METI Reportedly Moves to End the Cool Japan Fund That Backed Pop Culture Exports

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is reportedly moving toward ending the Cool Japan Fund, a public-private vehicle created in 2013 to help export Japanese pop culture and related products overseas. If METI’s latest budget approach holds, the fund would be unable to make new investments—an effective end even before a formal closure is officially announced.

Quick facts

• METI is reported to be excluding new budget funding for the Cool Japan Fund in the fiscal year 2027 request.
• The Cool Japan Fund was established in 2013 to support the overseas spread of contemporary Japanese culture and products.
• Accumulated losses since launch reportedly reached 54 billion yen (about €290.6 million).
• In fiscal year 2025, the fund recorded a net loss of 15.6 billion yen after a 1.4 billion yen profit the year before.
• Reported investments include 30 million dollars into Sentai Holdings in 2019, plus 3.6 million dollars in 2020.
• The fund also backed initiatives involving Anime Consortium Japan (2014) and planned funding of up to 450 million yen for Kadokawa anime and manga training projects (2015).

Multiple Japanese outlets report that METI has decided not to request financing for the fund in its budget submission for fiscal year 2027. Without those allocations, the fund cannot carry out additional investments, pushing it closer to abolition even though the government has not yet issued a definitive public announcement of its formal shutdown.

A program built to turn culture into export value

Launched as part of the broader Cool Japan initiative, the fund was designed to promote elements of modern Japanese culture on international markets. The stated focus included anime, manga, film, and fashion, with the premise that these creative industries could serve as major economic and global-facing resources for Japan.

Created in 2013, it became one of the signature projects associated with the second administration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Over the years, it backed overseas-facing initiatives intended to broaden the reach of Japanese products and cultural content.

However, the fund’s financial performance reportedly failed to match early expectations. Data released by the Cool Japan Fund itself indicates cumulative losses since its 2013 launch totaled 54 billion yen, far exceeding the loss target the fund set for itself.

Fiscal results also showed instability. In fiscal year 2025, the organization posted a net loss of 15.6 billion yen, following a comparatively small profit of 1.4 billion yen in the preceding year.

Scrutiny over results, including earlier restructuring talk

Concerns about underperformance were not new. In 2017, Nikkei reported that most investments made by the fund that year delivered results below expectations. Later, in 2022, a subcommittee within the Ministry of Finance discussed the possibility of restructuring or abolishing the fund if it did not meet its financial targets by fiscal year 2025.

The latest move by METI—effectively blocking new budget support starting with the fiscal year 2027 request—fits into that longer thread of questions about whether the fund’s approach was delivering the intended financial outcomes.

Anime and manga funding highlights

While the fund’s broader mandate covered multiple areas of Japanese culture and products, it also backed anime and manga-linked initiatives. In 2019, it invested 30 million dollars into Sentai Holdings, the parent company of Sentai Filmworks, HIDIVE, and Anime Network, and then added 3.6 million dollars in 2020.

During the COVID-19 period, the fund reportedly created an emergency financing program intended to support companies facing difficulties.

Other projects included a 2014 investment in Anime Consortium Japan, a joint venture that later operated the Daisuki streaming service, which closed in 2017.

In 2015, the fund planned to invest up to 450 million yen into Kadokawa projects focused on training new professionals for the anime and manga industry outside Japan. The plan aimed specifically at expanding Kadokawa Contents Academy’s international schools, with a goal of graduating at least 2,000 students by 2020.

For many observers, the reported end of the Cool Japan Fund is seen as the end of a specific era: direct public financing aimed at exporting Japanese pop-culture content. Even so, the Japanese government is still treating creative exports as a strategic priority through other tools beyond this fund.