Japan Eyes ¥20 Trillion Anime, Games Export Boom by 2033

• Japan aims to increase international content sales to ¥20 trillion by 2033, with exports reaching ¥5.8 trillion in 2023.
• The government is requesting a significant increase in content promotion spending to promote worldwide expansion.
• Officials hope to alleviate labor shortages and low salary levels by forming a certification body by 2028.

Japan's government declared a stronger policy to support the international expansion of video games, anime, and related creative sectors in response to rising demand worldwide and increased international rivalry. The initiatives, announced by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet this week, seek not just to increase export earnings but also to address structural limitations in human resources and distribution infrastructure.

Exports Surge as Cool Japan Revisits its Financial Targets

As noted by The Japan Times, international sales of Japanese creative output, encompassing manga, animation, films, and games, reached around ¥5.8 trillion (~ $37.87 billion USD) in 2023, which exceeded the export value of semiconductors, which is termed as one of Japan's export foundations. Following that, the government now aims to increase yearly overseas content sales to ¥20T (~ $130.63B) by 2033, over three times the present value, as a part of its revised Cool Japan strategy.

Notably, in 2025, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Infinity Castle became the first Japanese anime movie to achieve ¥100 billion in global revenue, highlighting anime's growing international presence. The film's domestic box office helped boost Japan's cinematic market to a 32% year-on-year gain in 2025, reaching around ¥274B (~ $1.78B).

Despite such developments, Japan's government funding for content promotion, which amounts to ¥25.3B (~ $165.1 million), remains soft compared to South Korea's 2023 budget of ₩844.2B (~ $582.6M) for creative industry [data from Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Republic of Korea]. On the other hand, Rebuild Local News stated that the US federal government's discretionary advertising budget surged to $1.8B in 2023, highest since the pandemic. Post that, in November 2025, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party issued a resolution proposing a fourfold increase in the budget to over ¥100B, aiming to align Japan's subsidies with those of its counterparts around the world.

Japan’s Anime, Gaming Boom: Budget Expansion, Localization Push and Structural Reforms

The Japan Times notes that in fiscal year 2025, ¥35B (~ $228.32M) was committed for multiyear worldwide expansion projects, marking a starting step towards this goal. The proposed policy features include extending distribution networks, combating piracy, and investing in AI-powered translation technologies to facilitate local adaptation of Japanese intellectual property. Additionally, industry executives, like Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto, have stated that localization capacity remains a bottleneck, necessitating qualified translators and cultural specialists to maximize export profitability. He also added that "government support is indispensable."

To maintain its cultural economy and dominance in the global creative sector, Japan is increasingly boosting the anime, games and related industries to a national priority status. The country’s government further intends to stabilize production studio output and ensure Japan's creative influence on the global stage by establishing a third-party certifying authority by 2028, backed by substantial financial investment. This authority also intends to solve labor issues like workforce shortages and low pay, as well as to enforce anti-piracy.