For 19-year-old Yurika Tauchi, buying designer bags at a nearby bookstore has become commonplace as an increasing number of fashion magazines tie up with apparel brands to offer their readers fashion items with the purchase of magazines, usually priced for less than ¥1,000.

Such magazines, which come with gifts such as designer brand items that could cost a lot more when sold on their own, are enjoying brisk sales, offering one of the few bright spots in Japan's long-declining publishing market.

"Designer bags are expensive when I buy them normally, so I'm happy that I can buy them as a magazine gift for just several hundred yen," Tauchi said as she visited a bookstore in Tokyo to see whether there were any gift items she wanted.