An innovative new funding model for Japan’s entertainment content industry

JSTORIES ー Japan’s entertainment industry leads the world in the production of content such as anime and games. However, to keep its position at the top and continue its growth and expansion, there are a number of issues that must be addressed. One of these is to energize external funding. In Japan, the main funding model is the “production committee,” in which domestic affiliates and others invest, then receive revenue in return. At the same time, ordinary funding methods, such as using funds from financial institutions and overseas investors, are not sufficiently established.

Tokyo startup Questry aims to change this situation and create new routes for the Japanese entertainment industry to source funds. It specializes in the content industry and, eschewing the production committee method, has set up a system to attract funds from overseas investors, fans, supporters and others through digital securities and blockchain.

The company was set up in September 2022 to work on new financial products that connect the financial industry with Japan’s entertainment industry. Its goal is innovation of the existing funding model for Japan’s content production.

Sales of content from Japan have grown to rival the export value of the nation’s steel and semiconductor industries. What’s more, half of the top-ranking entertainment characters in the world are from Japan, including Pokémon, Hello Kitty, Anpanman, and Dragon Ball Z. Japan’s own content market is the third largest in the world (TITLE MAX). Anime and games lead the way, with overseas sales expanding from 1.4 trillion yen in 2012 to 4.5 trillion yen in 2021. By 2033, they are expected to have grown to 15 trillion to 20 trillion yen.

Having noticed this situation, Questry founder and CEO Tomonobu Ibe wondered whether he might be able to discover new possibilities and energize the entertainment industry by having financial industry professionals support the funding of content production. A content fund that he set up together with Mizuho Securities, with a particular focus on anime, began full-scale operations in 2024.

The production committee model has been the norm in the Japanese entertainment industry for about three decades. The main reason for this is that it allows film companies, advertising agencies, TV stations, publishers and other companies from various industries to invest in a project, which spreads the burden of production costs and reduces risk.

However, this method makes it hard to obtain outside funding and doesn’t give good access to worldwide distribution. In particular, Japanese anime has global popularity and is extremely attractive to investors. However, not enough revenue finds its way back to the actual creators, who work in very difficult conditions and often lose motivation. Meanwhile, large sums of money are required for anime production, and there’s a limit to how much funding can be obtained from within the industry itself.

Ibe set up his business after realizing that it was necessary to diversify funding. Since he also enjoyed music as a hobby, playing the piano and composing music himself, he thought that the project would let him meet artists and creators, and that the content itself would be an interesting investment target.

Using knowledge and experience of finance he had picked up at investment bank Goldman Sachs, he set up a system that went beyond the boundaries of region and currency to raise funds from investors, fans, and supporters of Japanese content around the world

The special feature of Questry’s system is its funding method that uses a production blockchain with distributed management of financial transactions records using cryptographic technology. According to Ibe, this makes it easier to attract a wider range of overseas funding, irrespective of the currency funders use.

Investors provide money for a production of anime via a fund, and if the work is a hit, they can receive part of the profits. The content industry, meanwhile, provides appropriate information and data relevant to the investment product, creating a new, positive cycle of investment. This system is already standard in the U.S., and in South Korea where over 90% of films are produced via such funds.

The hope is that by raising money via funds, more of that money will return to Japanese content creators and boost their motivation. Ibe says that is “extremely important” to be partners rather than competitors with existing funders, i.e., the film distributors, publishers, video distribution companies, TV stations, advertising agencies of the “production committee” methods.

Currently, Questry is focusing on anime, but it plans to expand into games, live entertainment such as movie theaters, and even agriculture. It also plans to obtain its own securities trading license.

Ibe notes that Japanese content has the potential to be even more popular around the world, and is easy to market to other countries. In particular, he hopes to raise funds from South Korea and Southeast Asia.

“Our goal is to promote Japanese content around the world and revitalize the industry,” says Ibe. “By using this new blockchain technology funding model, we want  to make the Japanese entertainment industry even more successful.”

Translated by Tony McNicol

Edited by Mark Goldsmith

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