Ribon

Ribon
Cover of the May 2006 issue (featuring Love-Berrish! by Nana Haruta)
CategoriesShōjo manga
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation
  • 89,333
  • (July–September 2026)
Founded1955
CompanyShueisha
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Websitehttp://ribon.shueisha.co.jp

Ribon (Japanese: りぼん; lit. 'Ribbon') is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are Nakayoshi and Ciao. It is one of the best-selling shōjo manga magazines, having sold over 590 million copies since 1978. Its circulation was in the millions between 1987 and 2001, peaking at 2.3 million in 1994. In 2009, the magazine's circulation was 274,167. In 2010, the circulation dropped to 243,334.

Ribon has also inspired multiple spin-off magazines, including Bessatsu Ribon (1966–1968); Ribon Comics, renamed Junior Comics (1967–1968); Ribon Comic (1968–1971); Ribon Deluxe (1975–1978); and Ribon Original (1981–2006).

Format

Celebrating Ribon magazine's seventieth anniversary, the magazine's pages are printed on multicolored newsprint. Often exceeding 400 pages, the issues are distributed with a sackful of goodies (furoku) ranging from small toys to colorful note pads themed around manga serialized in the magazine. In some issues, readers can send in stamps for mail order gifts (zen-in). The manga series from the magazine are later compiled and published in book form (tankōbon) under the Ribon Mascot Comics (RMC) imprint.

Serializations

Current

Past

Circulation

Year / Period Monthly circulation Magazine sales
1978 1,350,000 16,200,000
1979 1,350,000 16,200,000
1980 1,500,000 18,000,000
1981 1,500,000 18,000,000
1982 1,500,000 18,000,000
1983 1,500,000 18,000,000
1984 1,700,000 20,400,000
1985 1,800,000 21,600,000
1986 2,000,000 24,000,000
1987 2,200,000 26,400,000
1988 2,000,000 24,000,000
1989 2,300,000 27,600,000
1990 2,300,000 27,600,000
January 1991 to March 1991 2,300,000 6,900,000
April 1991 to March 1992 2,400,000 28,800,000
April 1992 to March 1993 2,400,000 28,800,000
April 1993 to March 1994 2,400,000 28,800,000
April 1994 to December 1994 2,300,000 20,700,000
1995 2,160,000 25,920,000
1996 1,750,000 21,000,000
1997 1,630,000 19,560,000
1998 1,350,000 16,200,000
1999 1,350,000 16,200,000
2000 1,350,000 16,200,000
2001 1,260,000 15,120,000
2002 980,000 11,760,000
2003 860,000 10,320,000
2004 729,167 8,750,004
2005 537,500 6,450,000
2006 400,000 4,800,000
2007 376,666 4,519,992
2008 330,000 3,960,000
January 2009 to September 2009 274,167 2,467,503
October 2009 to September 2010 243,334 2,920,008
October 2010 to September 2011 209,334 2,512,008
October 2011 to September 2012 212,500 2,550,000
October 2012 to September 2013 201,667 2,420,004
October 2013 to September 2014 202,500 2,430,000
October 2014 to September 2015 195,834 2,350,008
October 2015 to September 2016 181,667 2,180,004
October 2016 to September 2017 172,917 2,075,004
October 2017 to March 2018 152,500 915,000
1978 to March 2018 593,579,535