Japan's anime market grew 15.8% to a record 4.4491 trillion yen in 2025, the Association of Japanese Animations said, as overseas sales climbed 17.2% to 2.5426 trillion yen and widened their lead over the home market.

The preliminary figures, presented on Oct. 30 at TIFFCOM, the content market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival, give investors in Japanese media companies a clear read on where the money comes from. Foreign viewers, licensees and merchandise buyers supplied 57.1% of the total last year, up from 56.5% in 2024, according to the industry group's press release. Both the size of the market and its growth rate were the highest on record, the association said.

The Hollywood Reporter put the total at about $28.5 billion. The outlet noted that the weak yen shrinks the numbers when converted into dollars but raises the value of foreign earnings that Japanese companies bring home.

Overseas Sales Drive Japan's Anime Boom

The association measures two markets. The broad "anime industry market" estimates everything consumers spent on Japanese animation, from cinema tickets and streaming to TV rights, licensed goods, music and live events. The narrow "anime business market" counts only the revenue of production studios.

On the broad measure, domestic spending rose 14.1% to 1.9065 trillion yen. Overseas spending grew faster, keeping its majority share. The Hollywood Reporter said overseas sales first overtook the home market in 2020, and that the total has nearly tripled since the association began compiling data in 2002.

Much of last year's lift came from one franchise. "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle" earned about 40 billion yen in Japan, making it the highest-grossing anime and Japanese film ever, and roughly $800 million worldwide, part of which fell into 2026, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The association's release said Japanese titles now regularly appear near the top of foreign box office charts and global streaming rankings, and described that as a breakthrough already achieved.

Studios Capture More of the Foreign Money

Studio revenue rose 8.4% to 505.5 billion yen, also a record. Overseas income made up 27.9% of studio sales, up from 25.5% a year earlier. That share has been rising steadily, the association said.

The gap between the two growth rates matters for investors. Consumer spending on anime grew almost twice as fast as studio revenue, which suggests that much of the value still flows to rights holders, distributors and platforms rather than to the companies that draw the shows. The association said domestic studio revenue includes production fees, but a growing number of studios now also earn rights income from Japan and abroad.

In free-text answers to the survey, companies stressed the need for localization to fit the language, culture and laws of new markets, and for tougher action against piracy, the release said.

Kazuko Ishikawa, who heads the association and Nippon Animation, said at the session that the industry must build a good ecosystem for creators, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Tokyo Pushes Japanese IP Abroad

The data feed into a government goal. Japan treats content (games, anime, manga, live-action film and drama, and music) as a core industry and aims for 20 trillion yen in overseas sales by 2033, with anime contributing 6 trillion yen, the association said. From last year's 2.54 trillion yen, hitting that anime target would require overseas sales to grow by roughly 11% a year, by Capital Times' calculation, slower than the 17.2% pace of 2025.

Deal flow around Japanese intellectual property is also building outside Japan. At TIFFCOM, which ran from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30, organizers said they will again run a Japan IP Market with the Marché du Film at Cannes on May 14 and 15, 2027, after a first edition in May 2026 that included Kadokawa, Shochiku and Toei Company.

Foreign buyers are moving closer to Japanese creators as well. Sony Pictures Entertainment in October set up Crunchyroll Storyworks, a unit to adapt global stories into anime and Japanese anime into live action, Deadline reported. Crunchyroll, which Sony bought for $1.2 billion in 2021, passed 21 million subscribers this year, according to Deadline. The fan base for Japanese pop culture also shows up in music, where Universal Music's latest results were led partly by the Japanese band Mrs. Green Apple.

The full "Anime Industry Report 2026," with breakdowns by TV, film, streaming, merchandise and overseas markets, is due in early December at 22,000 yen, the association said. Its authors will present the findings at a seminar in Tokyo on Dec. 25.