With a mission to dramatically increase overseas sales of anime, manga, video games, and other creative content by 2033, Japan’s Entertainment and Creative Industry Strategy is ambitious and prepared for new risks. Relatively safe licensing models seem to be on the way out, in favor of content companies establishing overseas bases, from where marketing, sales and distribution will be handled directly. Rampant piracy will face a two-pronged strategy, including enhanced enforcement measures targeting areas where piracy causes the most damage.
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In the decade preceding 2023, overseas sales of Japanese content tripled, reaching approximately 5.8 trillion yen or roughly US$38.3 billion at today’s rates.
According to the five-year action plan laid out in the 2025 Entertainment and Creative Industry Strategy report, that figure surpassed the exports of the semiconductor and steel industries, leaving only the car industry out in front. Now positioned as a ‘core industry,’ and with expectations that even greater achievements lie ahead, the Japanese content industries have a new target: overseas sales of 20 trillion yen – US$133 billion – by 2033.
Content Overseas Expansion 2.0
The global appeal of Japanese content, especially among consumers of comic books (manga) and animated movies (anime), led to an explosion of content consumption that appeared to take the local industries by surprise. Fan-led pirate sites satisfied demand for several years, including all-important translations that often were simply unavailable to buy from official sources.
The plan for achieving the required level of growth is detailed and complex; our focus here is necessarily more narrow. One key aspect expected to boost sales and profitability is a shift away from lower-profit licensing agreements with third party companies overseas, towards serving markets and consumers directly.
Japanese companies are reportedly establishing bases in overseas markets, aiming to build fan communities through live events and merchandise sales, while generating interest in a wider range of products.
The plan identifies 100 specific actions across 10 market sectors including anime, manga, video games and music. Areas in need of attention include a lack of human resources on the business side, a shortage of specialist content creators, restricted production capacity, and a lack of objective market data.
However, if all goes to plan, overseas success is expected to increase demand for Japanese products in general. Inbound tourism is also predicted to rise with the benefits felt on a regional basis. Establishing the content industries overseas would also provide a bridgehead enabling others to follow.
“In order to advance ‘Content Overseas Expansion 2.0,’ it is essential that the public and private sectors work together strategically to increase productivity and profitability across the industry, create new IP content, and strengthen competitiveness,” the action plan reads.
Two-Pronged Anti-Piracy Strategy
The shift to a new business model will inevitably present new challenges, but none quite as difficult to solve as piracy. On one hand, boosting interest in Japanese content overseas could be a roaring success. On the other, if pirate sites end up reaping most of the benefits, that will suppress companies’ abilities to generate profit in support of significant new investment.
The challenge is well understood and, at a base level, hasn’t changed in 20 years. Fundamentally, the solution is equally static; increase the appeal of legitimate products, ensure that content is properly localized to meet the language requirements of local audiences, and make it easy to consume through accessible, value-for-money platforms.
Since the popularity of pirate sites is determined in exactly the same way, Japanese content – manga in particular – is uniquely vulnerable to pirate competition. The cost of creating and promoting legal content is of little interest to most large pirate sites operating in the niche. That has immediate consequences for affordably priced content competing against identical content given away for free. The relatively simplistic manga format only serves to compound the problems.
The two-pronged approach assumes that when everything has been done to meet customer requirements (prong 1) yet content is still consumed from pirate sites, strengthening enforcement measures to remove unfair competition (prong 2) becomes a necessary component of a successful anti-piracy strategy.
General Anti-Piracy Measures and Enforcement
Law Enforcement and Investigation: Anti-piracy group CODA (Content Overseas Distribution Agency) actively investigates pirate sites on behalf of its members, which include some of Japan’s largest producers of manga and anime.
Existing enforcement work alongside international partners such as the MPA, often in cooperation with national law enforcement agencies, is expected to play a major role. Establishing an overseas presence has already led to publicized success in China (1,2,3) and while yet to be formally announced (to our knowledge), evidence suggests similar planning for action elsewhere.
Comprehensive Response: The action plan recognizes that regions with high piracy rates will require a comprehensive anti-piracy approach to create potential for sales of legitimate products. While enforcement will likely prove necessary, the aim will be to offer translated and localized content, supplied in a format that makes it easy for fans to consume, at a price that makes the content attractive.
Manga and Other Publications: The general goal is to apply anti-piracy measures while strengthening distribution of legitimate content. The latter will require support for the JLOX+ initiative (Japan content LOcalization and business transformation(X) Plus) and development of industry infrastructure for the effective translation of manga and other publications.
As things stand, a lack of skilled translators means that pirate sites often take the top slots in overseas search results. Basic translations are considered insufficient for official publications distributed overseas. On a region-by-region basis, translations must also consider local history, culture, religious sensitivities, and in some cases, limits on expression.
Japan Business Federation Calls for Urgent Support
Earlier this month, the influential Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) called for the government to provide immediate, large-scale, and multi-year funding necessary to ensure the success of the content industry as a driving force in the Japanese economy.
While acknowledging the growth of Japanese content on the world stage, Keidanren said that other countries are also launching projects, intensifying competition in an already competitive environment.
“To further promote the content industry as a core industry in Japan, while relying on the fundamental premise of private-sector-led creativity, public-private partnerships are essential. The government must now step up its efforts and provide large-scale, strategic support over multiple years,” Keidanren added.
“In order to achieve the government’s target of 20 trillion yen in overseas sales by 2033, it is essential to go beyond these measures and expand support measures for the entire content industry, such as strengthening central coordination and offering tax incentives.”
The plan is certainly ambitious, but with impressive attention to detail throughout, including during the preparation stages, Japan isn’t taking this lightly. Piracy will likely remain part of the equation for some time, and while that might not be ideal, there might be small comfort in the knowledge that the lowest piracy rates usually accompany the least desirable content.
Keidanren’s call for urgent government support (pdf, Japanese)
Entertainment and Creative Industry Strategy – Five Year Action Plan (pdf, Japanese)
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
