Photo/Illutration The Mangamura website was closed in 2018. Part of the image is modified. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Manga pirate sites cost the Japanese manga industry at least 1 trillion yen ($8.74 billion) in 2021, according to a Tokyo-based association working to crack down on the practice.

The figure marks a 4.8-fold increase from a year earlier, according to the Authorized Books of Japan, a body whose membership includes publishers.

An estimated 900 pirate manga sites are still operating, the ABJ said. The 10 most popular websites had a combined 3.75 billion hits in 2021, up 2.5 times from the previous year.

Some pirate manga websites allow visitors to read manga on their web pages, while others offer downloadable content for visitors to peruse on their computers and other digital devices.

According to the AJB, the publishing industry suffered a 1.0019-trillion-yen loss in 2021 due to pirated manga viewing websites.

The amount was 1.6 times the size of the legitimate manga market in 2020 (612.6 billion yen), according to a tally by the Research Institute for Publications.

There is every indication that the total damage will soar when pirated manga download websites are included.

Mangamura, Japan’s largest manga piracy website, was shut down in 2018. This led to the growth of similar websites outside Japan.

Manga Bank, which is apparently based overseas, arrived on the scene in 2019 and was shut down after four publishers filed a request for disclosure of information about its operator with a U.S. court.

It is believed the website continues to operate after changing its name and taking other steps.

“The situation is getting worse because several piracy websites that appear to be based overseas have grown larger than Mangamura,” said Atsushi Ito, deputy chief of the editorial and general affairs department at Shueisha Inc. who also serves as head of the public affairs department of the ABJ.

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