Cool Japan
The deputy director described its mission as to "brand Japanese products with the uniqueness of Japanese culture", with a budget of ¥19 billion for 2011 alone. In the fiscal year 2008, public spending on cultural activities was ¥116.9 billion in South Korea, ¥477.5 billion in China, and ¥101.8 billion in Japan, forming 0.79%, 0.51%, and 0.12% of total government spending respectively. The fund was launched in 2013, and the Japanese government committed to the Cool Japan Fund ¥50 billion ($500 million) over 20 years, with a target of ¥60 billion ($600 million) via private investor partnerships. However, "Nikkei Asian Review" reported that within five years the fund "suffered pretax losses totaling 10 billion yen ($88.9 million)", and that many projects failed to deliver earnings. Since June 2018, the management has been led by former Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) CEO Naoki Kitagawa.