Google Play market in Japan: which categories are open
Categories of Google Play in Japan ranked by how easy it is to reach the top 100 free chart. Snapshot of Oct 23, 2026.
2.6Minstalls to enter a top 100 (median)
15%of the top: apps from the last 12 months
47,182local apps
5.9Blocal installs
237new local apps in a year
Categories, easiest first
| Category | Top 100 | New in top |
|---|---|---|
| Photography | 1.9K | 18% |
| Personalization | 7.8K | 34% |
| Dating | 21K | 6% |
| Art & Design | 25K | 34% |
| Productivity | 29K | 23% |
| Education | 35K | 12% |
| Social | 42K | 12% |
| Food & Drink | 56K | 3% |
| Casino games | 76K | 2% |
| Medical | 104K | 4% |
| Business | 168K | 10% |
| Puzzle games | 246K | 45% |
| Arcade games | 287K | 12% |
| Casual games | 299K | 57% |
| Shopping | 355K | 3% |
| Lifestyle | 58K | 5% |
| Travel & Local | 1.1M | 7% |
| Books & Reference | 1.4M | 13% |
| Sports | 2.2M | 15% |
| Board games | 2.6M | 18% |
| Maps & Navigation | 2.8M | 12% |
| Music games | 3.1M | 7% |
| Entertainment | 3.2M | 22% |
| Adventure games | 6.3M | 33% |
| Action games | 6.9M | 23% |
| Tools | 8.3M | 42% |
| Finance | 9.7M | 4% |
| Educational games | 12M | 7% |
| Weather | 16M | 17% |
| Communication | 16M | 15% |
| Music & Audio | 21M | 13% |
| Card games | 22M | 16% |
| Health & Fitness | 25M | 7% |
| Simulation games | 58M | 31% |
| Role Playing games | 58M | 19% |
| Racing games | 65M | 17% |
| Strategy games | 77M | 28% |
| Video Players & Editors | 16M | 19% |
| Sports games | 237M | 14% |
How to read it
- Top 100 threshold
- Installs of the app at position 100 of a category's free chart: roughly what it takes to get in. For a country, the median across its categories.
- New in top
- Share of the top 200 released in the last 12 months: do newcomers break through?
- Local in top
- Share of the top 200 offered in no more than 3 countries: do local apps win, or global giants?
- Local apps
- Live apps offered only in this country (and at most two others).