The Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), one of the nation’s largest and most influential business lobbies, issued an “urgent message” on October 6, calling on the government to provide immediate, large-scale, and long-term support for the country’s content industries, including video games, anime, manga, film and music (as reported by Otaku Soken).
According to Keidanren’s Committee on the Creative Economy, Japan’s content exports have grown so rapidly that their overseas market value now exceeds the country’s semiconductor exports. Back in 2023, the group (which represents the interests of large enterprises like Toyota and Mitsubishi), argues that popular content should be the central drivers of Japan’s economy. In response, the government launched its “New Cool Japan Strategy,” which positioned anime and video games as the country’s “core industries.”
But now, Keidanren stresses that while Japan’s content IPs are gaining influence globally, the competition from abroad is intensifying. They suggest that Japan risks falling behind without stronger collaboration between the private and public sector, commenting that “the government should get more serious now than ever, and immediately provide strategic support over multiple years.”
They’re asking for a wide range of measures, with some specific examples including stronger piracy countermeasures (particularly for manga), funding of localization and global marketing, investment in new game development, and support for securing animation staff and improving anime production environments.
Related articles: Japanese conservative political party wants video games and anime to be put under state authority to make sure they’re “wholesome,” and people are angry
