EXCLUSIVE: With businesses spanning across broadcasting, real estate, the space industry and consulting, Japanese investor Yoshihiro Shimamura has expanded his portfolio over the last few years to include international film production.
He is also a major shareholder in two Japanese television businesses — TV Tokyo and Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings — as well as in internet advertising company CyberAgent and music data firm Oricon. Having invested in around 10 films, with the aim to release one to two a year, he has invested a total of approximately 200M yen ($1.39M) in feature projects. Though you may not know much about him yet, he’s quietly become a key player in Japanese entertainment.
Shimamura — who previously went by just the mononym ‘Yoshi’ in production credits — sat down with Deadline for his first interview with an international publication, for a wide-ranging discussion about how he chooses which films to invest in and how he has hedged his bets on the continued growth of Japanese animation. He also shares his insights on what he thinks is the biggest challenge facing the Japanese entertainment industry today.
International film investment
Shimamura says that he will invest in films from anywhere in the world. To date, these include Howl by Elias E. Merhige (executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jane Goodall), Chameleon and Gensan Punch by Brillante Mendoza, Orang Ikan by Mike Wiluan, Moonglow by Isabel Sandoval, Kiss of the Con Queen by Tom Waller and December by Anshul Chauhan.
He recalls his start in the entertainment business. “I love watching films and around 20 years ago, there was a Japanese film called Hula Girls, which I really liked,” he says. “I wanted to produce a work and be in the film business, but I had no idea how to start, so I talked to a few people. That’s how I started to invest in films.”
He admires filmmakers Lee Sang-il, Zhang Yimou, Patrice Leconte, as well as actors such as Takeshi Kitano, Nicholas Cage, Lee Byung-hun and George Clooney, and hopes to work with them in future.
His investment process is simple enough: Select a trusted group of people to work with, and then rely on them to recommend the best pitches, talent and projects. Shimamura says this is how he operates across all his other businesses. In the film industry, he counts industry professionals like Japan-based Bobo and London-based SC Films’ Fumie Suzuki Lancaster as part of his circle of trusted individuals.
“I want to keep my role as an investor, and not be involved too much with feedback and comments. I just want to trust the people who are producing the film,” says Shimamura. He recalls one producer giving him a week to mull over a pitch, but he made up his mind within 30 minutes — choosing to invest in the project.
“In the Japanese countryside, many people still leave the doors to their homes unlocked. They trust each other and the community works well together. My motto is quite similar,” he adds. “I don’t want to lock the door. If there’s a stranger that enters the community that I don’t trust, I will ask them to leave the community.”
Japanese TV still has major growth potential
On the television and broadcasting front, Shimamura is a shareholder in several Japanese TV stations. Despite very real concerns over the economic outlook for linear broadcasting, Shimamura says that he is very optimistic about the continued growth of anime and live sports — which ultimately gives him confidence in his TV investments.
“Japan still has strong anime IP showing on TV, so I think there’s a good chance of business going up again,” says Shimamura. “People think that TV is going down, but I have a different view. Even outside of Japan, there’s a lot of anime showing on TV as well, so that’s why I decided to become a major share shareholder in a few TV companies in Japan.”
He also highlights how Asahi Broadcasting Group has the broadcasting rights to Japan’s popular high school baseball league (Koshien)— which he is optimistic will keep audiences coming back.
Shimamura also sees huge potential in digital entertainment. He has invested in digital advertising company CyberAgent, owner of content studio Babel Label, which boasts Japanese filmmaker Michihito Fujii (The Journalist, 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days) among its homegrown creators. The production company also signed a five-year multi-picture deal with Netflix in 2023 to produce live-action films and series.
Shimamura says that one of the biggest challenges facing the Japanese entertainment industry is the “closed” group of people running the country’s top talent agencies, major production companies and festivals. “It’s always the same people,” says Shimamura. “When there are new people, it’s really difficult to join them. They don’t really accept new people.”
However, he is optimistic that the tides are slowly changing and that the newer generation will find a way to break in. “Hopefully, in the next 10 to 20 years, these people with old mindsets will not be around in the industry, but I also can’t wait for those 10 to 20 years, which is why I decided to buy TV stations and make the changes that I can now.”
Additionally, Shimamura says that the Japanese film industry is too focused on the domestic box office at times, when there is huge growth potential for some of Japan’s IP to bring in profits from overseas.
“When people make Japanese films, most of the time they’re looking at the Japanese box office — if it’s successful locally, then that’s fine,” says Shimamura. “But they’re not really looking at how the box office is doing overseas, or how they can make money from the box office outside of Japan. I really want Japan’s entertainment industry to be more global.
“Obviously, if you’re just waiting for it to happen, it won’t, so that’s why I’ve been buying shares in TV stations, so that I can get involved and grow the IP. I’m also making connections with companies outside of Japan, to help Japanese IP and projects find connections abroad.”
“Staying calm and positive”
Balancing a wide range of businesses and demands on his schedule, Shimamura says that his secret is very simple: “My hobby is working.”
He is also level-headed when he faces both successes and failures. “Because I have so many businesses, something fails every day,” says Shimamura. “But I don’t get too emotional. I try to stay calm and positive. Even when things are successful, I think about why it has worked out, what is successful. When there are failures, I just try to think, what can we do next?”
