Japan Leads U.S. Demand for Foreign-Language Programs – and It’s Not Just Anime | Charts

Japan is leading the demand for foreign-language content in the United States. And while anime makes up most of that demand, interest also appears to be crossing over to live-action Japanese content, according to Parrot Analytics‘ data, which takes into account consumer research data, streaming, downloads and social media, among other consumer engagement.

Demand for non-English content has been on the rise in the U.S. for years as audiences embrace foreign content and platforms make international series more readily available. Over the past three years, the share of demand for non-English series in the US has increased by over 50% (from an 8.1% share in March 2019 to 12.7% as of February 2022).

This demand has been driven by multiple types of content coming out of a variety of countries. In particular, there has been high growth in demand for series from Asia.

One of the major drivers of this growth in demand for non-English content in the U.S. has been the booming interest in Japanese anime. Through most of 2019, Japanese and Spanish series accounted for roughly the same share of demand in the U.S. (about 25% each). From the end of 2019 however, demand for Japanese content began to grow rapidly, while the share of demand for Spanish content continued to fall. Japanese content hit a peak in the U.S. this past December when it made up 41.2% of all demand for non-English content.  

While demand for Japanese content in the U.S. is primarily driven by anime, Japanese live-action content has been building an audience in the U.S. as well. If we only consider live-action content, the share of demand for Japanese shows has more than doubled over the past three years. Most of this growth occurred in 2021, after the jump in demand for anime which suggests that fans of Japanese animation have gone on to discover other genres of Japanese content.

We’ve previously shown how Korean content has had a breakout year, in large part due to a number of Netflix originals like “Squid Game” which have helped bring Korean content to audiences around the world. Demand for Hindi content in the U.S. has also grown. As Amazon Prime Video has made a concerted effort to expand into the Indian market with local original series like “Mirzapur” and “The Family Man,” these shows are also finding audiences with Prime Video subscribers in the U.S.  

Where might the next wave of international content come from? Turkish and Mandarin language content seems poised for success. In the U.S., the share of demand for series in these languages has already surpassed German, Italian, and Portuguese in the past two years. A key to unlocking further growth may be a “tipping point” show that will bring a level of mainstream awareness in the U.S.