Japan to boost budget by up to IDR 11 trillion for creative industries

The Japanese government is considering doubling the budget allocated to support the creative industries, including content, anime, games, and music, to around 100 billion yen (approximately IDR 11 trillion). Government sources familiar with the matter said on Friday that Japan will secure at least 500 billion yen (approximately IDR 55.7 trillion) over the next five years to promote overseas expansion. The funds will be included in the fiscal 2027 budget proposal, which will be compiled this summer. The discussion on the reorganisation comes as the Cool Japan Fund Inc, a public-private partnership established more than a decade ago to promote Japanese cultural products abroad, suffers significant losses due to the poor performance of its portfolio companies. The Japanese government will set its policy direction by the end of this year. The content industry is one of the sectors, alongside semiconductors, where the government is pushing for investment to drive growth. In the fields of anime and manga, the government will support the training of translators and the use of artificial intelligence to produce works for overseas audiences. For the gaming industry, it will encourage the development of markets for smartphone and computer games, which have greater growth potential than home console games. The government is also actively promoting overseas expansion and talent development in the music, film, and drama sectors. Overseas sales in the content industry reached approximately 6 trillion yen (around IDR 668.5 trillion) per year, exceeding the value of semiconductor exports. The government has set a target to increase this figure to 20 trillion yen (approximately IDR 2.2 quadrillion) by 2033. Support for the content industry is also widespread abroad. In South Korea, the annual budget for the creative industries reached around IDR 8.4 trillion in 2023. In Japan, the business community has called for increased funding, with a group of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers seeking to secure at least 500 billion yen over five years.