To help boost the marketing and anime, manga, and other forms of entertainment overseas, the Japanese government is considering subsidies totaling ¥11.5 billion (about $7.5 million US dollars). The subsidies would go to 15 companies and aim to triple overseas sales to ¥20 trillion by 2033.

Companies eligible for the support would include five in the anime sector, six in music/gaming/live-action sectors, and 4 in manga. Companies mention include Crunchyroll, Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., Shueisha, Kodansha Ltd., Square Enix Co. and NTT Solmare Corp.

Overseas sales of manga and other forms of entertainment have reached ¥6.13 trillion (about $4 million US dollars) in 2024. That’s more than semiconductor exports which were ¥6.08 trillion.

The manga and anime industry have faced issues with piracy with estimates that 2025 losses were ¥5.7 trillion which was up from ¥2 trillion in 2022.

The subsidies would aim to boost the speed by which releases could make it to overseas markets by using generative artificial intelligence to translate the work. By increasing the translation speed and number of languages it might decrease piracy.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has names the “content industry” as one of 17 fields for investment as part of the government’s growth strategy.