Japan Plans to End Cool Japan Fund, Newspapers Report
METI's fiscal 2027 budget request reportedly excludes funding after losses reached 54 billion yen.
Japanese newspapers report that METI has decided to effectively abolish the Cool Japan Fund. Without funding in the next fiscal year, the public-private company could make no new investments.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has decided to effectively abolish the Cool Japan Fund, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun and other newspapers reported Thursday.
The reports say METI is submitting a fiscal 2027 budget request with no money earmarked for the fund. The public-private company finances projects under the government's “Cool Japan” initiative.
METI convened an expert panel in late July to streamline the fund. Without a budget in the next fiscal year, however, it could make no new investments.
The fund has accumulated 54 billion yen (about US$340 million) in losses since launching in 2013. It was a major pillar of the late Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's second administration.
Financial news outlet Nikkei reported in 2017 that most of the fund's investments that year underperformed. In 2022, a Ministry of Finance subcommittee discussed restructuring or abolishing it, particularly if it failed to become profitable by fiscal 2025.
The government and various companies backed Cool Japan to promote modern Japanese culture, including anime and manga, overseas. The initiative's premise identifies anime, manga, films, fashion and other Japanese arts and entertainment as strengths in business and international affairs.
In 2020, the initiative launched an emergency fund to help businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund's investments and plans included:
- In 2019, it invested US$30 million in Sentai Holdings, LLC, parent company of Sentai Filmworks, HIDIVE and Anime Network. It offered another US$3.6 million in 2020.
- In 2014, it invested in Anime Consortium Japan. The joint venture later managed the Daisuki streaming service, which shut down in 2017.
- In 2015, it planned to invest up to 450 million yen (about US$3.7 million) in Kadokawa projects developing anime and manga creators outside Japan.
The Kadokawa investment particularly focused on helping Kadokawa Contents Academy Co. expand its schools into other markets. The company aimed for at least 2,000 graduates across its schools by 2020.
Sources: Asahi Shimbun via ANN
