[KineJapan] The marketshare of Japanese films in Japan

Mon Nov 18 04:02:47 EST 2013

Hi Kim,

Better data is called for, but based upon personal observation, the dividing line between cinéphiles and the general public seems much sharper in Japan. In my experience, if I tell an acquaintance that I see several films a month in a theater, they might easily say: "oh... so you are an eiga otaku." According to UNESCO, the national average for Japan has been to view around 1.5 films per year in a theater (compare ~3.5/year for S. Korea and 5+ for the U.S.). So, even going once a month can already set you apart.

I would agree with Alex and Eija that the demand for films to open sooner can also be tied to Internet access. Regarding relative rates of piracy, the numbers I've seen are from the BSA, and so they apply to computer software. That's not exactly the same as for films, but is likely a reasonable indicator. According to the BSA stats, the global rate in 2012 was around 42%, with 60% in the Asia Pacific region. In East Asia, the numbers are 77% for China, 43% for H.K., 40% for S. Korea, and 21% for Japan. As Alex indicated, Japan has the lowest rate in all of Asia. 

W.r.t. cinéphiles wanting to see films on the big screen, I would say your point about the numbers being small is the most significant. Yes, there are committed cinéphiles who insist on going to theaters, but are they numerous enough to keep the current ecosystem going? I don't see it. Since theater spectatorship in Japan is in decline compared to a number of other countries, there is at present a "cinema bubble". I.e., there are now probably too many theaters for the current patterns of consumption. As Jasper mentions in his review for Screen, the number of screens shrank between 2011 and 2012. The number was small, but 82% of the screens that closed were non-multiplex theaters. That translates directly into a loss of diversity (what cinéphiles are looking for), and has an impact on forms of spectatorship.

Following current trends — and given that Abenomics will almost certainly fail to increase wages, ergo provide more disposable income for people to see films — we should expect ongoing contraction in the exhibition market. 

One question here is how streaming services will offset the shrinking number of screens. Will VOD in part make up for the loss and/or deliver a more diverse ecosystem? That's supposed to be the promise of the Internet, but I wonder if its going to play out that way. In theory, VOD could give us access to lots of films that are now mouldering in vaults, but who's going to pay to digitize them? How will the rights issues be sorted? I think there is cause for concern because of how digital distribution has unfolded for the music industry. Instead of a rich landscape of independents, distribution is dominated by a small number of mega media companies. Their business model has stabilized, and as David Lowery nicely summarizes it: "Old Boss: pays the artist too little. New Boss: pays the artist nothing."

Again, I would like to see more detailed data than what Eiren is serving up...

M.

On Nov 18, 2013, at 3:29 PM, Kim Icreverzi wrote:

> I share Mark's first question and would be very interested to hear the response.
> 
> To Mark's last point(s) about cinema not being important in Japan (and I have a sneaking suspicion we've had a conversation along these lines in person at some point, Mark), I guess I'd like to push back against the quantitative argument and ask more about forms of cinephilia in Japan.  My sense is that Mark's right when he says that it doesn't seem like the "general public" is picking up and seeing foreign films online instead and, as a result, you don't have this same demand for speed that Alex is talking about in the case of South Korea (is there also something here with respect to copyright enforcement or concerns about piracy?).  Anecdotally, I know a number of cinephiles in Japan who insist on seeing things only in theaters and who, though they might like to see films sooner, also are prepared to wait to see them on the big screen.   Which is to say, that cinema for many of the cinephiles I know remains tied to the space of the theater.  And while those numbers might not be very large (ie those who persist in seeing movies in the theater, still often seeing double or triple bills) this sort of spectatorship is alive in a way that I feel like I see much more rarely in the US, where that sort of commitment to viewing conditions seems increasingly (framed) like a relic of the past.
> 
> Perhaps the other question that this might raise of foreign films, which relates again to Mark's question, is whether "foreign films" are going largely the way of the cinephile? [Also we should consider the way that cinema gets folded into the call to participate in domestic/national/nationalist forms of consumption in the wake of the disasters]
> Kim  
> 
> On 11/17/13 7:40 PM, Alex Zahlten wrote:
>> Good points, Mark. To the clogged distribution pipeline I would add another reason for the time lag for theatrical releases in Japan: Because they can. Japan has been probably the most successful country in the world in keeping online piracy (fairly) under control. This means there is much less pressure for a day-and-date release that is synchronized with the rest of the world. Compare this with South Korea, where US films have to come out very soon after the US release date simply because if they don't everyone will already have seen the film online / downloaded it. 
>>  
>> Best,
>> Alex
>>  
>> Gesendet: Sonntag, 17. November 2013 um 21:19 Uhr
>> Von: "Mark Roberts" <mroberts37 at mail-central.com>
>> An: "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum" <kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>
>> Betreff: Re: [KineJapan] The marketshare of Japanese films in Japan
>> So, a follow-up question would be: since Eiren is padding the numbers, which sources give a better breakdown of jishu eiga, pinku, anime, ODS, etc.? The Japanese Film Database has some of this information, but not all.
>>  
>> As for foreign films coming to Japan late, I have seen this again and again. For international distribution, Japan is very often dead last in the entire world. 
>>  
>> My hypothesis is that there are at least two things going on here. 
>>  
>> First, I suspect that foreign films "arrive" late in Japan because the major distribution companies are giving priority to their stuff, and there are not enough independent companies to pick up the slack. I have heard people in distribution companies say that a major foreign film was bought at Cannes, almost two years before it opened in Tokyo. The second factor is simply that the general public are not very engaged in new films. I don't have the impression that large numbers of people are accessing films via the Internet. That kind of culture seems more marginal here. Rather, people are just not watching them at all. Frequentation statistics in theaters would seem to bear this out.
>>  
>> Simply put, compared to the US, the UK, France, South Korea and Hong Kong, cinema just isn't very important in Japan today.
>>  
>> M.
>>  
>> On Nov 18, 2013, at 10:05 AM, Gregory Johnson wrote:
>>  
>> This is just a guess for which I have no proof, but I wonder if the extent to which Japanese are watching foreign films without going through the box office is rising. It takes a while for foreign films to get to theaters in Japan. Many times I've already seen something on an international flight before it appears here. And despite various barriers, people often can access them on the internet before they officially arrive. Are there any grounds for this idea?
>> 
>> Greg Johnson
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