The Japanese government wants to significantly support the creative industry in order to expand its cultural influence and economic power worldwide.
Anime is no longer a niche market, but rather quite the contrary. Japanese animated works are currently experiencing an international hype. Titles such as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc are attracting fans worldwide to theaters and achieving impressive box office results.
The Japanese government also wants to continue to capitalize on this upswing. In October of this year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) held its 8th seminar on policy for the entertainment and creative industries.
There, the ministry presented five basic principles for new policy guidelines that are intended to shape the future of Japan's content and anime industry.
The plans aim to promote the international growth of the industry while preserving the artistic control of creators, particularly to ensure that government support does not lead to censorship.
Japan In Global Competition
The Japanese content industry is much more than just anime. Video games, manga, movies, and music are also part of this important economic sector. By 2023, the foreign anime market had already surpassed the domestic market and has been growing steadily ever since. Japan therefore wants to build on its strengths in a targeted manner and invest heavily in the future of the content industry.
The planned measures include expanding government subsidies and increasing the use of content specialists to further stimulate growth. This is also the government's response to strong competition from countries such as South Korea, which has invested heavily in its own creative industries in recent years.
New Guideline For Global Success
The newly introduced guideline is part of a comprehensive strategy with which the Japanese government aims to expand the foreign market for domestic content to 20 trillion yen (approx. 130 billion USD) by 2033. A central goal is to strengthen Japan's cultural influence worldwide, with anime and video games playing a key role.
The so-called "Five key principles of the Entertainment and Creative Industries Policy" are:
- Large-scale, long-term strategic support
- Support efforts to spread Japan-made content to the world
- No interference in the content of creative works
- Provide direct support
- Prioritize those willing to take a challenge
Protecting Artists: No Government Interference In Creative Content
In July, a Japanese political party called for video games and anime to be placed under state supervision to ensure that they were "wholesome." However, this populist initiative was met with fierce resistance from the public and the industry.
Against this backdrop, the third principle of the new directive, "No interference in the content of creative works," has attracted particular attention.
As METI emphasizes, the government's goal is solely to promote the content industry, not to interfere with its creative work. The third principle is intended to assure creators that their freedom of expression will remain protected and that "government support" is not synonymous with content control.
The ministry concluded by stating that it hopes the new policy will help "Japanese-produced content conquer the world."
It remains to be seen whether the measures will be implemented as planned and how successful this strategy will prove to be. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments!