**updated: Talk in Tokyo, Oct. 2011


[Sudo, McDonald, Kelts]

Manga and Anime, Japan's Most Important, but Hidden Industries

Time: 2011 Oct 27 12:00 - 14:00
Summary:
Professional Luncheon
Tadashi Sudo, CEO of AnimeAnime.jp
Roland Kelts, Japanese pop-culture Expert & Author of "Japanamerica."
Christopher Macdonald, CEO& Publisher, Anime News Network
Description:

Japanese pop culture is on a tear worldwide. Manga and anime, long popular at home and abroad, are becoming an important export business, with even METI and MOFA throwing their support behind the genres. Universities are setting up study courses and archiving collections, while even the sober British Museum staged a manga exhibition recently.

But, once again, an industry that Japan created and developed is increasingly under threat, in particular from the content industries of South Korea and China. In addition, Internet distribution provides a huge audience - but one that is disinclined to pay for content, stunting the Japanese firms that produce it. What is the current situation surrounding one of modern Japan's most important -- but hidden -- industries? And what is its future?

The panelists include Tadashi Sudo, the CEO of AnimeAnime.jp; Roland Kelts, an expert on Japanese pop-culture and the author of the book "Japanamerica"; and Christopher Macdonald, the CEO & Publisher of Anime News Network.

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