Japan Loses More Than 80% of Overseas Content Revenue to Foreign Distributors

Japan’s creative industries are generating growing global demand for their content, but the country is capturing only a fraction of the resulting revenue, with more than 80% of overseas sales going to foreign distributors rather than Japanese rights holders, according to Douglas Montgomery, CEO of Global Connects Media and an adjunct professor at Temple University Japan.

Writing in Nikkei Asia on 1 November 2026, Montgomery argues that the core problem is not the quality of Japanese content but the country’s lack of professionals skilled in selling and distributing it internationally. While Japanese films, animation, music and other media have found audiences worldwide, the commercial infrastructure to monetise that demand remains largely in foreign hands.

Toho as a Case in Point

One example cited in the piece is Toho, the studio behind “Godzilla Minus Zero,” which is handling distribution of the film in both Japan and the United States when it opens in November. Montgomery presents Toho’s direct involvement in the US market as notable precisely because it is unusual — most Japanese content companies continue to rely on foreign intermediaries to reach overseas audiences, ceding the bulk of the margin in the process.

The 80%-plus figure illustrates the scale of the revenue gap. Even as Japanese intellectual property attracts international licensing deals, streaming placements and theatrical releases, the financial benefit flowing back to Japan is heavily diluted by the time foreign distributors take their share.

Building a Talent Pipeline for Global Sales

Montgomery’s central argument is that Japan needs to invest in developing people who can negotiate, package and sell content in international markets. The issue, as he frames it, is structural: Japanese media companies produce content but have not built the commercial and legal talent base needed to distribute it directly to global buyers and platforms.

He points to the contrast with South Korea, where the entertainment industry has cultivated professionals capable of managing international rights, co-productions and platform negotiations — a factor widely credited with amplifying the commercial returns from the global spread of Korean pop culture and drama.

For Japan, Montgomery suggests the path forward involves training a new generation of content-sales professionals and giving them the tools and institutional support to operate competitively in international markets. Universities, industry bodies and companies all have a role to play, he argues, though the piece does not specify which organisations are currently active in this space.

The argument carries weight at a moment when Japanese animation, gaming and film are drawing sustained attention from global streaming platforms and theatrical distributors. The question Montgomery raises is whether Japan will continue to function primarily as a supplier of raw creative material to foreign commercial networks, or whether it will build the capacity to capture more of the value its content generates abroad.