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Speaking in a meeting with the leading figures of Japan’s content industry, including anime director Mamoru Oshii, musician Demon Kakka, and producer Tetsuya Komuro, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declared that Japan’s anime and music industries have evolved beyond mere cultural exports into vital instruments of state diplomacy.
“I feel that the strength of Japan’s anime content enhances our diplomatic power,” Takaichi said. “The market has significant room to expand overseas.“
The Prime Minister noted that while interacting with leaders at international conferences, they often mentioned that their children or grandchildren were fans of anime characters and Japanese music.
These interactions, she said, signaled that anime and other Japanese content possessed more value than being a simple cultural appeal and was becoming an important force in strengthening diplomatic relations, particularly in markets across Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and North America.
“When exchanging greetings with leaders of other countries, I often hear them express strong interest in and deep knowledge of Japanese content,” she said.
The meeting, held at the Prime Minister’s Office in late December, was organized to address the future of Japan’s content industries, specifically dissecting how Japanese culture, lifestyles, and values were disseminated globally.
Takaichi described the session as a “candid exchange of views,” covering critical issues including talent acquisition, attracting foreign film productions, and the urgent need to combat piracy.
Previously, during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Tokyo last December, she had famously stunned global investors by quoting a line from Attack on Titan to demand confidence in Japan’s fiscal recovery.
“Just shut your mouths. And invest everything in me!” Takaichi told the audience, channeling the protagonist Eren Yeager.
Takaichi Announces Major Investment To Expand Anime Overseas
Underscoring the administration’s commitment to soft power, Takaichi emphasized that the content industry, anchored by anime, is one of the “17 strategic areas” in Japan’s national growth strategy.
The Takaichi Cabinet intends to provide full support by utilizing a supplementary budget of over 55 billion yen (approx. USD 351 million) to expand opportunities for artists and creators to succeed in new global markets.
This figure is more than double the amount allocated in the previous fiscal year. The multi-year fund is designed to expand opportunities for Japanese content, including anime and music, in new global markets, bolster international content distribution networks, and support content production specifically geared toward overseas audiences.
Takaichi stated that she invited professionals from the frontlines of the industry to hear their opinions and understand the practical difficulties in producing and distributing content overseas, adding that the government needed to identify exactly where its support would be most effective.
This investment aligns with the government’s ambitious “Cool Japan” strategy, which targets 20 trillion yen (approx. USD 128 billion) in overseas sales by 2033.
According to the latest Anime Industry Report by the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), the overseas market has definitively overtaken the domestic Japanese market.
While international sales first surpassed domestic revenues in 2020 due to pandemic-driven demand, the trend solidified in 2024. Preliminary figures indicate that overseas revenue surged approximately 26% to 2.17 trillion yen (USD 14.1 billion), while the domestic market grew a modest 2.8% to 1.67 trillion yen (USD 10.9 billion).
While the government pushes for globalization, the creative industry remains divided on whether anime should be tailored for foreign tastes. Hideaki Anno, the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, recently pushed back against the pressure to westernize Japanese storytelling.
In a recent interview, Anno warned that adjusting creative sensibilities to fit foreign markets could dilute the unique identity of the medium and instead asked the audience to adjust to the content.
Source: Japan Today
