Ask John: Is Japan Dominated By Anime?

Question:
I’ve heard from some sources that Japan makes more animated cartoons than any other country in the world. Is that the reason why there is so much anime? Is Japan more obsessed with making their television series and films animated than live-action compared to countries such as the United States?

Answer:
Japan unquestionably does lead the world in sheer amount of animation produced. This year alone Japan will produce several hundred different animated series and features, and most of them will have multiple episodes, resulting in literally thousands of individual animated works being produced in Japan in 2006 alone. However, the fact that Japan produces an unusually large amount of animation doesn’t mean that Japanese TV is inundated with cartoons. Especially since anime is typically broadcast early in the morning, in the early evening, or very late at night, viewers channel surfing Japanese television usually won’t randomly find anime. Adding the fact that anime is generally broadcast on select networks and primarily in metropolitan areas, even though Japan produces more animation than any other country, anime is actually relatively difficult to randomly find on Japanese television.

The majority of Japanese television consists of live action soap operas and dramas, baseball, local point of interest documentaries, and variety programs. In fact, the most common television programming on Japanese television seems to consist of energetic celebrity talk shows in which program hosts and guests joke, eat, and watch comical stunts and gags together. It’s said that Japanese television viewers enjoy programming that makes them feel as though they’re just spending time with friends. This sort of television programming may seem strange, outrageous, and just plain weird to Americans because there’s really nothing quite like it on American television.

Japan clearly has a larger market for animation than any other country in the world, and Japanese society seems to be more receptive to animation than any other country in the world, but I wouldn’t say that Japan is literally obsessed with producing and broadcasting animation. Even though Japan’s market for animation is large, it’s still a minority of Japanese television viewers. Most programs broadcast on Japanese television, and most movies screened in Japanese theaters, are live action, not animation.