2007 stats

[Aaron Gerow]

Just a quick note, but the Motion Picture Producers Association of  
Japan released their statistics for the film industry for 2007.

http://www.eiren.org/toukei/index.html

The results are not great, but not bad either. Total box office went  
down 2.2% to 198 billion yen, with attendance declining 0.8% to 163  
million. Japanese films failed to beat out foreign films at the box  
office, unlike last year (which was the first time that had been done  
since 1985). The share was 47.7% for Japanese and 52.3% for foreign  
films. The box office for Japanese films fell 12.3% from 2006. The  
number of films slightly declined, as did the average ticket price,  
while the number of screens continues to increase.

15 Japanese films earned more than 2 billion yen at the BO, the same  
number as 2006. Of the top 11 films, 10 were distributed by Toho,  
with Hero, Pocket Monsters, Always II, Saiyuki, and Bushi no ichibun  
being the 5 to top 4 billion. The fact that business as a whole is  
not consistently growing, that the average BO per screen continues to  
decline, and that Toho retains its almost monopolistic dominance, are  
all signs for concern.

But then again, Japanese cinema's take of 94 billion yen is the  
second best this decade, indicating that 2006 was not a total fluke.  
It is also a respectable number going against Pirates of the  
Caribbean, Harry Potter, and Spiderman. 47.7% was also the second  
best figure since 1988.

Other comments?


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