As the world turns toward politically motivated puritanism, the Japanese government has drafted a new entertainment policy that offers a glimmer of hope for creative freedom.The policy not only supports Japan's creative industries but also protects them from state interference and censorship.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan proposed a draft of the "Five Principles of Entertainment and Creative Industry Policy" at the 8th Creative Industry Research Group Meeting held in October last year. This is a set of tentative guidelines aimed at helping Japanese comics, animation and gamesThe policy is based on a comprehensive review of existing policies from 2013 to 2024 and public feedback to achieve previously set ambitions for theater and other industries to achieve overseas sales of 20 trillion yen (approximately US$130 billion) by 2033.

According to information published by the Japanese media "Otaku Soken", METI pointed out in the description:

"Overseas sales have grown during a period of government leadership and increased support. Although government budget projects have expanded amid instability and analysis has shown some positive effects, wage growth remains slow. Past policies have failed to fully grow the stock of tangible and intangible assets, and labor productivity and wage levels have not been fully improved."

In terms of public feedback, people made three clear demands on the government’s role:

First, the government should avoid interfering with or commenting on the content of the works it funds.

The second is to reduce the proportion of funds allocated by intermediaries

The third is to increase the share of support that directly benefits creators and content disseminators.

Based on this feedback, METI developed five core policies:

Provide large-scale, long-term and strategic support

Through discussions with stakeholders, key support areas are identified, dynamic adjustments are made, and large-scale, long-term assistance is provided to improve business viability and predictability and stimulate private investment.

Support creations in Japan and promote them to the world

Strengthen domestic investment in IP, talent, and digital infrastructure, while promoting overseas market expansion and fan community building

Do not interfere with the content of the work

Respect creative freedom and the government shall not affect the substantive content of works

communicate directly

Simplify policy support systems as much as possible so that stakeholders involved in content creation and dissemination can easily access and use them even if they are not familiar with administrative procedures.

Prioritize support for challengers

Focus on supporting new attempts and innovative projects with high risk and high returns

Explaining the policy direction, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said: “In an environment where network effects prevail and markets follow a ‘winner-take-all’ structure – where those who invest the most receive the greatest returns – Japan must compete with other countries, which are providing hundreds of billions of yen in financial support.

To achieve our goals eight years from now, the next three years or so must be seen as a decisive period during which we will implement large-scale, long-term and strategic support measures.To this end, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will not stop at just providing subsidies; we will also collect and monitor data on distribution networks and projects, select projects with the highest probability of success, and establish feedback mechanisms to ensure that our goals are achieved."

At present, these five principles have not been formally adopted and still need to be submitted to the Japanese Parliament for review.But regardless of the final outcome, as international payment giants Visa and MasterCard continue to impose payment restrictions on "adult-oriented" and even some Japanese creative content, Japan's move undoubtedly sends a positive signal to the global creative industry - in an era when creative freedom is under pressure, Japan has chosen to defend it.

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