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‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle’
Japan’s animation business reached a record high of $28.5bn (¥4.491tn) in 2025, up 15.8% on the previous year.
Figures were revealed on Friday (October 30) at TIFFCOM by the Association of Japanese Animations, which produces an annual report on the anime industry.
The new record-setting number, comprising revenues across TV, film, video, streaming, merchandise, events and overseas licensing, marks the first time the industry has surpassed ¥4tn ($25.4bn).
The Japanese government aims to have the anime industry generate an annual ¥6tn ($38bn) in export revenues by 2033 – more than double the current amount. It forms part of the government’s “IP360” initiative in which it wants Japanese entertainment to earn a combined ¥20tn ($127bn) abroad by the same year.
Booming anime sales continued to be led by a surge in the popularity of anime outside Japan. Overseas revenues reached $16.1bn in 2025, a new record and a 17.2% increase over the previous year. But local sales were also strong, setting a new record at $12bn – a 14% increase on 2024.
This represents the third consecutive year that overseas sales have surpassed local sales, and the gap between the two figures continues to widen, with overseas revenue now accounting for 57.1% of the total.
“We have reached an era where it is no longer rare to see Japanese animation top box office or streaming charts abroad,” said Masahiro Hasegawa, editor-in-chief of AJA’s annual industry report. “Anime has broken through.”
Leading Japanese animated features in 2025 included Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – Infinity Castle, which earned $793m worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time. Further box-office hits included Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc and Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback, which earned $191m and $162m worldwide, respectively.
The report also detailed revenues for anime studios, where Japanese animation is produced. Studios generated a combined $3.2bn in 2025, also a new record, and an 8.4% increase over 2024. Some 27.9% of those sales came from outside Japan (versus 25.5% in 2024), owing to the fact that more studios now own a piece of the IP they animate.
The key to future growth, said Hasegawa, will be production companies’ ability to understand and adapt to the cultures, languages and laws of the regions into which they plan to expand in future, as well as combating piracy in these regions.
On the same panel, Yoko Ueda, director of corporate administration and IP & communications at Production I.G, shared that two such countries into which the studio is cultivating new audiences are Saudia Arabia and India. Ueda also shared that part of Production I.G’s global expansion strategy involves getting in on the ground floor.
“When we animated the anime section of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill [in 2003], we did so as a commissioned studio for hire, but with this year’s Star Wars: The Ninth Jedi, it was as creative partners,” he said.
The executive also mentioned Production I.G’s efforts to expand brand awareness by holding panels at Anime Expo and other worldwide conventions promoting not specific titles, but the studio itself.
Also sharing thoughts on overseas expansion was Hitomi Hiratsuka, director of international sales and productions at Nippon Animation, who emphasised thinking regionally.
“We can’t just think about the general ‘overseas’ market, we have to pay attention to the specifics of each region,” said Hiratsuka.
Continuing to produce child and family-focused animation will also continue to be a priority for Nippon Animation, Hiratsuka stated, because “although the birth rate has declined in Japan and elsewhere, there are children all over the world, and we want them to grow up as the next generation of anime fandom.”
Earlier in the day, the launch of a new anime industry awards was revealed.
Set to first be held in 2027, further details are expected on November 2 at the Tokyo Anime Next event, held at Tokyo Tatemono Brillia Hall.
It was announced on a TIFFCOM panel that included anime producer and AMPAS member Yuichiro Saito, A-1 Pictures president Akira Shimizu, and chief manager of Toho Animation Masaya Saito.
While avoiding specifics, the trio suggested that the awards will not be decided by fan vote, as with the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, but by industry professionals.
“I hope the awards will focus on creators and give viewers a new, deeper perspective on how the animation they love is produced,” said Masaya Saito.
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