Japan Eyes AI to Counter Piracy Losses

May 22, 2026 | News On Japan

TOKYO - Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is considering the use of AI to produce low-cost localized versions of Japanese content for overseas markets in an effort to secure legitimate revenue streams, as the total estimated damage caused by online piracy of anime, character goods and other content exceeded 10 trillion yen for the first time last year.

The government is aiming to raise overseas sales of Japanese content to 20 trillion yen by 2033.

Against this backdrop, METI conducted surveys in six countries, including the United States and China, to estimate losses from illegally distributed and sold online "pirated" content and character merchandise.

The estimated damage from pirated digital content alone reached around 5.7 trillion yen, roughly triple the level recorded in the previous 2022 survey. When adding approximately 4.7 trillion yen in losses from pirated merchandise, which was not included in the earlier study, the total surpassed 10 trillion yen.

METI attributed the sharp increase to rising sales prices caused by the weak yen and inflation.

The ministry hopes that expanding the use of AI-assisted localization will help Japanese creators and companies strengthen their presence overseas while reducing costs and protecting legitimate earnings.

Source: TBS

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