Japan is preparing to invest heavily in its media export sector. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is considering a subsidy program worth 11.5 billion yen (roughly $71 million USD) aimed at 15 eligible media companies looking to boost their international reach.

The program would prioritize companies using generative AI to translate content and facilitate growth beyond Japan's borders. While METI hasn't officially named the 15 recipients, industry observers expect the funding to flow toward publishers like Shueisha and Kodansha, streaming services like Crunchyroll, and game companies including Square Enix. The subsidy pool will also support companies in music, gaming, and live-action content sectors.

This push comes as Japan grapples with a piracy problem that's grown substantially. In 2025, Japanese media companies lost 5.7 trillion yen to piracy—nearly triple the 2 trillion yen in losses recorded just three years earlier. When factoring in merchandise infringement, total losses climbed to 10.4 trillion yen.

METI's ambitions are ambitious. The agency aims to triple overseas subscriptions from the current 100 million users to 300 million by targeting international markets more aggressively. Revenue targets are equally aggressive: the government wants to boost overseas sales to 20 trillion yen by 2033, making content one of 17 priority sectors under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration.

The subsidy reflects a broader strategy to leverage AI technology as a tool for rapid localization. By automating translation work, companies can theoretically reduce costs and speed up time-to-market for international releases—a key advantage in competing with pirated content, which spreads instantly across borders.

For anime and manga fans outside Japan, this could mean faster official releases in more regions and languages. Whether the subsidy actually delivers on those promises depends on how effectively companies implement the AI tools and whether the localization quality meets viewer expectations. The Japanese government clearly sees content exports as a growth engine worth protecting from piracy through investment and innovation.