2007 stats

[Aaron Gerow]

On Jan 31, 2008, at 8:18 PM, Oscar Perez wrote:
>
> I´m just a japanese cinema "aficionado" from Spain, but seeing  
> those numbers form the MPPA of Japan I can only think of being  
> looking just a part of the picture. With the new distribution  
> channels, movies don´t relay as much as they used to in the  
> theather run. Does the MPPA of Japan release any number regarding  
> DVD sales and rentals, VOD, TV runs, cable, etc?

While you have to go to JVA and other industry associations for  
precise statistics (e.g., www.jva-net.or.jp), Eiren does list basic  
information on DVD/video sales. According to them, retail sales,  
rental sales and manufacturer's sales were all down by about 2% last  
year. I haven't seen any figures on other venues (cable, satellite,  
internet), but in general those are still smaller than in other  
countries (the cable population is much smaller than in the USA). And  
given how long it took the industry to get on the DVD bandwagon (and  
one can still argue, given the high prices and lack of features, that  
they still have not gotten on the bandwagon), my impression is that  
progress has been small in broadband as well.

Again, I agree with Oscar that the industry as a whole is healthy,  
but given that Toei is in trouble (it only had 3 films in the top 30)  
and Shochiku is not in great shape, having only one company make tons  
of money is not good for the industry--or the medium--as a whole.


Aaron Gerow
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Film Studies Program
Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu