Size of the leisure market in Japan 2015-2023

In 2023, the leisure market in Japan amounted to an estimated 71.21 trillion Japanese yen. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 affected the leisure industry negatively and resulted in market contractions in several segments, including travel and tourism, gastronomy, pachinko, and sports. Even before the arrival of the pandemic, the market was declining, as it was about 20 trillion yen below its peak from 1996 when the market size amounted to around 90.9 trillion yen.   

Leisure industry market segments

The leisure sector branches out into multiple industry segments. They include the amusement industry, the pachinko industry, the hobbies and creative work industries, the tourism industry, and the sports industry. The amusement and the pachinko industries are the largest in terms of market size, both comfortably surpassing 10 trillion yen. The size of the pachinko industry declined considerably during the past decades and was one of the main reasons for the contraction of the entire leisure industry.   

Participation rate in leisure activities

Almost all people in Japan pursue a hobby. Popular recreational activities include listening to music, watching movies, and playing video games. Doing sports, most notably walking for the purpose of exercise, is also broadly practiced. At educational institutions, participating in school clubs for sports or cultural activities is very common, resulting in high participation rates in hobbies among young people.