The Japanese government is accelerating its fight against rampant online piracy of manga and anime by proposing a new artificial intelligence-powered system to detect unauthorized websites that host stolen content. In a draft supplementary budget for the current fiscal year, authorities have earmarked ¥100 million (about $650,000) toward early development and pilot operations of the cutting-edge technology.
Pirated manga and anime sites, many offering free downloads or unauthorized streams of beloved series, have long plagued Japan’s cultural industries. With more than 1,000 illegal platforms operating worldwide, publishers claim that piracy is siphoning off billions of yen in potential revenue each year and undermining the global export of Japanese pop culture.
AI to Scan and Spot Piracy Automatically
The plan, led by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, would harness machine learning, image recognition and text analysis to scour the open web for sites that illegally distribute manga panels, full volumes, scanned pages and animated content without permission from rights holders. Once flagged, these sites can be targeted for takedown requests or enforcement action.
According to government officials, one of the biggest challenges in combating piracy has been the sheer volume and speed at which new infringing sites appear. Manual detection and policing by human teams is slow and costly. By contrast, an AI-driven approach could identify patterns, site layouts, and even images copied from copyrighted works far more efficiently helping rights holders focus their legal efforts where they’re most needed.
Part of Broader Anti-Piracy Efforts
The AI project is part of a larger supplementary budget request that includes various anti-piracy measures. It builds on past initiatives and collaborations with industry groups like the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA) an organization tasked with protecting Japanese content abroad and complements ongoing legal actions against major piracy operators.
This year’s ¥100 million allocation marks a significant down payment on what could grow into a larger, multi-year program. Earlier reports had described a pilot project worth ¥300 million (about $2 million) that was submitted in previous budget requests to test AI scanning tools and workflows.
Economic and Cultural Stakes
Manga and anime form a cornerstone of Japan’s cultural export economy, contributing tens of billions of dollars to foreign revenue annually. In 2022 alone, gaming, manga and animation exports generated roughly ¥4.7 trillion ($30 billion), figures comparable to other major industries like semiconductor exports. Protecting that intellectual property, therefore, has become a priority for policymakers.
In its broader “Cool Japan” strategy, the government aims to expand global appetite for Japanese culture, while making it more difficult for pirate sites to thrive. Those goals are now converging with investments in AI technology to boost enforcement capacity and better safeguard content creators.
Originally written by: https://en.as.com/latest_news/not-china-or-the-us-this-country-built-a-massive-great-wall-of-concrete-to-defend-against-tsunamis-n/
Link to the article: https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/culture/manga-anime/20251130-295486/
