[Report] K-Webtoon Popup Captures Prime Spot in Tokyo Shibuya... Captivates Young Japanese Audience

Line Manga, Operated by Naver Webtoon,
Opens Webtoon Pop-Up Store in Japan
"Admission Mercenary" Ranks No. 1 on Line Manga for Two Consecutive Years... Monthly Transactions Reach 100 Million Yen
Japanese Webtoon Market Grows Annually... Korean Platforms Dominate

"I'm currently attending university, and during lectures, when friends casually talk among themselves, they often ask, 'What Line Manga are you reading these days?' Including myself, most of my friends have Line Manga installed on their smartphones."

On the afternoon of the 11th, at Line Friends Square Shibuya in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, Japan, where the pop-up store for the webtoon Admission Mercenary is being held, I met Ami, a 21-year-old female university student. When asked if she enjoys Korean webtoons, she replied like this. In Japan, known as the origin and powerhouse of the comic market, Korean webtoons and webtoon platforms are gaining widespread popularity.

A video is playing at the pop-up store of the webtoon 'Ip Hak Yong Byeong' currently held at Line Friends Square Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Lee Myung-hwan

Line Manga, Naver Webtoon's Japanese service, is holding a pop-up store for the webtoon Admission Mercenary in Shibuya, Tokyo until the 25th of this month. This is the first official pop-up store operated by Naver Webtoon since its entry into the Japanese market. For this pop-up store, Naver Webtoon collaborated with IPX (formerly Line Friends), a company specializing in character intellectual property (IP) business.

Admission Mercenary began serialization on Naver Webtoon in 2020. It tells the story of a protagonist who grew up as a mercenary after being separated from his family in childhood and then enrolls in high school after returning to his family, depicting the episodes that follow. This work has been especially popular in Japan, ranking first in the annual Line Manga rankings for two consecutive years since 2023. Its cumulative views in Japan alone have reached 600 million. In terms of performance, it recorded a monthly transaction amount of 100 million yen (approximately 950 million KRW) in 2023, marking its highest achievement. Given its unprecedented popularity in Japan, Line Manga selected Admission Mercenary as the first work for its pop-up store.

The pop-up location, 'Line Friends Square Shibuya,' is situated in one of the prime spots in Shibuya, a bustling area of Tokyo. It is located directly opposite a famous local department store with heavy foot traffic. Since the day was a Japanese national holiday, National Foundation Day, the intersection in central Shibuya was packed with crowds, leaving barely any space to step.

Products sold at the pop-up store of the webtoon "Admission Mercenary" currently held at Line Friends Square Shibuya in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Lee Myunghwan

The entrance to the basement level 1 pop-up store led to a video screening area of about 40 pyeong (approximately 132 square meters). Here, using a beam projector, a 15-minute Admission Mercenary animation video was projected three-dimensionally onto three walls, capturing visitors' attention. In the adjoining pop-up space, various merchandise featuring Admission Mercenary characters were on display. Among these, Line Manga representatives explained that popular items included webtoon random badges, a kind of 'gacha,' and clothing inspired by the outfits worn by the main characters in the webtoon.

Visitors to the pop-up site unanimously agreed that webtoons have deeply embedded themselves in the daily lives of Japanese people in their 20s. The Japanese manga market has traditionally been dominated by print formats like tankobon volumes, but webtoons, which can be easily enjoyed on smartphones, are growing especially among younger generations. A 19-year-old female university student A, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "I started liking Korean comics after recommendations from friends," adding, "I read webtoons on Line Manga or Piccoma (a Japanese webtoon service operated by Kakao) whenever I have free time."

The growth potential is also significant. As webtoon popularity is gaining momentum mainly among the 20s and 30s age groups in Japan, the market size is expanding. According to estimated sales figures for the publishing market released by the Japan National Publishing Association and the Publishing Science Research Institute, last year the electronic manga market size reached 512.2 billion yen (approximately 4.9 trillion KRW), a 6% increase from the previous year. Line Manga and Piccoma, services operated by domestic companies, together hold a market share exceeding half of the local Japanese webtoon market.

Line Manga has set a sales target of 50 million yen (approximately 480 million KRW) for this pop-up store. This is said to be similar to the sales goals for merchandise of popular K-pop idols. This pop-up store is expected to serve as a testbed for future Japanese IP business ventures by Line Manga and IPX.

A signboard announcing the pop-up store of the webtoon 'Ip Hak Yong Byeong' is installed at Line Friends Square Shibuya in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Lee Myung-hwan