Anime Industry Report 2018
Summary
Authors
Hiromichi Masuda

Anime Industry Researcher
Auditor, Video Market Corporation

Tadashi Sudo

Journalist

Kazuo Rikukawa

President, Character Databank, Ltd.
Director/Secretary-General, Character Brand Licensing Association

Naofumi Ito

Department Director, Content Strategic Planning Office Content
Division, ASATSU-DK INC.

Yuji Mori

President, Senior Director, Dentsu Consulting Inc.
Specially Appointed Professor, Graduate School of Asia University

Yasuo Kameyama

Ph.D. Student, Graduate School of Media Design, Keio University
senior director of C i P committee

Editor
Hiromichi Masuda(editor in chief)

Anime Industry Researcher
Auditor, Video Market Corporation

Masahiro Hasegawa

Producer, HUMANMEDIA Inc.

Cooperation in Material Research
Mitsuru Soda

JuGeMu Co., Ltd.

Cooperation in Editing
Hiroko Uehara

Part-time Lecturer , Japan Electronics College
Part-time Lecturer , Shobi University Graduate School

Megumi Onouchi

President, HUMANMEDIA Inc.

January, 2019
The Association of Japanese Animations

The market recorded 108.0% growth and the highest sales in 2017,
finally crossing the 2 trillion yen mark driven by overseas sales.
The Japanese animation market, which hit bottom in 2009 and picked up in 2010, recorded growth for 7 consecutive years and reported its highest sales for the fourth consecutive year. The market size finally exceeded 2 trillion yen, which was
110% on a year-by-year basis. Videogram sales shrunk considerably (84.9%), and TV (98.8%), Merchandising (97.1%), and Pachinko (95.8%) also decreased. Meanwhile, Movie (141.4%), Music (110.5%), Internet Distribution (109.4%), LiveEntertainment (129.5%) and Overseas (131.6%) expanded. Movie enjoyed strong sales thanks to the blockbuster hit movie “Your Name.” Among those, Overseas, which recorded the largest sales, especially stood out.
sharp rise since 2015 almost overtook the domestic market, while the domestic market, reaching its peak in 2014, has

The Market Size Finally Surpassed 2 Trillion Yen

declined for three consecutive years due to the decline seen in major genres, such as Merchandising and Pachinko. If the

The year 2017 was the first year* that the Japanese animation market crossed the 2 trillion yen mark (Fig.1). The market

sales arising from application games and other digital merchandise not covered in this survey (as mentioned in therecorded 2 trillion 152.7 billion yen in sales, growing for 8 consecutive years, with 5 consecutive years of record-breaking

former paragraph) were added, the domestic market would likely show an increase. But just with the current figures, ithigh sales. To break it down by genre, TV (100.9%), Internet Distribution (113%) and Live Entertainment (116%)is hard to deny that the Japanese market relies on the sales in the overseas market. Substantial growth in the overseas

expanded while five genres (i.e. Movie (61.7%), Videogram (97.1%), Merchandising (93.0%), Music (91.6%) and Pachinko

market which covers the decline in the domestic market is fully welcomed. Yet, it is frightening that Japan greatly relies(95.8%)) decreased. Overseas (129.6%) showed strong growth, making up for the decline of those five genres. The ebb andon the overseas market. There are several risks to be concerned over,such as a sudden change of business environment

flow of respective genres have become clear compared to when this report was first issued 10 years ago.

in China due to politics (such as the so-called “China Risk”) or the distribution environment occupied by US major

Compared to the survey 10 years ago, TV recorded 115.7% growth, reaching its peak in 2015 and remaining steadyplatforms. Actually, the animation industry (i.e. animation studios and other related businesses) gains no upliftment

since then. Movie (193.4%) expanded year by year, Videogram (59.9%) declined unmistakably, and Internet

despite the record-breaking sales in the market. This may be because animation studios and the like have few chances toDistribution (551.0%) continued to rise dramatically. Merchandising (87.6%) declined gradually after reaching its peakobtain the benefits from sales arising from Internet distribution and application games, which are thought to occupy ain 2014, however, it could be assumed that the genre would have grown substantially if the sales arising from businesses

large part of overseas sales. It is desirable both for the market and the industry that the domestic market, which is now

not calculated in this survey, such as application games and other digital merchandise, had been covered (note: physicalin transition, stabilizes soon.

games are already covered in Merchandising). Music (99.2%) reached its peak in 2009 and has remained steady since[Figure 2] The Domestic and Overseas Revenues of Japanese Animation Industry in a Broad Sense (Yen in billions)then. Considering the performance of Videogram, Music, which is a part of packaged products businesses, has been
doing miraculously well. Overseas (226.6%) shrunk substantially after reaching its first peak in the mid 2000s. It has

Domestic

surged again since 2015, becoming today’s largest genre. Pachinko (175.9%), a new genre from 9 years ago, reached its
peak in 2014 and has declined gradually since then. Live Entertainment (251%), also a new genre from 4 years ago,

10,000

showed considerable growth. *due to error in the 2016 survey[Figure 1] The Japanese Animation Market in a Broad Sense (Yen in billions)

5,000

2200

1992.4

2000

1400
1200

1094.8 1118.7

1220.81303.2 1349.9 1313.9

1379.81254.21313.1 1329.5 1333.3

9,661

10,626
9,998 10,264

10,925

11,886

13,034 12,382 12,248

11,579
9,948

7,676

4,827 5,215 5,204 4,390
4,212
4,137
3,725

5,833
3,265
2,544 2,867 2,669 2,408 2,823

01629.91600

8,295 8,749

2152.71821.51800

7,817
7,223 6,975 7,381

Overseas

2002

1470.9

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Based on questionnaires conducted by the Association Japanese Animations〈The Market of Application Games Originating from Animation〉
As mentioned last year, the collaboration and synergy between animation and game industries are big themes for future

1000
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Based on questionnaires conducted by the Association Japanese Animations and other publicly available statistics

Topics in the Japanese Animation Industry from 2016 to 2017

animation businesses. Aniplex, which made a big breakthrough from 2016 to 2017, predicted the arrival of a new
window for the animation industry: a genre of application games originating from animations (or animations originatingfrom application games). It is estimated that the market has already grown to a size that is hard to ignore, yet there isno concrete data at this moment to confirm it. Some say the market size has reached hundreds of billions of yen both indomestic and overseas markets. Actually, it is not difficult for the animation industry to estimate and reflect the sales of〈Overseas Market Size Close to Domestic Market Size〉

application games based on animation works in the market data, but is hard to estimate the sales of animations

As seen in the comparison between the domestic market size and overseas market size (Fig.2), the overseas market’s

originated from application games. At this moment it is best to wait for the release of the sales data calculated by the

game industry or the related trade press to count the number of games turned into animation works from the data.

animations for adults were just dominating illegal video hosting sites. There was no TV broadcasting time for thoseanimations, while the videogram market had already collapsed by then. But the situation changed three or four years<Change in Theatrical Animation Trends>

ago. They have become a source of business being monetized on the Internet. Animations for adults were pushed to the

The year 2016 will be remembered as the year movies changed. Thanks to the success of “Shin Godzilla”, “Your Name.”,front from the tail end. They have great potential and are the future of Japanese animation. On the other hand, theand “In This Corner of the World” (release date order), manga, anime and special effects, the genres which used to be

downward trend of kids/family animations should be concerning. The decline is especially noticeable in newly produced

categorized as “subculture,”emerged prominently. They were no longer “sub”. As seen in Fig. 2, it is obvious thatanimations. The production minutes of new kids/family animations were 36,337 min. in 2001, 14,388 min. in 2016 andtheatrical animations have increased their presence since the 2000s; however, the phenomenon was more prominent infinally 9,790 in 2017, sinking below 10 thousand min. In the genre of kids/family animations, long-lasting works such as2016. (The year 2001 stood out due to the release of “Spirited Away”.) Theatrical animations and special effects

Sazae-san and Doraemon are the main productions; therefore, the industry needs to work on many more newmovies, which were sometimes considered less important, came to be acclaimed. Actually, those three works received

kids/family animations since the chances to become a long-running program are very limited. One basic factor of the

91% of the major domestic film awards: the Japan Academy Awards, Kinema Junpo Best 10, Blue Ribbon Awards* anddownward trend is the declining birthrate in Japan. Another is the weakening power of TV as the top media. The time is

Mainichi Film Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay* (*no Best Screenplay for Blue Ribbon

right for the arrival of a mega-hit kids/family animation from an Internet platform.

Awards). The works also occupied 80% of the awards for staff. It iss indeed a notable feat. Animation and special effects,
which used to be considered “subculture,” became recognized as mainstream in film culture in 2016.

[Figure 4] Production Minutes of Kids/Family (daytime) and Adult (late night) (min.)80,00070,000<Animation Production Minutes and Reform of Working Practices >In 2017, the total production minutes of TV animation, the staple of the Japanese animation industry, recorded 116,409

60,000minutes, crossing the 110 thousand min. mark for 5 consecutive years (Fig. 3). The figures, which were almost the same

50,000for five years, did not include production minutes of original animations exclusively for Internet platforms, such as

40,000

Netflix, though there were not that many animations for them. Meanwhile, the production minutes of theatrical

30,000animations has remained mostly stable for 3 years in spite of the shift to theatrical animations seen after the changeover
to terrestrial digital broadcasting. Accordingly, it seems the total production minutes of Japanese animation centering on
TV animation did not grow dramatically (the growth of short animations has seemingly slowed down). Under suchcircumstances, the animation industry finds itself in a situation where it is forced to improve productivity due to the“Reform of Working Practices” now promoted by the Japanese government at a rapid pace. Respective studios must cut
the production time while maintaining the current quality level, and the only way left for them to do so is by means ofdigitalization in the production methods. “Reform of Working Practices” means digitalization. The Japanese animationindustry will be able to move to the next stage only when it achieves digitalization.

120,000
100,000
80,00075,89085,43992,724

98,687

136,407
124,648
109,459
110,046
106,335
107,919

90,445 95,098

10,0000Daytime

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

66,840 68,625 76,234 75,426 67,752 65,995 77,326 70,222 62,724 58,342 55,782 53,338 62,282 61,694 62,094 54,733 50,775 53,757

Late night 8,120

16,814 16,490 23,261 38,583 43,464 59,081 54,426 47,323 49,577 34,663 41,761 42,788 50,476 57,868 60,800 65,030 62,652

Calculated by the Association of Japanese Animations based on publicly available statistics (including Perfect Data)
Note 1: Animations broadcast after 21:00 on TOKYO MX, BS 11, etc. are counted as late night anime.

<Increasing Production Costs>[Figure 3] Production Minutes of TV Animations
140,000

20,000

Animation production costs are on a rising trend, which was also confirmed in the responses from animation studios to
119,962
116,409
115,533
112,169
115,805
105,070

a questionnaire conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations.
“As the number of programs produced rises, so do production costs and sponsors’ budgets.” “Over the past few years,
high quality deserving of the budget has been required in animation production, so the rise in production costs was
gradually accepted.” “Unit production costs tend to be raised thanks to newcomers from other industries.” Those were

60,000the voices heard from some respondents. One of the main reasons for the increase in production costs is attributed to

40,000the fact that it is impossible to match the required quality with recent production costs. In other words, there is a strong

20,000demand for higher quality of animations. It is also evidence of growing understanding for the situation. Yet some

0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Based on a survey conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations

animation studios which fail to match the required quality may face the risk of failure if they are late to improve
productivity under the pressure of the Reform of Working Practices as aforementioned. On the other hand, some say the
production costs of certain works are pushed up due to the entry of new players, including domestic game companies,〈Japan, Origin of Animations for Adults〉

Netflix, Amazon and Chinese businesses. But the production costs for those businesses are presumably on a whole

The share of animations for adults (i.e. late-night anime) took over the share of kids/family animations in 2015, and it

different scale. At any rate, the cheap production costs were one main reason for the strong competence of Japanese

seems the trend has almost stabilized(Fig.4). Animations for adults emerged in Japan ahead of any other country andanimations in the overseas market. It was markedly inexpensive judging from the market level. It is a crucial point for

now only Japanese animations can truly fulfill the needs of adult animation fans now gradually increasing worldwide. In

Japanese animations to maintain their competence even in the trend of production cost increases.

that respect, the Japanese animation industry should realize that it has a great advantage. Previously, JapaneseTrends in Japanese Animation Market (2018 version)

The upper part shows Japanese animation market trends in a broad sense (i.e. market size based on estimated revenues in animation and animation-related product markets). The lower part shows Japanese animation market trends in a more limited sense (i.e.
market size based on the estimated revenues of all domestic commercial animation studios). It’s obvious that the animation market in a broad sense is overwhelmingly larger than in a limited sense. This is because the animation-related businesses including
character merchandising have significant leverage effects.

Japanese animation market trends in a broad sense (i.e. market size based on estimated revenues in animation and animation‐related markets)〈2002 – 2017〉■ ① ＴＶ■ ② Movie■ ③ Video■ ④ Internet Distribution■ ⑤ Merchandising■ ⑥ Music■ ⑦ Overseas■ ⑧ The Pachinko and the like■ ⑨ Live Entertainment
2,153billion

2,200billion yen
1,992billion

2,000billion yen

52.9

1,822billion
1,800billion yen

1,630billion

1,600billion yen
1,400billion yen
1,221billion
1,200billion yen

1,095billion

billion
0 yen

1,254billion

421.2

521.5

413.7
26.3

26.1

12.0

23.5

9.1

1,313billion

1,330billion

122.6

202.6

166.5
286.7

30.7

536.4

559.7

240.8

24.5

23.0

627.4

594.3

573.2

597.4

8.4
135.8

10.2
111.3
33.8
94.6

12.3
105.2
29.9
95.5

14.9
108.5
33.8
89.5

16.0
106.7
28.5
90.0

27.2
105.9
40.9
95.1

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

461.7

0.2
129.4
19.8
124.1

1.0
117.6
19.6
116.5

1.8
103.1
38.0
110.0

4.1
138.8
17.8
104.1

28.4
100.3

9.8
127.8
21.2
92.4

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

767.6

994.8

583.3

282.3

266.9

29.7

294.1

298.1

227.2

530.5

433.7

24.5

268.7

281.8

47.5

242.7
326.5

254.4

27.0

1,333billion

504.9

435.0

400billion yen

1,380billion

439.0

520.4

600billion yen

200billion yen

1,314billion

152.8

482.7

800billion yen
13.8

1,350billion

1,119billion

1,000billion yen
372.5

1,303billion

31.1

1,471billion

61.5

Definition of each item(end‐user basis)
1) TV: domestic TV animation revenues2) Movie: domestic theatrical animation box office revenues3) Video: domestic videogram animation revenues (DVD, etc.
media)
4) Internet Distribution: domestic online animation revenues5) Merchandising: domestic animation‐related merchandise
revenues
6) Music: domestic animation‐related music revenues7) Overseas: overseas Japanese animation revenues (movie,
TV, videogram, MD, etc.)
8) Pachinko and Pachinko‐slot machine: estimated shipment
value of animation character‐themed Pachinko and Pachinko‐
slot machine machines.
9) Live Entertainment: animation‐related live‐performance,
event, exhibition, and cafe revenues (Note 4)

23.7

24.6

25.8

28.5

579.4

562.7

47.8
78.8
66.4

26.1

598.5

655.2

34.0
115.3
47.0
102.0

40.8
102.1
41.7
110.7

43.7
92.8
47.7
107.2

105.9

54.0
76.5
41.0
106.9

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

523.2

Note 1: Domestic TV animation revenues were calculated basedon the following formula: (the sum of commercial TV broadcast
stations’ revenues and NHK’s broadcast revenues) x (the ratio ofanimation program to overall program broadcast minutes) +(revenue of animation channels)
Note 2: Pachinko and Pachinko‐slot machine with animation
character values were estimated based on their percentage of
total Pachinko and Pachinko‐slot machine shipments.
Note 3: The survey for Pachinko and Pachinko‐slot machine
started from 2008.
Note 4: The survey for Live Entertainment started from 2013.
The amount is the sum of the revenues of the following: anime
song/voice actor appearances, events, 2.5D musicals, museums,
exhibitions, cafés.
Note 5: The revenues for Merchandising from 2007 to 2013 wererecalculated in 2014.

Based on questionnaires conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations and other publicly available statistics

Trends in Japanese animation market in a limited sense (i.e. market size based on the estimated revenues of all domestic commercial animation studios〈2002 – 2017〉)■① ＴＶ■ ② Movie■ ③ Video■ ④ Internet Distribution■ ⑤ Merchandising■ ⑥ Music■ ⑦ Overseas■ ⑧ The Pachinko and the like■ ⑨ Live Entertainment■ ⑩ Others
241billion
227billion
14.2

250billion yen
223billion
208billion

include pachinko and the like
17.3

200billion yen

150billion yen

54.7
include pachinko and the like
53.6
0include pachinko and the like00137billion

141billion

31.3

29
11.3
8.3
0
0
include pachinko and the like include pachinko and the like
4.1
22.4
25.3
29.2
2.4
1.6
100billion yen
21.6
0.5
25.4
0.1
0.3
27.7

50billion yen

212billion

35.8

33.5

8.8

6.8

37.2

36.4

2002

2003

2.1
34.5
1.0
34.9

18.4

16.9

45.9

47.8

2004

2005

187billion

31.2
7.5
35.4
2.1
37.3

26.0
0 pachinko and the likeinclude
26.8
3.1
30.7

58.4

12.4
3.1
24.8
3.3
36.3

2.5

2.6

30.1

21.8

22.8

183billion

181billion
146billion
11.7
4.5
15.3
4.0
27.4
3.1
17.9

149billion

8.5
9.7

5.0
10.9

7.2
2.5
17.2
3.4

16.0
3.1

26.0

24.4

3.7
16.4

6.8

4.0
16.2

15.3

25.2

15.3

18.0

31.0

50.0

45.9

43.2

47.2

2007

2008

2009

2010

18.6

153billion

164billion
14.4
2.9
26.7

20.7

9.1
1.2
11.6

16.9
3.1
26.5
8.5
15.5
24.8

185billion
10.8
1.6
14.2
19.5
3.0

198billion
11.1
2.6
13.9
34.9
3.3

26.6

25.8

10.2

11.0

16.1

14.5

22.6

23.1

18.4
2.6
13.3

3.1
13.4

52.4
45.9
3.3
3.6
30.4
12.0
12.5
25.2

34.5
13.6
11.7
29.3

56.0

61.6

67.4

61.7

60.5

65.7

68.9

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

billion
0 yen

2006

Definition of each item
(animation studio basis)
1) TV: revenue from TV animation production andbroadcasting right fees2) Movie: revenue from production and profit distribution oftheatrical animations3) Video: revenue from production and profit distribution ofanimation videograms
4) Internet Distribution: revenue from the Internet
distribution and profit distribution related to animation
content
5) Merchandising: revenue from character licensing,advertisement, promotion, events etc. related to animation
content6) Music: revenue from music related to animation content
7) Overseas: revenue from overseas markets including license
fees related to animation content
8) Pachinko and the like: revenue from animation production
and profit distribution for Pachinko and Pachinko‐slot
machines
9) Others: revenue from services/businesses other than above
Note 6: The survey for Pachinko and Pachinko-slot
machine started from 2008. Figures for this industry were
included in “Others” until 2007.

Based on questionnaires conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations and statistics released to public.

Trends in Japanese Animation Market (2018 version)

As the overseas market approaches 1 trillion yen, the distribution market exceeds the theatrical market even in Japan.
Production Minutes of TV Animations (2000-2017)

Box Office Revenue of Theatrical Animations (2000-2017)■Production Minutes of TV Animation■Box Office Revenue*All theatrical animations released via ordinary and independent distribution routes are included.

*The production minutes of TV animations in 2011 increased as the result of recalculation.

The box office revenue of theatrical animations in 2017 was 41 billion yen, decreasing by 38% over theprevious year and the lowest it has been in the last five years. The figure, however, could be interpreted
as the genre maintaining recent levels since the box office in 2016 (66.4 billion yen) would be only 41.4
billion yen without Your Name. Among the top 10 Japanese works, 5 theatrical animations were ranked.
The two long-running series Detective Conan and Doraemon showed the presence of animation,
occupying the 1st and 2nd places in the ranking. Furthermore, theatrical animations based on late night
animations performed solidly. Sword Art Online achieved a substantial level of performance not only inJapan but also overseas. The theatrical animation market will continue to stay strong thanks to themomentum as well as the increase of works released.

The production minutes of TV animations in 2017 were 116,409 minutes, remaining almost thesame for 5 consecutive years. The production minutes of original animations exclusively forInternet platforms (Netflix, etc.) are not covered in these statistics. However, those works are notmany. The production minutes of theatrical animations have remained almost the same for 3 years.
Accordingly, overall production minutes of Japanese animations have stayed almost the same. It isnecessary to discuss whether the current production minutes are the limitation of the market
demands or the limitation of production capacity. In terms of production costs, they are pushed up
significantly due to the demand for higher quality as well as emergence of new players, including
domestic game companies, Netflix, Amazon, and Chinese businesses.
150,000(minute)120,000
90,00060.0

20.0

30,000
0
01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

34.8

28.9
21.8

19.2

47.7

47.0
40.9

40.2

40.0

60,000In 2017, 84 theatrical animations were produced, an increase by 3 works over the previous year. The genre
has still remained high since the peak at 86 works in 2015. In terms of the production minutes, they grew
threefold in the last 15 years. The minutes which were just around 2,000 in early 2000s reached 6,064 in
2015, 6,097 in 2016, and 6,157 in 2017. One reason for the steadiness would be the increasing interest of film
distributors who consider theatrical animations profitable even in small-scale businesses. Another would behigh expectations that another blockbuster would arrive following the success of Your Name. Plus, there are
more animation series which used to be broadcast on TV or were released in the form of OVAs that are now
being theatrically released as trilogies or hexalogies. Theatrical animations have the aspect of new revenue
sources which complement the loss of videograms.
Production Minutes

19.1

31.1

41.0

41.7

Based on a survey conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations

86

4,000

33.7

3,000

28.5

21.6

18.8

46
31

45

33
25

1,000

0.0

0

1,900 2,035
00

01

2,730

2,249 2,254

1,728

02

03

55

51

84

04

05

59

54

63

46

36

31

2,000

10.0

81

73

5,000

00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Source: The Association of Japanese Animations, based on the data by Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan/Kinema Jumpo/
Bukatsushinsha(Data edited by Mindbase Inc. from 2000 to 2008 and by the Association of Japanese Animations from 2009 to 2017)2017(title)Title(minute)
6,000

50.5

50.0

30.0

00

66.4

(billion yen)

136,407
119,962
116,409
115,805
124,648
112,169
109,459
115,533
110,046
105,070
106,335
107,919
95,09898,68792,72490,44585,43975,890(2000-2017)

Both the production minutes and the number of titles have stayed high.

Revenue is still solid despite the slump from the loss of Your Name.

Both production minutes and production costs increased.

The Number of Theatrical Animation Works and the Production Minutes

31
3,041

3,728

06

2,586

07

3,739 4,000 3,581

08

09

10

4,713 4,782 4,764

11

12

13

14

6,046 6,097 6,157

15

16

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

17

Based on the survey conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations

Data & Topics of Japanese Animation Industry 2018 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●TV Animation programs (1963-2017)350■ TV animation programs newly broadcast in the year.
■ TV animation programs broadcast/serialized continuously from the previous years.
*TV animation programs, animations inserted in other TV programs, and TV animations combined with live-action programs are all covered.
*The data has been closely examined in the “Nenkan Perfect Data” since 2014.

(title)
300

250

200

150

100

233266230
232
195
159

193

■Revenues of Animation Videograms*Revenues of Animation Videograms are calculated based on the total of “JapaneseAnimation for Adults” and “Japanese Animation for Children” counted in the report for all
videograms by the Japan Video Software Association.

*Revenues arising only from Japanese animation characters ranked in the top 100 characters selling well in Japan were tallied.
*Revenues arising from the use of characters in advertisement, promotion, and Pachinko/Pachinko‐slot were not included.
*The data from 2007‐2013 was recalculated in 2014.

(million)
159
164
135

152

136
139
123

The size of Japanese animation videogram market in 2017 was 75.6 billion
yen, decreasing for four consecutive years by 2.9% over the previous year.
This means the genre lost 40.0 billion in the last five years. What was
remarkable was the DVD/Blu-ray release of Your Name, the 2016
blockbuster. Sales reached 5.6 billion yen, leading the market as a huge hitof the year. But if the situation is seen in a different way, it can be said thelong-term downward trend of videograms could not be stopped even withYour Name. In this trend, video package makers are hastily trying hard to
establish new business models by adding value to existing video packages.
It is expected that the videogram market will undergo a hugetransformation in the next five years.
150

155

90

30

0

25

37 39 45

43 48 5041
24 37 33

40 50

35

93.3
77.3

67
42 43

117.6
103.1

92

50

115.3
108.5 105.9
111.3
107.6
105.2
102.1
92.8
78.876.5

60

53 48 49 54

20 21 2246 42 39 51
42 37 41 35
15 15 19 16 16 16 18
33 39 36 32 40
32 32 37 31 26 28 30 27
6 3 14 12
27
26
24
22
20
1 6 5 11 12 13 11 12 15 13 10 14 14 15

138.8
135.8
127.8

129.4

120

128
103

103

Merchandising Related to Animation (2000-2017)

The shrinking market awaits new businesses.

The number of TV programs decreased, reflecting the changing
schemes of broadcasters.

The record in 2017 was a little surprising. A total of 340 TV animation programs werebroadcast, decreasing by 4.5% over the previous year (356 programs). The figure wasalso lower than that in 2015 (341 programs). Breaking it down even further, among
those 340 programs were 230 new works (271 in 2016) and 110 continuing works (90in 2016). The decrease of new works was attributed to the fact that the boom of shortanimation production in 2016 settled down while the increase of continuing programs
was because kids/family animation newly produced in 2016 were broadcast
continuously. The time slots for daytime animations decreased (due to the suspensionof 5:00 p.m. animation slots on Sundays on MBS and TBS); however, more animation
programs originally broadcast during daytime were moved to late-night slots. Also,
NHK gradually focused on animation works for young adults. Thus broadcasters’
schemes for animations are changing. Under such circumstances, the balance between
new and continuing animation programs fluctuates year after year.

Animation videograms (2000-2017)

110

108
66 64 72

84 91

76

66 60

78

90

90

56 63

63 ● 65 ● ● ● ● 70 ● ● ● ● 75 ● ● ● ● 80 ● ● ● ● 85 ● ● ● ● 90 ● ● ● ● 95 ● ● ● ● 00 ● ● ● ● 05 ● ● ● ● 10 ● ● ● ● 15 16 17
Based on a survey conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations

30

shrinkageduetotheshiftfromrealproductstodigitalproductswasremarkable.

The size of the Japanese merchandising market related to animations shrunk to 523.3 billion yen in2017, which was 93.0% of its size from the previous year. The shift from real products to digitalproducts becomes more pronounced year after year and the market has been shrinking slowly since2014 (which is because digital merchandise, especially products related to application games, is notincluded in the market). In terms of character products targeted toward core fans, the sale of trading
products (i.e. products enclosed randomly) decreased while the expansion of fancy merchandise
targeted to young women was outstanding. It is necessary to develop merchandise which meets theneeds of consumers more than ever.
600(billion yen)
400
570.0

504.9 530.5
435.0 433.7 461.7

01

02

200

597.4

536.4 559.7

655.2
627.4 594.3
579.4 562.7
573.2 598.5

07

08

10

0
03

04

05

06

09

11

12

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Based on a report by Japan Video Software Association

14

15

16

Animation Distribution via the Internet (2002-2017)

The strong market exceeded the size of theatrical animations, reaching almost 70% of
the videogram market.
The size of the domestic animation distribution market was 54.0 billion yen, increasing by 13% overthe previous year. The distribution market, which was only 0.2 billion yen in 2002, grew rapidly,
exceeding the size of the theatrical animation market (46.0 billion yen). It is also almost 70% of thevideogram market (76.5 billion yen). The sales revenues of animation studios arising from distribution
via the Internet was 13.6 billion yen, increasing by 13% over the previous year. It is obvious that the
distribution market developed its presence. In terms of the struggle for supremacy in the market,
oligopoly by major platforms progressed while Netflix and Amazon followed domestic major players
such as dTV. The movement of major players, including Netflix developing original animations orAbemaTV becoming proactive in animation distribution, must be watched from now on.
(billion yen)

013

Calculated by the Association of Japanese Animations based on the data from “CharaBiz DATA” (2001‐2017)

50
40
30
20
10
0

12.3

14.9

16.0

27.2

34.0

40.8 43.7 47.8 54.0

0.2

1.0

1.8

4.1

8.4

9.8

10.2

02

03

04

05

06

07

08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Based on a survey conducted by the Association of Japanese Animations

The market size exceeded 2 trillion yen!
All the necessary information for today’s animation market is in this report.

Anime Industry Report 2018

We, the Association of Japanese Animations, are engaged in research, survey, and analysis in connection with the Japanese
animation industry. We have also published “Anime Industry Report” since 2009 in order to disseminate information about
the industry to the world.
The survey for this report revealed that the market size (in a broad sense) reached 2.1527 trillion yen, increasing by 8.0%
over the previous year and recording record‐breaking sales for five consecutive years.
Looking at each genre, TV (100.9%), Internet Distribution (113%), Live Entertainment (116%), and Overseas (129.6%)
expanded while five genres, i.e. Movie (61.7%), Videogram (97.1%), Merchandising (93.0%), Music (91.6%), and Pachinko(95.8%) decreased. The overseas market showed strong growth which exceeded the decline in the domestic market
significantly.
This “Anime Industry Report 2017” is the 2017 report for trends in the Japanese animation industry, including those ofrespective media, published with the “All Animation Works Perfect Data” attached as an appendix. So far, the data has been
adapted as the basis for official materials, such as the Media Fine Arts Database by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
■Outline【Title】
Anime Industry Report 2018
【Publisher】
The Association of Japanese Animations【Release day】
December 4, 2018
【Size/Pages】
A4 / 83P (Report), 40P (Materials), 72P (All Animation Works Perfect Data) + 4 chart sheets inserted【Price】
10,000 yen (tax excluded)【Index】
1.Overview of the Japanese animation industry in 2017
*Overall market trends and notable trends of the industry
2.Trends in respective media*Animation distribution market (TV animation, theatrical animation, videogram, Internet distribution), secondary use(including merchandising), advertisement/promotion, music, and live entertainment
3.Trends in the overseas market*Japanese animations in the global market
4.Contribution*“Reform of Working Practice” means “Reform of Production Practice”
Appendix: Materials, All Animation Works Perfect Data
*TV, Theatrical, and OVA
Chart: Trends in the Japanese Animation Market, Recent Movements of the Japanese Animation Industry and Market,
Development of Japanese Animation in the Overseas Market, Distribution Map of Japanese Animation Studios
Available at the following:
Order via SPI Information website:【Downloadable】 https://www.spi‐information.com/report/22240.html【Physical】
https://www.spi‐information.com/report/22239.html
Physical Stores:
AKIBA INFO.×TOKYO ATOM ‐ INFORMATION & SHOP ‐Akihabara UDX 2F, Sotokanda 4-14-1, Chiyoda‐ku, Tokyo, Japan
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Back issues (2009-2017) are also available on the site and in the stores above.
WEB: http://www.spi‐information.com/

The Association of Japanese Animations Address:Momose‐Bldg 2F, 1-7-2,Kanda‐Izumicho,Chiyoda‐ku,Tokyo
URL: http://aja.gr.jp/

E‐mail: office@aja.gr.jp

Phone: +81-3-5839-2930

Fax: +81-3-5839-2931