Netflix is marking ten years in Japan this month, and in that time, it has gone from a brand with zero presence to a key, noisy player in the local streaming ecosystem.
Kaata Sakamoto, Netflix’s Vice-President of Content for Japan, tells Deadline that one of the biggest challenges he faced a decade ago was raising the brand awareness around Netflix. “When the service launched in the beginning, the brand awareness was very low, but now, many people know about Netflix, and they’re enjoying our services,” he says.
At a creators’ event held in Tokyo last week, Netflix’s co-CEO Greg Peters, said: “When we launched Netflix in Asia for the first time in 2015, we chose Japan as our starting point and opened our office here. Ten years later, Netflix has grown to reach more than 10 million households in Japan, becoming affectionately known as ‘Netofuri.’”
Big moves are being made to keep that profile up. Besides continuing to expand its bank of films, anime and series out of Japan, the streamer also recently announced that the country will also host its first live-streaming venture outside the U.S., picking up domestic rights to the World Baseball Classic.
Looking ahead, Sakamoto says that his priority is expanding the range of genres of originals produced out of Japan.
“The focus is going to be on really expanding the overall genres, whether it’s for films or series,” says Sakamoto. “We really want to be the best in class across all the different, diverse genres that we are working in. It’s really about telling stories that have never been told before, and supporting the creators’ vision.”
The streamer has focused on venturing into new genres and techniques over the last few years. For example, just last year, Netflix unveiled its first original samurai drama, Last Samurai Standing. Earlier this year, the streamer released Bullet Train Explosion, a nostalgic remake of the 1975 Japanese film The Bullet Train.
At the Tokyo event, Peters said Japanese titles on the platform have been viewed for a cumulative 25 billion hours, making them the second most-watched non-English content globally. More than 120 Japanese titles have entered the global non-English Top 10 rankings, and in country-specific Top 10 lists, Japanese titles have ranked across 93 countries, from Asia to Latin America. In Japan, Netflix’s productions have taken place across 37 prefectures and over 200 filming locations.
“From 2021 to 2024 alone, Netflix’s investment in Japan generated an economic impact [Gross Value Added] of more than ¥450B [$3B],” said Peters. “These numbers demonstrate that Japan is an indispensable market for Netflix. For the next 10 years, we will continue to deliver Japanese culture and creativity to the world, creating entertainment experiences that exceed imagination.”
Adaptations have formed a significant part of Netflix’s Japanese originals, particularly tapping on the country’s enviable library of mangas and anime. One of the biggest benefits that comes with this approach is the in-built audience and fanbase with the IP.
For example, some of the streamer’s biggest original titles in Japan, like Alice in Borderland, as One Piece, Yu Yu Hakusho and Pokémon Concierge, are all adapted from existing mangas or games.
“When we talk about mangas, we don’t really look at how many of the mangas were sold, and we don’t choose our ideas based on a marketing-driven lens,” says Sakamoto. “Instead, when we look at a manga, we look at how interesting or intriguing the stories are, or how these characters can be portrayed in this time and age, especially when it’s adapted into live action.”
With these adaptations, there is also an additional stage of choosing the right technology for its animes. “Whether it’s drawn by hand, 2D or 3D, it really does depend on the idea and the story,” says Sakamoto. “It is true that Japan has very advanced technology in terms of anime, so we will to continue looking into that and supporting the creators’ vision.”
Working across borders
Another area that the Japan office is focusing on is multi-national productions, with the streamer collaborating with counterparts in Korea to produce upcoming series Romantics Anonymous, which will star actors from both countries: Shun Oguri, Han Hyo-joo, Yuri Nakamura and Jin Akanishi.
The series is based on a 2010 French-Belgian romantic comedy film of the same name, as we reported first at the time.
Sakamoto says that the idea for the series was first brought to him by a Korean studio, Yong Film, headed by producer Syd Lim and known for The Handmaiden. “The producer is a very well-known, with a lot of experience in the field, so we created the script together with them, and this also led to a pretty organic decision to cast from both countries,” he adds.
Another Japan-Korea co-produced series coming up is romance drama Soul Mate, starring Japanese actor Hayato Isomura and Korean actor-singer Ok Taec-yeon, with the story’s characters traveling across Berlin, Seoul and Tokyo. Written and directed by Japan’s Shunki Hashizume (Scroll, More Than Words), Sakamoto says this proposal came from his team in Japan, before the development process prompted the casting of a Korean actor for the series.
“We really followed a very natural process in development, really seeking out authenticity with the characters, and that’s how we came to the decisions that we did,” adds Sakamoto.
Sakamoto lays out his ultimate ambitions for the streamer in Japan. “Our goal is having Netflix be the chosen studio among creators,” he says. “That is something that is a constant challenge for us… to enable them to bring these titles that are seen by people all over the world and provide enjoyment. We really want to bring something fun to people, our audiences.”
This article was published by Sara Merican on 2025-09-10 20:00:00
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