Japan toy sales top 1 tril. yen for 1st time, led by foreign tourists

Japan’s toy market topped 1 trillion yen ($7 billion) for the first time in the year ended March 2023, driven in part by solid demand for goods of Japanese anime characters like “Pokemon” from foreign tourists, an industry body said Thursday.

Sales of card games, stuffed toys, model vehicles and other types of toys totaled 952.5 billion yen, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Japan Toy Association.

Sales of “capsule toys,” or miniature toys sold in plastic capsules from vending machines, amounted to 61 billion yen, up 35.6 percent.

Sales growth was also led by toys for adults...