Japanese Content, the Japanese Way: Sony Music Japan President Atsuhiro Iwakami on Bringing Domestic Entertainment to a Global Audience
Categoria: Musica
The exec shares his thoughts on what it will take for Japanese content to score hits abroad.
Por Billboard | 08/09/2026
Since joining the company in 1997, Atsuhiro Iwakami has worked continuously in anime and game production, going on to serve as president of Aniplex before being appointed President and Representative Director of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan). He has built works together with artists time and again across numerous titles including Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Sword Art Online . Speaking from his position as head of a group that handles the full range of domestic entertainment — music, anime, live-action, concerts, and packaged media — he shared his thoughts on what it will take for Japanese content to score hits abroad. In April, you moved from serving as president of Aniplex to become president of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan). This looks like a personnel move made with even greater expectations for synergy between anime and music. Could you start by telling us about the history of that collaboration? Aniplex’s predecessor, SPE Visual Works, entered the anime business in 1997, which was the year I joined the company. Even back then, one of Sony Music Group (Japan)’s aims was to prioritize music within anime and to link anime and music together. The company later changed its name to Aniplex in 2003 and has continued under that name to this day. The TV anime Rurouni Kenshin — spearheaded by our first president, Ryuzo Shirakawa — and its theme song “Sobakasu” by JUDY AND MARY, are a perfect symbol of that achievement. That was the starting point, and ever since I joined, I’ve watched the history of Aniplex and Sony Music Group (Japan) unfold as it went on to produce hit after hit. I’ve also worked with artists on creating works and producing music across a range of titles, including Kimetsu no Yaiba , Bakemonogatari , and Sword Art Online . That has built up real experience, along with a history of music and anime working in tandem, so I’d like to keep going in that same direction. I became president of Aniplex in 2016, and since 2019 I’ve also served as an executive officer of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), exchanging information regularly with many of our other executives including Sony Music Labels president (Manabu) Tsujino, Sony Music Solutions president (Hidehiko) Otani, and others. Each has achieved rapid growth over the past few years, which I find reassuring, and it’s deepened my sense of trust in the group as a whole. Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) isn’t just a record company, and is active across management, merchandising, live events, and more. Could you share your vision for the group as a whole? Even within the music business there are many different companies and functions. Aniplex covers the visual and character domain, we’re also active in live-action production, and Sony Creative Products handles the PEANUTS licensing business. Sony Music Solutions handles everything from manufacturing and distribution of packaged goods to running live events, fan clubs, and Zepp venu