How Japan’s amended incentive aims to attract more co-productions

Japan sets its sights on being a top destination for inter­national productions, thanks to an expanded incentive, breathtaking locations and hard-working crews.

The location incentive, introduced in 2023, has been approved for 2025, in the hopes of drawing more productions to the territory. The programme remains largely unchanged, but the number of application periods has been increased from three to four (see sidebar).

Feature films that shot in Japan and received support from the initiative include Benny Safdie’s sports biopic The Smashing Machine, which filmed in summer 2024 for A24; Ha-Chan Shake Your Booty from US filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka (Max’s Tokyo Vice); and David Tomaszew­ski’s fantasy film Yoroi, co-produced by Cine France and Japan’s Toho Tombo.

TV series that have benefited from the incentive include season two of Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters; South Korean drama What Comes After Love; and Neuromancer, a US adaptation of the 1984 William Gibson sci-fi novel, produced by Skydance Television and Anonymous Content with Japan’s Wowow.

Also for A24, Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme filmed in Japan in winter 2024‑25, while Disney+’s Made In Korea, starring Hyun Bin and Jung Woo Sung, shot in Nagoya, Kobe and Osaka. Japan-UK co-production A Pale View Of Hills set up shop at Toei Tokyo Studios, Kadokawa Daiei Studio and Warp Station Edo for its open air sets. Also, Johnnie To has been location scouting in Sapporo for his upcoming feature.

Japan has a reputation for being a difficult place to film, but those inside the industry are working hard to make the process as smooth as possible, and the increase in international productions is proof these efforts are paying off.

“The Japanese government has become more and more helpful in supporting international co-productions,” says A Pale View Of Hills producer Miyuki Fukuma. “It was also helpful to have on board Number 9 Films, a well-known British production partner, and author Kazuo Ishiguro [to access the financial support].”

Taking advantage of the nascent Italy-Japan co-production agreement are writer/director Lisa Takeba and producer Parsifal Reparato, whose Children Of The River is scheduled to shoot in summer 2025 in Shikoku, located in the southern part of Japan, with post to be completed in Italy.

For a successful co-production with Japan, it is important to respect the local way of working. “For example, in Japan, the assistant director controls the props, but in the western system, the art department controls the props,” says A Pale View Of Hills producer Hiroyuki Ishiguro. This required liaisons between different departments to facilitate collaboration on the production.

Also necessary, says producer Elizabeth Karlsen of Number 9, is the simple act of conversation: “Whenever there was a misunderstanding, there was no hegemonic response. When there were glitches, we worked them through with conversation.”

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