It wasn't too long ago that you couldn't ride a train or bus without seeing many of your fellow passengers engrossed in manga magazines.
But smartphones and tablets are the ubiquitous sight these days, and in the past 15 years the manga magazine market has shriveled to half its former size.
Obviously, many in the industry are worried that the demise of the magazines will dent sales of manga books — the standalone paperbacks — and eventually Japan's manga culture itself.