Japan’s animation industry grew by 14.8% to hit record revenues of $25BN (JPY3.8TR) in 2024, with much of the increase coming from overseas markets, according to a report presented by the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA) at TIFFCOM.
The report, introduced by Megumi Onouchi, AJA committee member and CEO of Japan’s HumanMedia Inc, also showed that overseas revenue accounted for 56% of the total – or $14.25BN (JPY2.17TR) – while Japanese domestic revenues pulled in $10.97BN (JPT1.67TR) accounting for 44% of total income.
Without the overseas portion, the industry’s revenues would have been pretty much flat in 2024, compared to the previous year when domestic income came in at $10.67BN for a 49% share.
Indeed, the report, which looked back at 22 years of data, clearly showed why Japan’s entertainment industry is increasingly focused on overseas expansion. Revenues from outside Japan first overtook local sales in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic when global streaming platforms started to accelerate distribution of Japanese anime overseas.
Local income took the lead again in 2021; was neck and neck with overseas revenue in 2022; but fell behind again in 2023 when overseas pulled in a 51% share. In 2024, the dominance of overseas revenue was clear, accounting for 56% of overall income, and is expected to keep rising.
“Overseas revenue is now climbing high and has not yet reached the peak. We believe it has potential to expand to even more markets,” said Onouchi. “We’re also seeing a rise in international events related to anime. There are currently 160 events across 50 countries, and the numbers are increasing.”
Onouchi also noted that much of the overseas revenue currently comes from licensing to streaming platforms, and that Japanese entertainment companies could see further growth by becoming more directly involved in secondary business activities in international markets, such as merchandising and events.
Japan’s government is positioning anime and related media as a core industry under its ‘New Cool Japan Strategy’, setting an ambitious target of reaching 20 trillion yen (or US$130BN) by 2033.
The TIFFCOM session during which the report was presented, ‘The Cutting Edge of Japanese Animation’s Global Expansion’, also included presentations from three leading Japanese animation studios – Bandai Namco (Gundam), Toho Global (Godzilla) and Studio4℃, about how they are taking animation properties into international markets.
Studio4℃ recently produced animated movie ChaO, which won the Jury Award in the feature films category at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Eiko Tanaka, CEO and producer at Studio4℃, explained that the film was positioned for theatrical release in international markets and has already been lined up for release in more than 20 territories.
