Japan is turning to artificial intelligence to combat the massive rise in manga and anime piracy, a problem that costs publishers an estimated US$55 billion a year, according to the anti-piracy group Authorised Books of Japan.
The move comes as domestic sales stagnate and creators increasingly rely on overseas markets. The government aims to quadruple global sales of anime, manga and games to US$130 billion by 2033, aligning with its “Cool Japan” strategy to boost cultural exports, News.Az reports, citing SCMP.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs has allocated 100 million yen to develop an AI system capable of detecting stolen manga images and text uploaded to pirate sites or social media. The upgraded platform will focus on overseas piracy hubs and replace slow manual checks currently used.
However, experts warn that AI still struggles with nuanced copyright judgments, especially when pirate sites operate in foreign jurisdictions with weak enforcement.
Japan has recently scored several legal victories. In 2024, Tokyo District Court ordered the operator of the notorious piracy site Mangamura to pay 1.7 billion yen in damages to major publishers. This year, US-based Cloudflare was fined 500 million yen for hosting infringing content linked to Japanese titles such as One Piece and Attack on Titan.
Despite these efforts, industry veterans remain cautious.
“I do not think that we will ever be completely free of pirate sites,” said Chigusa Ogino of Tuttle-Mori, citing the global scale of the problem.
Experts also note that education will be key. Roland Kelts of Waseda University said publishers must help fans understand how piracy harms the artists they admire. “The fan community can often be the best way of policing itself,” he added.