TLDR: Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, former chairman of KADOKAWA and honorary chairman of the KADOKAWA Culture Promotion Foundation, has asserted that short anime and generative artificial intelligence (AI) will be the primary forces driving the future of Japanese content. His remarks, made at a press conference for the upcoming Japan-China International Animation Film Festival in 2026, highlight a significant shift towards technological integration and new content formats within the industry, despite ongoing debates about AI’s impact on artists and copyrights.
At a recent press conference held to announce the Japan-China International Animation Film Festival scheduled for May 2026, Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, the former chairman of the prominent KADOKAWA conglomerate, shared his vision for the future of Japanese content. Kadokawa, who now serves as the honorary chairman of the KADOKAWA Culture Promotion Foundation, the festival’s organizer, stated, “From now on, what will drive Japanese content forward is short anime. With generative AI involved, we will leap to the next level. I think that we are now in a situation where we need to learn from China. I want Japan and China to develop a relationship where we can respect each other.”
Kadokawa’s prediction underscores a growing trend within Japan’s animation industry, which is increasingly exploring the integration of AI to address various challenges. While Kadokawa himself stepped down as chairman of KADOKAWA on October 4, 2022, following allegations of bribery related to the Tokyo Olympics—charges he denies—and is currently barred from meeting with the company’s current CEO, Takeshi Natsuno, his insights reflect broader industry movements.
The Japanese anime sector faces a significant labor shortage, characterized by overworked and underpaid animators, with hourly rates often falling below the country’s minimum wage. In this context, AI is emerging as a potential solution to boost production efficiency and compensate for staffing gaps. For instance, a five-second anime clip that traditionally required a week of hand-drawn work can now be produced within a single day by feeding just two drawings to an AI model.
Japan’s legal framework, particularly its Copyright Act amended in 2019, is notably permissive, generally allowing the use of copyrighted materials to train AI tools without explicit consent from copyright holders. This approach aims to attract AI investors, though it has sparked considerable concern among artists. A 2023 survey by Arts Workers Japan revealed that 94% of Japanese artists have qualms about AI infringing on their copyrights, and approximately 60% worry about losing their jobs to AI. This sentiment contrasts with figures like Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, who in 2016 expressed being ‘utterly disgusted’ by AI-generated content, calling it ‘an insult to life itself.’
Despite these concerns, companies like K&K Design are already incorporating AI, using customized text-to-image models like Stable Diffusion for coloring, background generation, and transforming photos and videos into anime, significantly saving time and effort. Furthermore, major players like KADOKAWA have been actively acquiring independent anime studios, such as Doga Kobo (known for ‘Oshi no Ko’), to enhance production capacity and improve working conditions by consolidating administrative functions and offering better compensation to animators. By 2025, KADOKAWA aims to have six anime studios as subsidiaries, streamlining operations to meet the surging global demand for Japanese content.
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Kadokawa’s emphasis on ‘short anime’ also points to an evolving content landscape, where concise, impactful narratives might gain traction, potentially leveraging AI for rapid production cycles. The proposed Japan-China International Animation Film Festival in 2026 could serve as a platform to showcase these advancements and foster international collaboration in the rapidly transforming animation industry.
