the NDL. This webpage introduces the publishing situation of children's books.

Children's books published in 2023

The total results of children's books published in 2023 in Japan among the ILCL's books by field based on the National Diet Library Classification (NDLC) are as follows (as of August 1st, 2025).

This is a pie chart that shows which fields children's books were published for 2023. The number of titles by field and breakdown are as follows.
Field Number of Titles Breakdown
Politics. Economics. Industries. Social affairs (Y1) 657 10%
History. Geography. Manners and customs (Y2) 257 4%
Biography (Y3) 205 3%
Education. Culture. Religion. Morals (Y5) 518 8%
Art. Music. Motion pictures(Y6) 289 4%
Literature. Language (Y7, Y8, Y9) 1,327 20%
Translations in the above field (Y9 only) (156) -
Science. Technology (Y11) 792 12%
Sports. Games (Y12) 270 4%
Dictionary. Almanac. Illustrated reference book (Y13) *1 0 0%
Series. Collected works. Other (Y14, Y15) 0 0%
Comic book (Y16) 138 2%
Picture book (Y17, Y18) *2 2,021 31%
Translations in the above field (Y18 only) (400) -
Total 6,474 -

*1 Y13 and Y14 include books with general subjects. The dictionaries, illustrated reference books, series and collected works related to specific subjects such as science and technology are classified into each subject.

*2 Y17 and Y18 include picture books with general subjects. Picture books on specific subjects such as science and technology are classified into each subject.

Children's books published in 2020-2022

The number of titles by field of children's books published in 2020-2022

Field Number of titles
2020
(as of 8.1.2022)
2021
(as of 8.1.2023)
2022
(as of 8.1.2024)
Politics. Economics. Industries. Social affairs (Y1) 525 580 619
History. Geography. Manners and customs (Y2) 267 280 204
Biography (Y3) 150 150 213
Education. Culture. Religion. Morals (Y5) 419 470 468
Art. Music. Motion Pictures (Y6) 304 272 317
Literature. Language (Y7, Y8, Y9) 1,278 1,311 1,305
Translated books in the above field (Y9 only) (190) (140) (146)
Science. Technology (Y11) 784 800 821
Sports. Games (Y12) 333 243 255
Dictionary. Almanac. Illustrated reference book (Y13) *1 0 18 0
Series. Collected works. Other (Y14, Y15) 0 0 0
Comic book. (Y16) 137 117 115
Picture book (Y17, Y18) *2 1,796 2,036 2,017
Translations in the above field (Y18 only) (349) (324) (412)
Total 5,993 6,277 6,334

How to research children's books in Research Navi

For children's books published in Japan, statistical materials that list their annual number or materials that analyze their trends, are shown below:

How to research the trend of children's books published in Japan in the past year (only available in Japanese)