Cool Japan: the relationships between the state and the cultural industries

6.3 The manga industry

6.3.1 The reactions to the Cool Japan policy

The manga industry considers this policy as too late when questioned about it (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014; Kadokawa Official Interview, 27/05/2014). An interviewee even pointed out that this policy is pointless (Manga Publisher Official 2 Interview, 05/07/2014).

For many years, the belief that manga were futile prevented bureaucrats from taking into consideration this industry. As two officials put it, twenty years ago, in general, readers of manga were judged as lowbrow individuals and they outraged people. They added that manga were deemed as insignificant and trivial (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014). An interviewee confessed that, for his generation, the passion of reading manga was kept secret because of a feeling of shame (Manga Publisher Official 2 Interview, 05/07/2014). But, in 1992, the bookstore Sanseidō decided to sell manga. It was a sensational event. Subsequently, the largest Japanese bookstore, Kinokuniya, inaugurated a store exclusively selling manga in Shibuya whose surface area exceeds 300m². These two facts contributed to the generalization of this culture. Beforehand, only small bookshops sold manga (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014).

To the mind of two officials, the sociologist Miyadai Shinji and the cultural critic Azuma Hiroki have also contributed to improve the view on manga and anime by claiming that they are works of the same level as novels and movies (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014). Consequently, the otaku culture has spread in Japan (Manga Publisher Official 2 Interview, 05/07/2014).

The implementation of the Cool Japan policy by the government has not modified many things for the industry: “The emergence of Cool Japan has changed nothing in the way we produce. Even after its establishment, each publisher has not modified anything in the way of production. Neither the way we produce, nor the way do we sell abroad have been changed after the introduction of Cool Japan” (Kadokawa Official Interview, 27/05/2014). Such opinion is also confirmed by this anecdote: “In visits I made to publishers, I asked whether manga will be more commercialized abroad if the government now tries to support the development of the content industries. They replied: “We have been selling manga overseas for years on our own. How important is Cool Japan?” So, they answered coldly” (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014).

As a result of this gap, the manga industry does not have high expectations of this governmental policy because manga was massively exported before the start of Cool Japan (see Chapter 4, Section 4.2.2.) As pointed out in an interview, the government takes advantage of the success of the manga market to associate it with its new policy. And to implement it, the government requested to receive some monthly statistics on this sector from the All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association in order to justify its policy (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014).

But, as explained pragmatically: “As the subsidies exist, we want to benefit from them. Should they had not exist, we would have covered the costs on our own” (Kadokawa Official Interview, 27/05/2014). It is why Kadokawa applied for grants from the J-LOP. This publisher was allocated localization subsidies to pay a part of the costs for the translation of thirty-five works in English and thirty-six in Chinese, translations for the website Comic Walker. The promotion subsidies were used to attend an annual anime and manga event for fans of Japanese anime and manga culture called C3. They covered a part of the costs to attend the event in Hong Kong (Kadokawa Official Interview, 27/05/2014). In the same vein, the J-LOP assigned grants which partly covered the travel to Taiwan of the author of one famous manga (Manga Publisher Official 1 Interview, 13/05/2014).

An official expressed his dissatisfaction with Cool Japan, a stance shared by insiders of the manga industry in his opinion (Manga Publisher Official 2 Interview, 05/07/2014). He also asserted that bureaucrats do not pay attention to the creators of culture (Manga Publisher Official 2 Interview, 05/07/2014). In two interviews, officials stated that, rather than assisting publishers in exporting their manga, it would be better that the state improves the working conditions of the mangaka by increasing their income because they have low income in spite of working hard (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014; Manga Publisher Official 2 Interview, 05/07/2014). Cool Japan has been devised to boost the exports of Japanese pop culture. The focus thus is on the products, not on the creators. Cool Japan does not aim to improve their working conditions (see Chapter 5).

As explained in an interview, the manga industry doubts that the government will provide the same amount of money as the South Korean government (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014). The Japanese government is not the only one to refer to South Korea for its strong support of pop culture. The Japanese cultural industries are also aware of such support.

6.3.2 The institutional links between the manga industry and the state

An important difference between the manga industry, and the two other industries analyzed in this doctoral research lies in the absence of a formal business association representing the manga sector to the developmental state. Three main publishers associations exist in Japan: the JBPA, the JMPA and All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association. The first two are not really focused on manga (Munakata Saho, 2014). The third one was invited by the Media and Content Industry Division to a meeting as observer. Nevertheless, this association does not have a close relationship with this division. Two interviewees of the All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association pointed out that their association does not represent the manga publishers in relation to the METI (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014).

As explained by these interviewees, the role of their association is to study the publishing sector, including the manga industry, but not to give opinions and suggestions (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014). The main activity of this association is to publish reports. In particular, the only contact that it has with the METI is to send this ministry a monthly report on the manga industry. This document contains data on the publication, sales and distribution in the domestic market (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014). Concerning the exports of manga, “it is impossible to collect data on the sales of copyright because we can neither order all Japanese publishers to give us a report on these sales, nor are publishers required to provide us these pieces of information” (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014).

The manga industry has two informal associations: the AMP and the DCA (see Chapter 5, Section 5.2.2). As they are informal, they do not have any amakudari. Two officials stated that in the All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association, no amakudari works (Sasaki Toshiharu and Wakabayashi Hideki Interview, 30/04/2014). More generally, the thesis does not offer any evidence of amakudari in the industry of manga.

Although the AMP and the DCA do not have corporate status, the METI has contacts with them. Moreover, the METI’s Media and Content Industry Division has close links with the manga publishers that are members of these informal associations (Munakata Saho, 2015). For instance, the International Rights Department of Kadokawa is in contact with the Media and Content Industry Division. Another department as well speaks with this ministry about the foreign markets whilst a different one is in contact to address domestic issues (Kadokawa Official Interview, 27/05/2014). The International Rights Department receives useful information (for instance about the J-LOP) from the METI, showing the institutional links between Kadokawa and this ministry. It is this department which applied for J-LOP’s grants. Its purpose is to sell Kadokawa’s copyright to foreign editors, not to promote Cool Japan (Kadokawa Official Interview, 27/05/2014).

6.3.3 The issue of piracy

Similar to the anime sector, a representative explained that the manga industry needs the help of the developmental state to combat piracy and that his company, a big publisher, cannot do it on its own (Manga Publisher Official 1 Interview, 13/05/2014). Two METI bureaucrats confirmed that the companies in the sectors of anime and manga cannot eradicate piracy by themselves (Munakata Saho and Sakamoto Yūko Interview, 08/04/2014). The METI judges that the piracy of anime and manga has been expanding in the recent years. This ministry calculates that, in the US, the online piracy of anime and manga represents approximately ¥2 trillion (METI, 2014b). In addition, over 50 per cent of anime and manga fans in the US and 12 per cent in Japan watch or read pirated works (Manga-Anime Here, 2014). According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the piracy of Japanese contents in four main cities of China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing) amounts to around ¥560 billion per year (METI, 2014b).

In order to combat copyright infringements, the METI (2014b) supported the creation of the Manga-Anime Anti-Piracy Committee in July 2013. Most of the companies which are members of this committee operate in the manga and anime industries, respectively seven anime studios¹⁰³ and four are manga publishers¹⁰⁴. The Manga-Anime Anti-Piracy Committee is also composed of a manufacturer of toys and figures (Good Smile Company), a video games company (Bandai Namco Games), a producer of collectible card games and trading cards (Bushiroad), and a subsidiary of Shōgakukan and Shūeisha (ShoPro) (Manga-Anime Here, 2014). This committee launched on the 30^th July 2014 the MAG Project to combat piracy. The CODA acts as the secretariat for this committee and is funded by the METI’s to carry out the MAG Project (CODA, 2014b: 1-2).

This project has three aims: firstly, the large scale elimination of online piracy; secondly, the launch of a website¹⁰⁵ showcasing legal contents (anime and manga) to fans; and lastly, the promotion of watching and reading legal contents (CODA, 2014b: 1). As part of the first aim, the CODA planned to remove the illegally uploaded copies of 580 works, respectively 500 manga and 80 anime, from the 1^st August 2014 until January 2015 (2014b: 2). In March 2015, the CODA reported having deleted 447,096 pirated files from 577 manga titles and 264,601 pirated files from 90 anime titles (PR Times, 2015).

Concerning the third objective, a video¹⁰⁶ featuring popular anime and manga characters of forty-two masterpieces was released on the 30^th July 2014 (CODA, 2014b: 1). And on the 16^th October 2015, the MAG Project started the special collaboration illustration “Join us, friends” to promote the use of official contents. This illustration was composed of five popular characters of anime and manga. Every time that fans clicked on “Join” to express their respect of copyright, the illustration evolved with the appearance of more characters. All twenty characters were gathered when one million of fans clicked on “Join” (CODA, 2014a: 1). The effectiveness of the MAG Project can be brought into question. In particular, the pirated files deleted may now be again available on websites. At least, the MAG Project demonstrates that the development state has decided to be more active in the combat against piracy of manga and anime.

In January 2016, the Japanese government decided to include the prosecution of copyright infringement without the need of a formal complaint from the original creator or the right holder in the draft revision of the Copyright Law in order to be in line with the Trans-Pacific Partnership¹⁰⁷ (TPP) (Japan News, 2016). Since the TPP talks, the US has urged the participating countries to prosecute copyright violation without the need of a complaint from the original creator or the right holder. In Japan, copyright infringement is currently considered as shinkokuzai, meaning that copyright violation requires a complaint from the victim to be prosecuted (Japan News, 2016).

The government decided also not to include the prosecution of dōjinshi under the revised law so that fans can continue to publish parodies of original anime and manga. Nevertheless, dōjinshi publishers will continue to face prosecution if they publish works with popular manga characters without permission. Furthermore, if the original creator or the right holder lodges a complaint, dōjinshi could be eligible for criminal punishment. The draft of the Copyright Law also includes to extend the copyright protection period from fifty years to seventy years after the passing away of the original creator (Japan News, 2016). The revision of the Copyright Law shows that the Japanese government does not remain passive concerning copyright infringement.

6.3.4 The heterogeneity of the manga industry

An interviewee explained that Cool Japan has many benefits for publishers. But it is also not very effective. Publishers benefit from Cool Japan because they receive subsidies, for example to encourage them to attend international events where they can find new business partners and introduce their contents. At the same time, big Japanese publishing houses have established for a long time their networks to publish their manga outside of Japan. Manga were heavily diffused abroad before the implementation of the policy Cool Japan (see Chapter 4, Sections 4.2.2 and 4.3). The Kōdansha Comics Catalogue, a manual for foreign publishers which want to commercialize manga, was released in 1985 (Pellitteri, 2010: 73). And Horibuchi Seiji created VIZ Communications in 1986 as a subsidiary of Shōgakukan (See Chapter 4, Section 4.3.3). Big publishers such as Kōdansha, Shūeisha, Shōgakukan and Kadokawa do not need subsidies of the government to disseminate to the foreign markets manga.

In contrast to these big publishers, small ones lack staff speaking English and experience in international business. They tend to rely on intermediates such as the Tuttle-Mori Agency for their exports (Manga Publisher Official 1 Interview, 13/05/2014). They certainly need to be assisted by the developmental state to boost their exports.