English
Industry leaders and government officials gathered at the Motion Picture Association’s annual seminar during the Tokyo International Film Festival to call for significant reforms to Japan’s international film production incentive. Speakers urged clearer criteria, lower spending thresholds, and a more predictable approval process, as Japan positions itself as a global hub for film production.
Incentive Structure Draws Criticism
Alex Boden, the London-based producer behind HBO Max’s “Tokyo Vice,” outlined the evolution of Japan’s incentive program. It began as a 2020 research initiative, which “Tokyo Vice” supported, before becoming the 2023 J-LOD incentive and later the current IP360 scheme. IP360 offers a 50% rebate on Japanese spending.
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However, Boden raised serious concerns about the program’s minimum spend requirement. The threshold recently rose to JPY800 million, equivalent to roughly $5.1 million. Most Japanese films cost between $1.5 million and $3 million, so the requirement effectively shuts out independent productions and co-productions.
Boden also criticized the panel-based approval system. He argued that Japan is one of the few territories with a subjective incentive selection process. Because productions can take three to five years to develop, producers need certainty well in advance. “So how does a producer know that they can count on the Japan incentive in advance? That’s the question, and we need a solution,” he said.
He pointed to major Japan-set projects, including Martin Scorsese’s “Silence,” “Pachinko,” and “Shōgun,” as examples of productions that scouted in Japan but ultimately filmed elsewhere. Boden also called for training to be built into the incentive, citing the United Kingdom’s 0.5% ScreenSkills levy as a useful model.
Transparency and Clarity Needed
Netflix production policy director Deb Richards echoed those concerns. She stressed that a lower incentive rate is acceptable, provided the rules are consistent and clear. “You can have a lower incentive, that’s fine, as long as it’s certain, as long as the criteria are clear,” Richards said. “And that’s one of the things that for the Japan incentive, the criteria is not clear.”
Richards added that applicants could only understand why they were rejected by examining which projects received approval. She described the process as “opaque.”
Paul Muller, the MPA’s Vice President of Production Policy for Asia-Pacific, pointed to Australia as a strong example. International productions in Australia must spend at least AUD20 million, approximately $13.9 million, and direct 1% of their budget toward training. Since that rule took effect in June 2023, more than AUD20 million has flowed into training programs. Meanwhile, the average cost of an hour of Australian television has climbed from around AUD2 million to between AUD5 million and AUD6 million over seven or eight years. Muller also welcomed signs that Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, known as METI, was moving toward two-year financing cycles and raising maximum incentive thresholds.
On-the-Ground Progress in Tokyo
Georgina Pope, head of production at Toho Tombo Pictures, offered a more encouraging perspective on filming conditions in Japan. Her recent work includes A24’s “Marty Supreme” and “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” She acknowledged that permitting in Tokyo remains challenging but noted real improvement. Her team recently closed the road in front of Tokyo City Hall to film a large car scene.
“I’m finding that Japan is really starting to realize the value of having a dynamic international film industry,” Pope said.
Boden described Japan as the hottest country in the world right now. “Everyone seems to be in Japan or visiting Japan tomorrow,” he said. He warned, however, that allowing more years to pass without reform would represent “a real missed opportunity.”
Government Plans a Unified Content Body
On the government side, Nakahara Hirohiko, director-general of the Cabinet Office’s Intellectual Property Strategy Promotion Secretariat, told the seminar that a new task force held its first meeting on October 22. Japan’s Prime Minister directly ordered the creation of a new unified body to consolidate content policy. Currently, responsibility is spread across the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, METI, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government aims to launch the new body in 2027.
The plan forms part of a broader public-private investment roadmap drawn up in July. That roadmap targets JPY20 trillion, around $127 billion, in overseas sales by 2033. Content is one of 17 strategic fields within Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s growth strategy. For the film sector specifically, the roadmap covers support for large-scale location shoots, international co-productions built on Japanese intellectual property, and stronger anti-piracy measures. “We hope to become a global hub for film shooting and production,” Nakahara said.
Former Liberal Democratic Party secretary-general and METI minister Amari Akira recalled chairing the parliamentary league behind Japan’s basic content law 22 years ago. Future prime minister Kishida Fumio served as its secretary-general, while Hayashi Yoshimasa ran its secretariat. Amari joked that the lineup proved his foresight. He acknowledged, however, that execution lagged and Japan fell behind South Korea in taking its content to international audiences. “In our day, we tried to do this through addition. This time, the government is doing it through multiplication,” Amari said. He described the 2033 target as a plan to quadruple the industry within a decade and expressed confidence it could grow even further.
Tokyo International Film Festival’s new festival director Hisamatsu Takeo noted that Japan served as country of honor at this year’s Cannes Film Market. He also highlighted that 37 Japanese films screened at the recent Busan International Film Festival. Looking ahead, Muller said that if the government delivers on the reforms discussed, the JPY20 trillion IP360 target is “well within scope and well achievable.”
