Japanese publishing, fixed prices
...the major buyers of the Harry Potter series in Japan continue to be women in their 20's, 30's and 40's. They have also been credited with the latest surge in [Who Moved My] Cheese sales, as well as the success of other foreign titles in Japan.
Statistically, the Japanese book market is doing poorly. It is still a $7.1 billion industry, but sales have declined in each of the last five years. The long national recession and competition from other media are blamed, of course. Publishers can been commended for continuing to publish actively. There were 70,000 new titles in 2001, on a par with the U.S. So, at least they are trying hard to find what readers will buy.
But a major problem with the book industry in Japan remains fixed prices for book. Protecting the whole chain of supply, from publisher to distributor to wholesaler to retailer, book price controls are meant to keep the industry stable. In effect, however, prices for books remain high while smaller retailers and even some distributors go out of business.