Toei Animation is pushing Japan's government to take stronger action against piracy, arguing that illegal streaming is capping the global ceiling for anime's commercial growth.
At a major industry forum held inside Japan's House of Representatives on April 3, executives from leading animation studios made the case that piracy is one of the sector's most pressing obstacles. Toei Animation senior managing director Kiichiro Yamada delivered some of the sharpest remarks of the day, stating that "anti-piracy measures are necessary." Yamada also pointed out that despite anime's worldwide popularity, Japanese animation still commands only around one-fifteenth of the global animation market.
The financial stakes are significant. Overseas anime revenue has already crossed $13 billion, overtaking domestic sales for the first time, and the genre now accounts for roughly one-third of Japan's total overseas content earnings. Japan's content industry as a whole has set a target of $130 billion in international sales by 2033, with anime expected to contribute around $37 billion of that figure.
The scale of losses to piracy underscores the urgency. A study by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry found that content worth 5.7 trillion yen was pirated abroad in 2025, roughly $37 billion USD and nearly triple the figure recorded in 2022. When counterfeit character goods like unlicensed figures, plushies, and merchandise, estimated at 4.7 trillion yen, are added in, the combined total hits 10.4 trillion yen, or approximately $73 billion, the first time that threshold has been crossed. The Ministry attributed the surge partly to "the weak yen and rising sales prices due to soaring prices," per Dexerto.
Beyond enforcement, speakers at the April 3 forum flagged a cluster of structural challenges: talent shortages, underdeveloped international licensing frameworks, and the need for better working conditions across the industry. The Ministry has separately floated using AI to reduce production costs and generate local-market content at lower price points as one way to recover lost ground.
Japan's target of $37 billion in anime overseas revenue by 2033 will be difficult to hit without coordinated global enforcement, and the April 3 forum made clear that studios believe government action, not just industry effort, is required to get there.
