Japanese media companies spent a second day in Tokyo advancing a global expansion narrative. Today’s messaging kicked off with Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS TV), which echoed what is likely to be TIFFCOM 2025’s defining theme.

Following a 113% increase in TBS TV’s global business gross profit for the quarter to end June 2025, TBS execs included their long-standing partnership with Vietnam’s VTV in today’s presentation, along with an outline of activities at studio subsidiary The Seven.

The rest of the day’s go-forth-and-multiply conversations involved Yomiuri TV, which highlighted its co-production, “Pino & Shinoby”, with Italy’s Studio Bozzetto. The animated kids show, which combines YTV’s 60th anniversary mascot Shinoby with new Italian character Pino, premieres in Japan in 2026; the Italian date has not been disclosed. Producers talked about wins and challenges in making the series, including solving the question of how to ride a bike in a kimono.

Other projects on stage today included “Blood & Sweat”, a Japan-Finland co-production involving WOWOW, AX-ON and ICS Nordic, which was part of the session presented by the Broadcast Program Export Association of Japan (BEAJ) on international co-production trends and global strategies. The eight-episode crime/suspense series in English, Japanese and Finnish with some German, stars Anne Watanabe and Jasper Paakkonen. The series debuts in Japan in the Spring of 2026.

Speaking about filming in Japan, “Blood & Sweat” executive producer, WOWOW’s Tomomi Takashima, and AX-ON’s EP/director/scriptwriter Daniel Toivonen, said their top three take-aways were the longer hours than usual for the Finnish crew, the cultural oversight necessary on creative decisions, and the difficulty finding English-speaking crew.

WOWOW also highlighted its production services WOWOW Bridge subsidiary, which provides on-ground services for international productions, including this year’s “Neuromancer” and “FBI International”.

In a separate session, the Association of Japanese Animations highlighted its contribution to a content industry sector pushing towards quadrupling the size of overseas markets from ¥4.7 trillion to ¥20 trillion by 2033.