Nintendo Switch is more popular among Japanese teens than Disney, Pokémon and Nintendo itself, survey finds
37,000 people were surveyed across Japan to find the most popular brands
Nintendo Switch is the second most popular brand among Japanese teenagers, beating out the likes of Disney and Pokémon.
That’s according to a new survey by Nikkei, which asked Japanese teenagers and adults their views on various brands to determine which are the most powerful in Japan.
The Brand Japan 2026 survey – the 26th such survey that has been carried out – involved a large sample size of 37,000 Japanese citizens, and looked at 1,000 brands of companies, products and services.
The results were then split into two charts – one for respondents under 20 years of age, and one for all respondents regardless of age – to determine the most popular brands among each demographic.
For the under-20s chart, Nintendo Switch was declared the second most popular brand, behind only YouTube. This also makes the Switch brand more popular than Nintendo brand itself, which came in at number 3.
Other notable brands in the under-20s chart include Pokémon at 7th, Amazon at 9th and Disney at 10th.
The situation is different when the chart expands to include all generations, where alcohol and soft drink company Suntory is the number 1 brand (as opposed to 47th among teenagers).
In this chart, Nintendo Switch drops from 2nd to 59th, while Nintendo itself only drops from 3rd to 12th, suggesting that the Nintendo name is still more popular in Japan as a whole, whereas Switch is more popular among Japan’s youth.
Pokémon also drops from 7th to 201st when all generations are surveyed, suggesting that despite the series recently hitting its 30th anniversary it’s still mainly a brand enjoyed by younger players in Japan.
As noted by Nikkei, the generational gap is made clear in both charts, as older respondents favoured automobile and electronics manufacturers, while younger respondents appear to be moving away from cars and alcohol.
PlayStation manufacturer Sony is ranked 10th among all ages, but only ranks 40th among those under 20.
The top 10 for each age group is as follows:
Brand Japan 2026 – Top 10 (respondents aged under 20)
(Chart position for all ages provided in italics)
- YouTube (2)
- Nintendo Switch (59)
- Nintendo (12)
- Daiso (3)
- Muji (5)
- LINE (31)
- Pokémon (201)
- Saizeriya (13)
- Amazon (18)
- Disney (14)
Brand Japan 2026 – Top 10 (all ages)
(Chart position for those aged under 20 provided in italics)
- Suntory (47)
- YouTube (1)
- Daiso (4)
- Panasonic (27)
- Muji (5)
- Uniqlo (62)
- McDonald’s (21)
- Aeon (23)
- Google (17)
- Sony (40)
