Animax Broadcast Japan Inc,, Horipro International Inc, and HT Entertainment Inc Jointly begin exploring new entertainment businesses in East and Southeast Asia.
Animax Broadcast Japan Inc, providing the animation television network Animax（CEO: Ryoji Nojima, President: Masao Takiyama, Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as “Animax”）, Horipro International Inc（President and CEO: Yukinobu Yatabe; Head Office: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter referred to as “Horipro International”）, and HT Entertainment Inc (President CEO & COO: Yukinobu Yatabe, Head office: Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan; hereinafter referred to as “HT Entertainment”) Jointly begin exploring new entertainment businesses in East and Southeast Asia.
Celebrating its 26th year in operation, Animax is Japan’s largest animation television network, with more than 7 million households able to view its programming. ANIMAX MUSIX, an anime music festival that Animax have organized since 2009, has been held in Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, as well as in Guangzhou and Taipei overseas. Animax have also entered the e-sports field by launching a professional e-Sports team, GHS Professional, in 2022. In addition, Animax provide a wide range of entertainment centering on the animation, game, and comic domains, including the operation of the “ANIMAX Store” entertainment e-commerce site, the “ANIMAX CAFE+” animation collaboration café, and the “ANIMAX Comics” program for the discovery of original IP.
Meanwhile, Horipro International was established in 2018, taking over the management division of music artists and voice actors active both in Japan and abroad from Horipro Inc in order to actively expand overseas, especially in Asia. Based on the corporate philosophy of “creating world-class specialists,” Horipro International discover and nurture talent and artists and create content that is developed to global standards. Developing the core business, talent management and artists’ concerts and fan meetings around the world, and participated in Anime Festival Asia (AFA), Southeast Asia’s leading ACG convention in Singapore, since its launch in 2008, currently joined as the organizer, as well as holding the ACG Convention in Guangzhou, China in 2017. Horipro International support not only its own content, but also the expansion of Japanese content into East and Southeast Asia, developing a multifaceted business.
HT Entertainment was established in 2022 through a strategic alliance between Horipro Group Holdings, Tencent Music Entertainment Group, and Earnest, based on the corporate philosophy of “Focus On ASIA With Entertainment”. The main objective of the compant is to localize and communityize the globally unique Japanese content for mainland China and leverage the management know-how and expertise of the Horipro Group, including the discovery and development of talent, which is one of the Group’s strengths. HT Entertainment is also working with Tencent Music Entertainment Group, a leading company in online music and audio services in China, to provide a wealth of resources, including user insights, online and offline. In 2023, HT Entertainment held a Japan-China joint audition “QQ Music 2023 YOUNG MUSIC Campus Trend Music Competition” with the music platform “QQ MUSIC” and held the final competition in Changsha, China with an audience of over 10,000 people.
According to the “Anime Industry Report” (published by the Association of Japanese Animations), Japanese anime entertainment is attracting increasing attention in overseas markets, to the extent that “anime industry market overseas sales” reached a record high in 2022. In addition, the importance of overseas expansion in the animation and game fields is becoming even more important, as evidenced by the “2024 Intellectual Property Strategic Program” decided by the Japanese government in June of this year, which sets forth the “Cool Japan Strategy” to expand overseas expansion of animation and game industries to 50 trillion JPY by year 2033.
In response to such growing social needs, Animax, Horipro International, and HT Entertainment will jointly explore new entertainment business possibilities, including live event production and management in East and Southeast Asia, by leveraging the knowledge, strengths, and networks of each company to date. The companies will jointly explore new entertainment business possibilities, including the production and operation of live events in East and Southeast Asia.
Animax Broadcast Japan Inc. Profile
Company name: Animax Broadcast Japan, Inc.
Representative Director&CEO: Ryoji Nojima, President: Masao Takiyama
Head Office: Toranomon Towers Office, 4-1-28 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Paid-in capital: 498 million JPY
Foundation: May 1998
Company Objectives
1. Animation broadcasting business.
2. Planning, production and acquisition of original rights for animation programs, etc.
Horipro International Inc. Profile
Corporate name: Horipro International, Inc.
Representative President&CEO: Yukinobu Yatabe
Head Office: 1-2-5 Shimo-Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Paid-in capital: 50 million JPY
Foundation: June 2018
Company Objectives
1. Training and management of talents and musicians.
2. Production, contracting and exhibition of music, movies, plays and performances.
3. Planning, production, manufacture, sale, and rental of voice actors and video software, as well as copyright business.
4. Publishing and sales of books, musical scores and other printed materials.
5. Character merchandise planning, sales, and rights management.
HT Entertainment Inc. Profile
Corporate name: HT Entertainment, Inc.
Representative President CEO&COO: Yukinobu Yatabe
Head Office: Nisshin-cho 1-7, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan
Paid-in capital: 120 million JPY
Foundation: March 2022
Company Objectives
1. Developing and managing talents, musicians, dancers, illustrators, creators, etc.
2. Planning and producing and distributing music, movies, plays, performances, and lectures, as well as contracting or commissioning and their exhibition.
3. Music webcasting and aggregator service.
4. Planning, producing, selling, purchasing and handling copyright for radio and TV programs, online information programs, video software, commercial films, commercial songs, publications, characters, records, tapes, musical scores and other music-related products.
5. Operating theaters, concert halls, studios and other facilities.
6. Managing and selling rights and licenses to use images, autographs, nicknames, etc. of talents, musicians, dancers, illustrators, creators etc. for goods, products and services.
7. Subrogating PR activities.
