Japanese government to subsidize AI translations for anime and manga

The Japanese government is preparing a large subsidy program to encourage anime and manga companies to use AI for faster translations as part of a drive to curb piracy and boost overseas sales. Overseas revenue exceeded 6.13 trillion yen in 2024, while estimated losses from piracy climbed to 5.7 trillion yen in 2025 from 2 trillion yen in 2022.

The initiative aims to triple overseas sales to 20 trillion yen by 2033. Fifteen companies are expected to be eligible, including major publishers Shueisha (One Piece), Kodansha Ltd. (Attack on Titan), Square Enix Co. (The Apothecary Diaries), Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., and streaming firm Crunchyroll, LLC.

The subsidy could total 11.5 billion yen and would cover half of participating companies' investment costs to promote works overseas. Planned uses include speeding up translations with generative AI, increasing advertising, staging events abroad, and raising combined subscribers from 100 million to 300 million.

Japan

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