EXCLUSIVE: With companies that extended to broadcasting, real estate, space industry and advice, Japanese investor Yoshihiro Shimamura has expanded his portfolio in recent years to include international cinematographic production.
He is also a major shareholder in two Japanese television companies – TV Tokyo and Asahi Broadcasting Group Holdings – as well as in the advertising data company on the Internet Cyberage and the Oricon music data company. Having invested in around 10 films, in order to publish one to two per year, he invested a total of around 200 million yen (1.39 million dollars) in long projects. Although you may not know much about him yet, he has quietly become a key player in Japanese entertainment.
Shimamura – which previously passed the mononymous ‘Yoshi’ in production credits – sat with deadlines for his first interview with an international publication, for a vast discussion on the way he chooses the films in which investing and how he covered his bets on the continuous growth of Japanese animation. He also shares his ideas on what he thinks is the biggest challenge faced by the Japanese entertainment industry today.
International cinematographic investment
Shimamura says he will invest in movies from anywhere in the world. To date, these are in particular To yell By Elias E. Merhige (Executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jane Goodall), Chameleon And People Punch By brilliant Mendoza, Orang Ikan By Mike Wiluan, Moonglow by Isabel Sandoval, Queen kiss by Tom Waller and December by Anshul Chauhan.
He remembers his start in the entertainment sector. “I love watching movies and about 20 years ago, there was a Japanese film called Hula GirlsWhat I really liked, “he said.” I wanted to produce a work and be in the cinema trade, but I did not know how to start, so I talked to a few people. This is how I started to invest in films. »»
He admires the 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 the future.
Its investment process is quite simple: select a group of trusted people with whom to work, then count on them to recommend the best arguments, talents and projects. Shimamura says that this is how he operates in all his other companies. In the film industry, it has industry professionals such as Japan-The suzuki Lancaster fummy, based in Bobo and based in London, films, as part of his circle of people of trust.
“I want to keep my role as an investor and not be too involved in comments and comments. I just want to trust people who produce the film, ”explains Shimamura. He remembers that a producer gave him a week to think about a field, but he decided within 30 minutes – by choosing to invest in the project.
“In the Japanese countryside, many people still leave the doors to their houses 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 is a stranger who enters the community in which I do not trust, I will ask them to leave the community. “
Japanese television still has a major growth potential
On the television and broadcasting front, Shimamura is a shareholder in several Japanese television stations. Despite very real concerns concerning the economic prospects of linear broadcasting, Shimamura says that it is very optimistic about the continuous growth of sports and live – which ultimately gives it confidence in its television investments.
“Japan always has a strong anime IP on television, so I think there is a good chance that business will increase,” said Shimamura. “People think that television drops, but I have a different vision. Even outside Japan, there is also a lot of anime on television, which is why I decided to become a major shareholder in some television companies in Japan.”
He also underlines how Asahi Broadcasting Group has broadcasting rights on the popular Baseball League of the Lycée du Japan (Koshian) – It is optimistic that the public will return.
Shimamura also sees enormous potential in digital entertainment. He invested in the digital advertising company Cyberage, owner of the Studio Babel Label content, which has the Japanese filmmaker Michihito Fujii (The journalist,, 18 × 2 beyond youth days) Among its local creators. The production company also signed a five-year multi-images agreement with Netflix in 2023 to produce films and live series.
Shimamura says that one of the biggest challenges the Japanese entertainment industry is confronted with is the “closed” group of people who run the best talent agencies in the country, major production companies and festivals. “They are always the same people,” says Shimamura. “When there are new people, it is really difficult to join them. They don’t really accept new people.”
However, it is optimistic that the tides change slowly and that the new generation will find a way to penetrate. “I hope that, in the next 10 to 20 years, these people with old mentalities will not be in the industry, but I cannot expect these 10 to 20 years either, which is why I decided to buy television stations and make the changes that I can now.”
In addition, Shimamura claims that the Japanese film industry is sometimes too focused on the national box office, when there is enormous growth potential for part of the Japanese IP to provide profits from abroad.
“When people make Japanese films, most of the time, they watch the Japanese box office – if it succeeds locally, then it’s okay,” says Shimamura. “But they don’t really look at how the box office takes place abroad, or how they can earn money from the box office outside Japan. I really want the Japanese entertainment industry to be more global.
“Obviously, if you wait for this to happen, this is not the case, this is why I bought actions in television channels, so that I can get involved and develop intellectual property. I also establish links with companies outside Japan, to help intellectual property and Japanese projects to find connections abroad.”
“Stay calm and positive”
Balancing a wide range of companies and requests for his schedule, Shimamura says that his secret is very simple: “My pastime works.”
It is also balanced when it faces both successes and failures. “Because I have so many companies, something fails every day,” says Shimamura. “But I don’t become too emotional. I try to stay calm and positive. Even when things succeed, I think of the reason why it worked, what succeeds. When there are failures, I just try to think, what can we do next?”