Recently, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the results of its investigation into online piracy of Japanese content products. Data shows that the losses caused by piracy in 2025 are estimated to be as high as 5.7 trillion yen (approximately 259.2 billion yuan), nearly twice the loss of 2 trillion yen announced in the last round of surveys in 2022.

It is worth noting that this survey includes piracy of “character peripheral goods” into the statistical category for the first time. If this item is included, the total loss in 2025 will rise to 10.4 trillion yen (approximately 472.4 billion yuan). The survey covered consumers in Japan, China, Vietnam, France, the United States and Brazil, and estimated the scale of losses based on their feedback.

Targeting China and other places! Japan says game and anime piracy losses exceed trillions and needs to be cracked down on

Data shows that piracy losses have increased significantly over the past three years across all content categories. Excluding piracy of character goods, the losses in each major category are as follows:

• Publishing (books, comics, etc.): 2.6 trillion yen

• Film and television (including animation and video): 2.3 trillion yen

• Video games: 500 billion yen

• Music: 100 billion yen

The Japanese government pointed out that although the amount of pirated content consumed per capita has declined, the total amount of losses has increased significantly due to factors such as price and exchange rate fluctuations, the growth of the global Internet user base, and the accelerated overseas popularity of Japanese content.

Targeting China and other places! Japan says game and anime piracy losses exceed trillions and needs to be cracked down on

In this regard, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has promised to continue to strengthen anti-piracy measures, including: establishing new cooperation bases with overseas local institutions, strengthening the litigation system, building a governance framework to deal with generative AI infringement and counterfeit goods, and establishing an ownership database that will help speed up litigation procedures.

However, the government acknowledges that piracy will be difficult to eradicate as long as demand for Japanese content exists. Therefore, its core goal will shift to "guiding consumers of pirated content towards legal usage" and will continue to support the expansion of global streaming and distribution platforms that provide Japanese content.