Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry formulates "Entertainment Industry Strategy" aiming for overseas sales of 20 trillion yen in 2033

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced on August 20 that it has compiled the ``Entertainment and Creative Industry Strategy 2026,'' which aims to increase overseas sales of Japanese content to 20 trillion yen in 2033. The subtitle is ``Five-Year Plan for a Great Storytelling Nation.'' The government has set a public-private goal of roughly tripling overseas sales from 6.1 trillion yen in 2024 to 24.5 trillion yen in five fields: games, anime, manga, music, and live action, and also nearly tripling the amount of private investment to 24.5 trillion yen.

This strategy is based on discussions at the Entertainment and Creative Industry Policy Study Group held in 2015, and specifies issues that impede the growth of the content industry, countermeasures, and structural reforms aimed at returning profits to creators.

The goal for overseas sales is to expand from 6.1 trillion yen in 2024 to 20 trillion yen in 2033, with an interim target of 10 trillion yen in 2028. The 20 trillion yen is on a scale comparable to the export value of automobiles, and the aim is to grow the content industry into an industry that is responsible for earning Japan's foreign currency. By field, the increase will be for games from 3.4 trillion yen to 12 trillion yen, anime from 2.1 trillion yen to 6 trillion yen, manga from 300 billion yen to 1 trillion yen, music from 100 billion yen to 700 billion yen, and live action from 100 billion yen to 500 billion yen.

The company outlined basic strategies for increasing sales in each of the five focus areas. For games, we will focus on developing the mobile and PC markets, and for anime and live-action, we will focus on increasing production of large-scale works aimed at the global market. In anime, we will also strengthen the return of results to the production side. For manga, the company aims to prevent piracy and expand the distribution of authorized versions, and for music, it aims to expand its fan base through live performances.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has identified three issues as ``market failures'' that will prevent the goal from being achieved. The first is under-investment in production, with the scale of production in the video field being only about 10% of that in the United States, which provides annual financial support of 600 billion yen. The second is dependence on large overseas platforms; in the video and publishing fields, only about 10 to 20 percent of overseas sales are returned to Japan. The third is the damage caused by pirated copies, which amounts to approximately 10 trillion yen annually.

We will respond to these challenges with three pillars: ``Creating'', ``Distributing'' and ``Taking'' content. In ``Create,'' we will support the creation of works aimed at the global market, centered on ``IP360,'' which supports everything from IP creation to large-scale production and overseas expansion. In the area of ​​``distribution,'' we will strengthen cooperation with domestic and overseas distributors, and in the area of ​​``hit,'' we will work to counter pirated copies and guide users to official versions.

In addition, we will promote five structural reforms to increase the value of IP and return profits to creators. In addition to improving the working environment by raising wages and optimizing working hours, the company will also make it easier to procure production costs from financial institutions by guaranteeing the completion of works and creating a system for third-party evaluation of future sales. In the field of AI, we will encourage digital investment and strengthen measures against rights infringements caused by AI.

In addition, the government will create a system that will make it easier for production companies to receive compensation based on the results of their works, and will work to improve the foundations of the IP licensing market. The function of JETRO's overseas offices, which support the overseas expansion of content, will also be strengthened.