The Japanese government has released a new draft “The Cool Japan Strategy” It will be renewed for the first time in five years. This new strategy seeks to establish anime and video games as core industries and strengthen their promotion overseas. Despite previous failures in government efforts, there is uncertainty whether this new strategy will achieve successful results.
A final decision will be taken soon at the Government’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters. Draft Highlighting the global expansion of video streaming services and the rise in popularity of Japanese animeIn addition to the surge in tourists after the COVID-19 pandemic, he argues, “it’s time to relaunch cool Japan.”
Bearing in mind the national population decline, the draft highlights the importance of international expansion of content such as anime and video games.Also agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food products and increase in international tourism are major sources of foreign exchange earnings.
Content industry is a special priority. By 2022, the scale of the industry’s international expansion is expected to reach 4.7 trillion yen, comparable to sectors such as steel (5.1 trillion yen) and semiconductors (5.7 trillion yen). The new plan aims to quadruple this figure to 20 trillion yen by 2033.
To achieve these objectives, measures such as strengthening the fight against piracy, supporting young creators and improving research and analysis of local needs in foreign markets will be implemented.
Why did “Cool Japan” fail the first time it was implemented?
The initial Cool Japan initiative was proposed by the Japanese government in 2010 under the administration of then Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Its aim was to promote Japanese culture overseas, including anime, manga, video games, fashion and gastronomy, to improve the country’s image and stimulate the economy by exporting its cultural products.
Reasons for Cool Japan’s initial failure:
- Lack of coordination and strategy: One of the main problems is the lack of a coherent and integrated strategy. There were scattered and poorly organized efforts between various government agencies and private companies.
- Inadequate knowledge of foreign markets: This attempt failed to adequately understand consumer preferences and demands in foreign markets. Market research is not carried out in sufficient detail to adapt products and marketing strategies to local tastes.
- Bureaucracy and Rigidity: Excessive bureaucracy and inflexibility of the government made it difficult to implement effective and swift measures. Slow results and inability to quickly adapt to changes in the global market negatively affected the initiative.
- Lack of support for local creators: Although the initiative aims to promote Japanese culture, local creators are not given enough support to compete internationally. This includes lack of funding, training and resources for young talent.
- Inefficient investment: Funds allocated to the initiative are not always used efficiently. There were projects that did not generate the expected impact, and some funds were allocated to activities that did not significantly contribute to Cool Japan’s goals.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
