Japan’s entertainment dilemma: Navigating China’s cultural clampdown

Amid rising tensions in Japan-China relations since November 2025, Japanese entertainment businesses have faced a series of restrictions in China. Concerts by Japanese artists have suddenly been cancelled due to force majeure, and a Studio Ghibli-themed exhibition has been postponed.

The impact is widespread. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle, which was released nationwide in China on 14 November 2025, grossed approximately 677 million RMB (about US$97 million). This made it the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time worldwide. However, its screening was not extended after showing for just less than a month. On 28 November, at the Bandai Namco Festival 2025, singer Maki Otsuki, who sang the theme song for the anime One Piece, was suddenly cut short during her performance. Footage of staff urging her to leave the stage spread across social media. These incidents are difficult to view as mere coincidences, and the worsening political relations certainly cast a shadow over them.

The expansion of Japanese entertainment in China has been marked by repeated cycles of control and deregulation. For example, after China’s reform and opening up, Japanese anime was introduced in the context of international cultural exchange. Beginning with Astro Boy (first aired in December 1980), series such as Ikkyu-san, Hana no Ko Lunlun and Doraemon were broadcast on CCTV and other networks throughout the 1980s, popularising anime as youth culture.

From the mid-1990s onwards, the fan base grew through the distribution of pirated VCDs (later DVDs). In the mid-2000s, the Chinese government tightened controls supposedly to promote domestic anime and protect its young people. Foreign anime, including Japanese anime, were removed from primetime television (5 pm to 8 pm). However, at the same time, the ubiquity of the internet meant that pirated viewing continued, and a unique Chinese otaku culture also grew, including the production of subtitles by “fansub” (fan-subtitling) groups.

During the 2010s, the rapid growth of video platforms resulted in increased legitimate distribution and development of the copyright business. However, in 2015, China’s Ministry of Culture announced a ban on the distribution of 38 Japanese anime titles, which once again destabilised the market. Many popular titles were included on the blacklist, such as Attack on Titan and Death Note. Since then, risks such as censorship, re-editing and suspension of distribution have become commonplace. 

The situation is largely the same for manga and games. Japan’s entertainment business has developed amid the political and policy logic of the Chinese government and the economic and management logic of the country’s vast market.

Naturally, profit-seeking businesses would want to quickly resolve the slump in Japan-China relations and revitalise exchanges. Some may argue that immediate economic activity should be prioritised, even if it requires political compromise.

However, if one settles for the temporary lifting of restrictions and hastily makes compromises, there is a risk of delaying the resolution of medium- to long-term issues. From China’s perspective, this will be a successful precedent of gaining political benefits through economic pressure. These restrictions could also be replicated in various industries, including entertainment, whenever future issues arise. Consequently, the range of restrictions and relaxations will widen, and business risks will become more prevalent.

Therefore, how should Japan’s entertainment businesses approach the Chinese market? The answer is clear: continue to pursue profits in the Chinese market while pursuing medium- to long-term de-risking. Fortunately, the overseas market for Japanese content, such as manga and anime, has grown rapidly in recent years.

Demand has grown not only in North America and Asia (excluding China), but also in Latin America and Africa. The aforementioned Demon Slayer became the highest-grossing foreign film of all time in North America and achieved the highest audience attendance ever for a Japanese film in South Korea, becoming the first Japanese film to achieve box office revenue of 100 billion yen (US$650 million) worldwide. 

Market diversification is an important risk management strategy that reduces dependence on specific regions. With overseas markets expanding, now is the perfect time for the Japanese entertainment business to de-risk.

However, it is important to emphasise that de-risking, not decoupling, is needed. China will remain an important market for Japanese entertainment businesses, and remain a vital hub for production outsourcing for Japanese content, such as anime and games. 

Since the two are inseparable, we must find ways to make exchanges more sustainable and less susceptible to political tensions. While easier said than done, we must be aware that de-risking is not decoupling, nor is it “retaliation”. Returning to the example of anime, in November last year, when China began to impose restrictions on Japanese works, The Legend of Hei II, the sequel to the Chinese film The Legend of Hei, was released and is still screening across Japan as of February 2026. 

Animated film Ne Zha 2, which was released in China in January 2025 and became a huge hit there, was dubbed in Japanese at the end of December of last year and is still screening. More recently, White Snake: Afloat was released in Japan at the end of January 2026. If Japan can demonstrate that its doors remain open to Chinese works even as bilateral exchanges are strained, then perhaps when relations improve, Chinese entertainment industry workers will resume business with Japan based on deep trust.

China has its own reasons. Thanks in part to the government’s industrial promotion policies, the quantity and quality of Chinese-made intellectual property (IP) for entertainment content is growing rapidly. In the short term, the gaps left by restrictions on Japanese content can be filled with domestically produced content. Ne Zha 2, which became the highest-grossing film of all time in China, symbolises this shift.

However, the entertainment business is inherently open to the outside world and develops through the hybridisation of foreign and indigenous cultures. While exclusionary controls may protect the market in the short term, they could lead to a stagnation of creativity in the medium to long term.

As urban theorist Richard Florida argued, “three T’s” — talent, technology and tolerance — are conditions for the development of creative industries. Restricting the inflow of foreign culture undermines tolerance, which will sap the industry’s vitality. Sustainable exchanges in the entertainment industry between Japan and China are important not only for Japan, but also for China.

To avoid a situation in which politics instrumentalises culture or holds the economy hostage, Japan and China should adopt a medium- to long-term perspective. They should return to the fundamental idea that cultural exchange fosters creativity and aim to establish sustainable Japan–China entertainment and business exchanges.

Related: [Video] Ne Zha 2: A distinctively Chinese film with global appeal | China’s youths love Japanese anime, no matter what anyone says