TIFFCOM: ‘Shogun,’ ‘Tokyo Vice’ Success Boosts Market Interest in Japanese Content
Between the tens of millions of tourists visiting and the soft power success of films and drama series set in Japan, the country has never attracted so much attention. The impact on sales and other deals at the TIFFCOM market of Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), however, has been mixed.
“Interest in Japanese content has spread from just core fans to a wider audience. Anime still has the strongest appeal, but live-action productions are also gaining traction,” said Satoru Kamiyama, an executive in the international business department of film giant Shochiku, on the final day of TIFFCOM. “We’ve had a lot more meetings and discussions about deals than last year.”
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Japanese companies rarely sign contracts to announce or deals at festivals, due to protracted internal decision-making and the need to consult with the production committees that are behind most commercial projects. Usually comprised of at least a dozen companies, including publishers of source material, radio and TV stations, advertising agencies and more besides, consensus from the production committee is necessary for most major artistic and commercial decisions.
Shogun’s almost universal acclaim — not to mention its record haul of 18 Emmy Awards this year — have boosted interest in Japanese period films and drama, known locally as jidaigeki. Toei recently sold the Tokyo Film Festival opening film 11 Rebels samurai movie by Kazuya Shiraishi (Blood of Wolves) to U.S. distributor Wellgo and Splendid for German-speaking territories. The film is also rumored to have been snapped up by a major streamer.
Wellgo has now picked up Muromachi Outsiders (Muromachi Burai) from Toei. Due for release in January and based on a series of novels by Ryosuke Kakine, the adaptation is helmed by Yu Irie, the director in focus at this edition of TIFF. It stars Yo Oizumi and veteran Akira Emoto, telling the tale of an outlaw band in the lead up to the Onin War that devastated Kyoto in the 15th century during the Muromachi period of the title.
Sources say TV stations and streaming platforms in the West are said to be looking for more samurai content in the wake of Shogun. However, other Japanese companies, including Asmik Ace, reported that they’ve seen little benefit from the Shogun effect, with most inquiries and deals still for anime. Interest in Shogun has been limited in most of the rest of Asia, where the series didn’t attract such a big audience and where people have long been aware of Japanese period pieces.
Meanwhile, Japanese cable network Wowow, which was a production partner on Tokyo Vice, has found the Max series has driven interest in coproductions and shooting in Japan more than in its original content at the market.
“A lot of people have been talking to us about collaborations. And since Tokyo Vice, we’ve established a new company utilizing our experience working on the series, Wowow Bridge, to help overseas productions that want to shoot in Japan,” said Aoi Osaki of Wowow’s international sales department.
TIFFCOM wrapped up on Friday after three days in its second year, spread across four floors at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center in Hamamatsucho.
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