Major publisher Shueisha Inc. has said that it will discontinue its popular monthly cartoon magazine, Gekkan Shonen Jump, after its July edition. A Shueisha spokesperson said that the magazine will be discontinued not because of poor sales but because it plans to issue a new monthly cartoon magazine in autumn. Gekkan Shonen Jump was first published in 1970, as a brother magazine of the popular Shukan (weekly) Shonen Jump. The monthly has carried popular cartoons such as "Captain" by Akio Chiba and "Koha Ginjiro" by Hiroshi Motomiya. Shueisha claims that Gekkan Shonen Jump's circulation was about 390,000 copies. The July edition goes on sale on June 6.

Entertainment firm Yoshimoto Kogyo Co will withdraw from the comic business only three months after launching a comic magazine due to poor sales, industry sources said Saturday. The semimonthly "Comic Yoshimoto" magazine's next issue to be published Sept 18 will be its last, they said. It was first published June 19 and appeared on the first and third Tuesday of every month, selling for 320 yen per copy. The comics of the Osaka-based company featured stories by comedians that belong to the company, including Katsura Sanshi and Shinsuke Shimada, and were targeted men in their 20s to 40s.

Major publisher Shogakukan will suspend the publication of two of its manga magazines, including "Weekly Young Sunday," the company announced Friday. "Weekly Young Sunday" was first issued in 1987 as a semimonthly magazine, and was changed to a weekly publication in November 1995. Many of the popular serials from the magazine have been made into a TV drama, such as "Dr. Koto Shinryojo" (Dr. Koto's Clinic) and "Kurosagi" (The Black Swindler). The magazine marked its largest circulation of 800,000 copies in 1990, but in recent years it suffered from slumping sales at an average of 200,000 copies. The publication of "Weekly Young Sunday" will discontinue after the July 31 issue. The other magazine to be temporarily halted is "Judy," which was launched in 1983 mainly targeting housewives. Considering the reorganization of its women's manga magazines, Shogakukan will suspend the publication of "Judy" after the Aug. 23 issue. Additionally, Shogakukan will temporarily stop "Rakuda," an information magazine published in the odd months for older readers, after the July issue, and change the magazine's name to "Platinum Sarai" from the November issue and add new contents.

Mulboyne wrote:The Asahi reports (Japanese) that Shogagukan will suspend publication of the weekly manga "Shukan Young Sunday". At its peak in 1995, sales were around 680,000 but have now slipped to 200,000.