The tale about an average 11 year old boy who is prophesied to defeat this century’s greatest dark wizard is cherished and beloved all around the world. This was no different in Japan, where the first book alone sold more than 800,000 copies.

But is Harry’s popularity waning in Japan?

To answer this question you have to dig into the Japanese culture as it stands in the 21^st century. It is a society where the new is cool and the now is worshiped. The future is a goal to be attained, but it is the now that will get them through the process. This can be seen in important decisions- such as Japan’s pro-ecological stance on global warming, or in everyday day affairs like what Yukiko-san will be wearing on Harajuku Street.

The average teenage girl (and this goes for anywhere in the world, not just Japan) would be mortified if she showed up to a social event and got taunted and picked on for wearing last year’s skirt. Only in Japan her ‘last year’s skirt’ would be ‘last week’s blouse’. It is simply that the culture is ever changing and constantly on the move.

So is it any wonder that Harry Potter, a series of novels that has spanned a decade of publishing, is losing popularity in Japan?

Looking at the lines outside of cinema theaters at Tokyo’s premier of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, one would find it hard to believe that there is any less enthusiasm than in the rest of the world. Thousands of fans are present, some with their wizarding robes and hats, and waiting to enter the theater as they reserved their tickets long before this event.

But the facts remain in the mathematics. Book sales have decreased along with merchandise sales among the Japanese, and the fifth movie earned less than half the revenues of the first.

But only time will tell whether the Japanese will be under the wizard’s spell for the last two movies (the seventh installment will be split into two movies), or if it will fall into the wayside like so many other less fortunate trends.

They should’ve just made it an anime.