Cannes‘ Marché du Film and the Tokyo Film Festival content market TIFFCOM are joining forces to launch a new IP market dedicated to Japanese intellectual properties.
The inaugural Japan IP Market will run May 15-17 alongside the Marché and bring together leading Japanese rights holders with international producers and buyers for film and TV adaptations. Participants include Amuse Creative Studio, producers of Oscar-nominated local blockbuster Kokuhu, the Kadokawa Corporation (Suzume, Your Name), Shochiku (Drive My Car), and Toei Company (Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle) as well as other leading Japanese IP holders including Nihon Bungeisha, Nippon Animation, and Shufu To Seikatsu Sha.
The Friday-to-Sunday market will be held on the Art Explora catamaran located at Cannes’ Vieux-Port and feature pitch sessions, one-on-one meetings and seminars, including a presentation on “The
Future of Japanese IP in Global Adaptations” from Tetsu Fujimura, the executive producer of Netflix’s live-action hit One Piece, adapted from the hugely-successful Japanese Manga.
Japan is this year’s country of honor at the Cannes Film Market.
“Japan is renowned as the birthplace of some of the world’s most powerful IP, from manga and anime to novels, remakes and video games. This new initiative will create further opportunities to foster international collaborations,” said Marché director Guillaume Esmiol. “At the same time, it reinforces the growing importance of the IP market at the Marché du Film, which has been a key strategic focus for several years.”
Japan’s film industry, particularly its anime section, is booming. The annual Anime Industry Report, published at TIFFCOM last November, showed 15 percent growth across the industry, which topped $25 billion in revenue in 2024. That was even before the recent historic success of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.
TIFFCOM CEO Yasushi Shiina said the Cannes market was the “ideal environment to highlight and showcase the extraordinary adaptability and creativity of Japanese content across multiple formats and markets. By bringing together key players from Japan and around the world in Cannes, we aim to create new opportunities for business and international growth.”
