Along with Korea, Japan is Asia’s co-production/co-development partner of the moment for two main reasons – money and will. The country’s video entertainment sector is characterised by its determination to evolve from being the home of mega-budget docs and zany entertainment clips that can, with lots of work, be transformed into global IP, to diversified commercially oriented models, with rising deal flow from private producers, independents, distributors and digital platforms. This shift broadens revenue streams, enhances scalability and improves margin profiles as global attention for premium Asian IP expands.

Japanese producers are by no means starting from scratch, although co-development ambitions with global brands have ballooned as the country’s home-grown live-action TV dramas struggle to gain an international foothold. 

The joint projects/content alliances we’re watching most closely for 2025/6 include: 

• International acquisitions for scripted adventure series, Lost and Found, Singapore’s first scripted collaboration with Japanese pubcaster NHK. The six-episode series is scheduled to air on NHK and on Mediacorp in March 2026. 

•  Whether Japan’s TBS Holdings and Vietnam’s national broadcaster, Viet Nam Television, follow up on their aim to co-develop IP for Asia/international markets. The pair also have ambitions for more Vietnamese versions of TBS dramas, and in Sept 2025, announced the revival of TBS’ sports entertainment show Sasuke as Không Giới Hạn – Sasuke Việt Nam. And while we have eyes on TBS, we’re also looking for updates on the May 2024 collab between Korea’s CJ ENM and TBS; the three-year co-pro deal  is supposed to produce five titles for global distribution. 

• How many of the Japanese unscripted formats on global catalogues actually get picked up and made. These include Japan-Korea co-development 100 with Banijay Entertainment; Ants, created and produced by Nippon TV and further developed by Fremantle North America; and Lovers or Liars?, co-developed by TBS and All3Media. 

•  Scripted adaptation rights are always on our radar. Nippon TV’s Mother leads, with 11 international versions so far. 

•  Changes in the international appetite for Japanese scripted series, which right now is pretty much zero other than anime, adaptations and Alice in Borderland.  

From January to end June this year, anime series Sakamoto Days was the sole Japanese title on the top 100 titles on Netflix’s What We Watched global list (1H 2025). The story of a hitman who retires in the name of love only to have his past catch up with him ranked #33. Alice in Borderland season one was at #125. Netflix is the sole streamer that offers credible visibility into show performance. 

Even in Asia, Japanese titles on Netflix are not chart-toppers. This year’s exceptions were Sakamoto Days (which was #1 in the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), and, more recently, the third season of Alice in Borderland. 

The feeling seems to be mutual. At home, Japanese streaming audiences are the most resistant in Asia to regional/international content, according to our analysis of Netflix’s weekly top 10 rankings. The four non-Japanese series that made it to #1 on Netflix Japan’s weekly TV top 10 from January to end September 2025 were all Korean –  Squid Game seasons two and three, Weak Hero and Bon Appétit, Your Majesty. That’s nine out of 39 weeks. Mutual indeed. 

Japan in numbers
Population .............................    123.30 million
Total households ....................    54.45 million
Avg. household size .............    2.23 persons
Mobile subscriptions ...........    216.55 million
Fixed broadband subscriptions ...    46 million 
SVOD paying subscribers .......... 38 million

Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan (population in Jul 2025; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (households info in June 2023); Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (mobile subscriptions in Q4 2024; fixed broadband subs in 2022)

Published in ContentAsia's The Big List Japan / September 2025 edition