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NEWS: Exports of 'Cool Japan' Anime, Dramas Jump 30%

Great news. I'm hoping this steady increase will have Japan finally realize the potential of anime and manga in America. So if a series doesn't do so well in Japan, it can still be a success in America and elsewhere without them having to cancel it. But I feel like that's just a far-fetched dream.

The data comes from the ministry's poll of 179 broadcasting companies. The export values include 45.1% broadcasting rights, 14.8% internet streaming rights, 8.6% home video licenses, 7.3% remake rights, 23.3% merchandising, 0.9% other rights.

The Asahi Shimbun cites the rise of internet streaming, which only accounted for 6.7% of 2012's total, the declining value of the yen as factors in the increase.

Anime made up the largest portion of the export values at 8.6 billion yen (US$71 million), followed by dramas at 2.1 billion yen (US$17 million) and variety shows at 1.8 billion yen (US$15 million). The export values also include documentaries, sports, and other programming.

Other Asian nations accounted for 7.2 billion yen (US$59 million) of the total exports, while North America accounted for 3.5 billion yen (US$29 million), Europe for 2.6 billion yen (US$21 million), and South America for 0.3 billion yen (US$2 million).

Japan's broadcast content export values have increased every year since 2010. In spite of the rise, South Korea's export values of broadcast content, mostly drama, are still nearly double Japan's.

The Japanese government and various companies are supporting the "Cool Japan" program that promotes modern Japanese culture such as anime and manga abroad. The program revolves around the premise that Japan's strength in business and international affairs lies in anime, manga, films, fashion, and other fields of Japanese arts and entertainment content. Cool Japan Fund Inc. announced in October that it would invest 14 billion yen (about US$128.1 million) in four overseas projects focused on raising demand for Japanese products and goods.

Among the new acquired titles we have “Cásate Conmigo” and “Mundos Opuestos” which are practically almost finished dubbing and available at L.A. Screenings. These dramas join the ranks of successful titles such as: “Amor Azul”, “Mil Dias de Promesas”, “Tristeza en las Estrellas”, “Amor en Tiempo de Invasion”, “Chicas de Oficina”, “Pan, Amor & Sueños”, “Adonis, Flor de Invierno”, “Manny”, “Bella Solitaria”, “El Príncipe de la Pasta”, “Eternos Enamorados”, “Eun & sus 3 Chicos”, “Sinfonia de Amor”, “Como Aman los Hombres”, “300 Años de Amor”, “Mascara de Cristal”, entre otras.

There are a few trend stories out there right now about how Japanese films aren't marketable outside of Japan and how, aside from Ghibli output, they perform poorly in international film festivals. It's considered a handicap and something they need to fix if they want the kind of box office and prestige that comes from having internationally marketable product, but I'm not at all sure how the industry itself there is approaching that or if they even care.

Great news. I'm hoping this steady increase will have Japan finally realize the potential of anime and manga in America. So if a series doesn't do so well in Japan, it can still be a success in America and elsewhere without them having to cancel it. But I feel like that's just a far-fetched dream.

Great news. I'm hoping this steady increase will have Japan finally realize the potential of anime and manga in America. So if a series doesn't do so well in Japan, it can still be a success in America and elsewhere without them having to cancel it. But I feel like that's just a far-fetched dream.

Export values include a variety of rights aside from broadcasting, such as rights to produce DVDs, rights to remake programs with new casts and rights to use the images of characters for merchandise.

Exported TV dramas, which included "Amachan," "Hanzawa Naoki" and "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger," accounted for 2.1 billion yen. Variety show exports followed in third place at 1.8 billion yen.

However, South Korea's export values of broadcast content, 90 percent of which are Korean dramas, are still nearly double that of Japan.

Well I do know several J-dramas that has been remade into K-dramas, also we've seen K-drama adaptation of Notabile Cantabile and Liar Game but what other countries are remaking J-dramas? That's what I like to know.

For years Japan simply just did not care about selling any of their shows overseas, they were focused only on themselves. And honestly when you compare Japan and Korea it's obvious that Korea NEEDS to market overseas because it's such a small country.

I'm somewhat hopeful for the future of streaming JDramas though. I've been in to JDramas and other live action for quite a few years now and it's hard. Compared to anime the JDrama fanbase is tiny and it can be crazy difficult to find raws and subs for a lot of shows and now with the piracy crack down it's even harder However I've certainly noticed an uptick of JDramas being being streamed lately. Before when I looked at Crunchyroll and Dramafever I never would have considered subscribing because I'm not in to KDramas and the only JDramas were some random late night ones that I just wasn't interested in but now they're getting more and more prime time shows and I've even signed up for Dramafever because I want to support that. Maybe they are starting out with mostly Fuji shows but it's not a bad place to start because Fuji has a lot of the more popular dramas (plus the show I'm watching on it right now is NTV so...) I'd really love to see TV Asahi and TBS jump on (because I love their dramas!) and also a streaming service totally devoted to Japanese live action, but the situation is better than it was a year ago and I think a year from now it'll be even better.

As for JMusic, well I have less hope for that! Haha in fact I think I notice LESS Japanese music on itunes every time I look for it. As much as I'd love to see my favorite groups do a world tour they simply do not have to. The Japanese industry though weakened is still strong enough to support their own groups, for them doing concerts overseas is just a waste of time and money. I do wish some music shows would be streamed and subbed though.

I wrote:

Well I do know several J-dramas that has been remade into K-dramas, also we've seen K-drama adaptation of Notabile Cantabile and Liar Game but what other countries are remaking J-dramas? That's what I like to know.

Taiwan has.

I wouldn't necessarily call them remakes of J-drama (i.e. original properties specific to Japanese TV), but there are live-action manga adaptations. It Started With a Kiss is one of the better known ones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Manga-based_Taiwanese_dramas