By YUSUKE MIYATA/ Staff Writer
March 18, 2020 at 17:15 JST
Study drills in the Jinbocho main store of Sanseido bookstore in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on March 3 (Yusuke Miyata)
Sales of study drills for elementary school pupils are skyrocketing due to demand from parents stuck with keeping kids busy at home since the coronavirus prompted schools to close.
The books usually sell well during spring break in late March, but this year, warehouses are being cleaned out of them.
Between Feb. 24 and March 1, five study drills entered Japan's weekly top 20 best-selling books list for titles excluding paperbacks and comics.
Leading publishing agency Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Inc. announced the ranking on March 3.
The week before Feb. 24, no study drills were on the list. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for temporary school closures on Feb. 27.
The study drills provide a comprehensive review of Japanese, math and other subjects for all elementary grade levels, said Naoki Okuda, a buyer at the publishing agency.
Each one covers all material taught in the courses during the entire school year.
“People are snatching them up so their kids can study at home,” Okuda said.
Kumon Publishing Co. saw three kinds of drills from its comprehensive review drill series enter the top 20.
The company's drill for elementary school second-graders was number 12, while its drill for first-graders came in at 16th and its drill for third-graders was 18th on the list.
Kumon said orders from bookstores increased rapidly after the prime minister announced schools would close.
All Kumon's drills in the series have been out of stock as of March 3.
Kumon said it has no plans to reprint the drills as from April, elementary schools will start using a new curriculum and the contents of textbooks will change.
Gakken Plus Co.'s drill for first-graders placed 19th on the top 20 list and its drill for third-graders took the 20th spot.
Gakken said as of March 3 its sales for all drills at every grade level were higher than what it had raked in by the third week of the same month last year.
The publisher also said it doesn't intend to reprint them, also citing the new school curriculum coming in April.
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