Govt Sets 2025 Intellectual Property Strategy; Aims to Maximize Japan’s Capital Such as Anime, Manga, Games

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, June 4, 2025

The government plans to promote the use of artificial intelligence under clarified standards to recognize creators, while presenting a road map to maximize the use of Japan’s intellectual capital such as anime, manga and games to make them globally competitive.

The government’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters on Tuesday set the Intellectual Property Strategic Program 2025. The plan comprises three strategic areas: the establishment of intellectual property systems for AI and the digital era; Japan’s leadership in forming international rules for AI and quantum technologies among other fields; and regional revitalization through the nation’s content industry.

Every year, the government compiles a documented program that outlines policies to protect and utilize intellectual property. The focus this year is on the handling of generative AI and the creation of an environment that fosters global competitiveness of Japan’s intellectual capital.

In the program, the government recognizes that generative AI has the potential to contribute to Japan’s development and promotes the active use of it. On the other hand, an increase in AI inventions and creations will pose the challenge of how to evaluate the contributions of AI developers. The program notes that the government will consider measures to clarify criteria for recognizing inventors and creators.

In regard to copyrighted works created using AI, the government will keep the public informed about legal rules to protect the rights of original content. It will also come up with mechanisms to ensure transparency, as AI operators often fail to adequately disclose information about the original work used for machine learning.

In conjunction with the program, the government will compile an International Standardization Comprehensive Strategy for the first time in 19 years, a measure for Japan to hold a leading position in formulating international standards in cutting-edge technology fields.

The intellectual property program aims for Japan to take the initiative in shaping global rules in eight strategic areas, including digital and AI; quantum; telecommunications; and the environment and energy. A public-private partnership framework will be established for that effort.

The government positions the content industry as a core industry and has a target of expanding the size of the overseas market of Japanese-originated content to ¥20 trillion by 2033.

Against the backdrop of the popularity of people visiting locations associated with films and anime, the government will select about 200 locations nationwide by 2033 as hubs of the government’s strategy to revitalize regional economies and promote the local cuisine and culture in those places.