- Interview Format: In-person, One-on-One
Anime Herald: What were the anime, manga, music, or movies that inspired you when you were growing up?
Hiroyuki Araki: How young are we talking here?
Anime Herald: When you started thinking about entering the entertainment industry?
Hiroyuki Araki: When I was a university student.
Anime Herald: What media did you think was cool when you were in university?
Hiroyuki Araki: When I was a kid, I loved the baseball manga Captain, Dokaben, and Touch. When I was a university student, the entertainment I was focused on was magic. I performed in magic shows. I was also the assistant director for the television station.
Anime Herald: Why did you want to work in television?
Hiroyuki Araki: I grew up watching television. Back then, TV stations in Japan held enormous power—it was fascinating and glamorous. To me at the time, TV stations had tremendous influence.
Anime Herald: Is there a particular show that you watched where you felt, “I would like to work on that?”
Hiroyuki Araki: Yes. There was a show that would translate to “It’s 8:00 PM! Everyone Gather ‘Round.” It was a comedy variety show, with music, singing, and theater.
When I was an assistant director in college, I worked on a comedy show. It was a variety show.
Anime Herald: Why did you end up practicing magic?
Hiroyuki Araki: My elder brother is the president of a magic company. I worked there part time. That’s why I got into magic.
I wasn’t doing magic on the variety show in college. I was on the production side.
Anime Herald: What were your initial responsibilities back when you joined your current company in 1994?
Hiroyuki Araki: I joined Amuse Inc. because I wanted to become a television director.
There was a large financial gap between the interesting television programs produced by the stations, and what was being produced at Amuse. That’s why I quit. I transferred to the management department. I was assigned to the management department. At first, I was in charge of managing actors while also producing theatrical productions.
Anime Herald: Can you share any stories from your time at the company back in the 1990s?
Hiroyuki Araki: At the time, the salaries were so low. (Laughs)
My senior colleagues often treated me to meals and drinks. Through those conversations, I had the chance to talk with them and learn things like what management actually means, and how I should conduct myself.
Anime Herald: When you saw how low the salaries were, did you have any second thoughts about your choice of career and industry?
Hiroyuki Araki: I never once thought about it.
Anime Herald: Perhaps that is why you succeeded. What are your responsibilities now?
Hiroyuki Araki: I oversee artist management at Amuse Inc. I also serve as president of Amuse Creative Studio, which produces films, anime, and theatrical productions.
Anime Herald: I saw Red Book the other day. It was lovely.
Hiroyuki Araki: Thank you very much.
Anime Herald: What do you feel Amuse Creative Studio learned from its production of Oedo Fire Slayer?
Hiroyuki Araki: This was the first time Amuse Creative Studio got involved with the broadcasting of an anime television program. Planning, production, sales, merchandising, broadcasting slots, events. It was our first time for everything. We had worked on television programs before, but never this deeply. We learned a great deal.
We worked closely alongside directors and animators throughout the process. Because the production schedule didn’t allow enough time, we considered combining traditional cel-style animation with CG, and discussed this extensively with the staff members. We were worried about how audiences would react, but in the end we produced the work using a combination of cel-style animation and CG. When I saw the finished product, I thought, “Ah… I see, this is how it turns out”—and I learned a lot, including about the level of polish achievable and the production timeline. That impression really stuck with me.
Anime Herald: Are you familiar with One-Punch Man?
Hiroyuki Araki: Yes.
Anime Herald: Season one was very well regarded. Season two was not. Perhaps they will end up fixing the issues for season three.
Hiroyuki Araki: (Nods)
Anime Herald: What are the company’s long-term plans and goals for producing animation?
Hiroyuki Araki: My goal is to produce hit titles—works and characters that we create that achieve major success. I’m aiming for something that becomes a global hit.
(Editor’s note: I am not sure that this comes across in the text, but Araki was clearly indicating a “swing for the fences” attitude.)
Anime Herald: Japanese anime has become mainstream in the United States. I will regularly see One Piece clothing around New York. However, I rarely see Japanese music artists on the cover of magazines. BTS and Blackpink are famous in America. But, the domestic Japanese music market is much larger than the domestic South Korean music market.
Do you believe the Japanese music industry should try to preserve the domestic market, or should it try to become more accessible internationally to grow the overseas market?
Hiroyuki Araki: I believe we should explore the international market. We’re using anime and film to help raise international awareness of Japanese music and actors.
Anime Herald: Makoto Shinkai, and of course Ghibli, have had tremendous success in America.
Do you have any questions for us?
Hiroyuki Araki: I think the Japanese anime, or perhaps, the Japanese entertainment industry itself is very unique and peculiar. What do you think? How do you perceive the Japanese entertainment industry?
Anime Herald: I have seen so many different facets of it. First, I saw Transformers when I was growing up, and other kids shows, and I bought the toys.)
(Editor’s note: Transformers was an American cartoon, but Toei Animation did the animation for all of the episodes for season one. Though it was not created for the Japanese market, it did air at the same time there, and was influenced by the Japanese market. It was not written by Japanese creators, but it did show off Japanese animation skills. Additionally, the original 28 Transformers toys were designed by Studio Nue, which is to say, they were designed by Shōji Kawamori and Kazutaka Miyatake. The Transformers toy lines were direct descendants of the Diaclone and Micro Change toy lines from Takara.)
That was my introduction. Then, there was Nintendo and SEGA. The games were very popular. Years later, I discovered Japanese music artists, such as Bradio. But let me tell you a story.
I was in Yokohama in 2005 in the world Magic championships.
Hiroyuki Araki: We have something in common.
Anime Herald: Yes! I was watching television in my hotel room. There was a drama show on. A 74-year-old grandfather is walking with his 98-year-old father. His father says “Son, I believe you are old enough now for us to have ‘the talk.’” His son is worried that his father has finally gone senile. His father continues, “Do you remember puberty?” His son replies, “Vaguely. Why do you ask? His father looks him right in the eyes, “It is going to happen again.”
That was my first introduction to non-animated Japanese television.
Hiroyuki Araki: I am glad you have shown interest towards Japan. As you know, Japan is a small island nation. We need to seek markets outside of Japan for the next generation.
Anime Herald: England. Not a huge island, but enormous in rock music. Japan has manga, anime. Strong industries, but I agree, it helps to grow overseas. Akira Toriyama was hugely popular in South America with Dragon Ball.
Hiroyuki Araki: We’d also like to collaborate with overseas artists, but in music we want to cherish and nurture Japanese artists while having them take on challenges abroad. And in film, anime, and theater, we’d like to pursue further initiatives, including the use of AI.
Anime Herald: You just said a magic word “AI.” The further away someone in a company is from doing the actual work, the more confidence they have in AI. The more hands on you are in doing the work, the less confidence you have in AI.
(Editor’s note: This is known as the “AI Confidence Gap.”)
Hiroyuki Araki: That’s a difficult question… I think AI is going to become deeply intertwined with our daily lives, so I want to make use of it. I don’t think we can separate AI from everyday life. Personally, I find the idea of using AI to create anime and manga appealing.
Anime Herald: That’s suicidal.
Hiroyuki Araki: (Laughs)
Anime Herald: AI can only replicate what has been done in the past. It cannot create new things or have new ideas. It can’t create KPop Demon Hunters, something completely new. AI cannot make new things, or ask new questions. Ultimately, the customer does not know what they want, but they want something they have not seen before. AI cannot give them that.
Hiroyuki Araki: We agree about the importance of human creativity. We want to use AI within the entertainment production process to cut costs and improve efficiency.
Anime Herald: Good luck.
Hiroyuki Araki: It’s maybe a different story in terms of the robots.
Anime Herald: Robots?
Hiroyuki Araki: I think that a day will come when we can create robots in animation, AI will be very helpful in their animation. Gundam style robots.
Anime Herald: I understand.
Hiroyuki Araki: We are working on an anime that will come out in 2028 about a robot police dog.
Anime Herald: Like Rush from Mega Man. Good dog.
Hiroyuki Araki: That’s Capcom. Yes, exactly.
Anime Herald: Let’s go back to AI in creativity. This is from The Wire.
I bring this up in regards to the animation and creative industries. CEOs, presidents, they want AI to be good for creative work. Make movies with AI, make music with AI. But it’s the other way. It doesn’t work.
Even something less creative, translation. There are companies that translate Japanese light novels using AI and human overseers, but the quality is far inferior to novels translated entirely by humans.
Hiroyuki Araki: I’ll keep that in mind.
Anime Herald: Are you familiar with Ronnie Chieng? He spoke about this at Harvard.
Hiroyuki Araki: Yes. I read an article about his speech.
Anime Herald: Enough about AI. What else would you like to talk about?
Hiroyuki Araki: What do you think are Japan’s strengths in the international market?
Anime Herald: There are so many. Art. Fashion. I drive a Honda Accord. There are so many Japanese things I enjoy. Food, music, movies. The old mystery novels by Edogawa Rampo.
Hiroyuki Araki: This may be because you know more about Japan than most people. I think perhaps there is a limitation to that popularity.
Anime Herald: True. Perhaps the most famous Japanese person right now is Shohei Ohtani. Having said that, the longest line in Los Angeles Dodgers history was for the stickers at One Piece night last year. The line will be even longer this year.
Hiroyuki Araki: We want the kind of market penetration that One Piece has achieved.
Anime Herald: Do you want a serious answer as to how one wins?
Hiroyuki Araki: Yes. What does Japan lack in how we do business?
Anime Herald: Wow. Very good question.
Lee Kuan Yew said “China can draw on a talent pool of 1.3 billion people, but the United States can draw on a talent pool of 7 billion and recombine them in a diverse culture that enhances creativity in a way that ethnic Han nationalism cannot.”
If you aren’t willing or able to bring in and work with the best talent from around, it is very difficult to win. One of the reasons America has been so successful is that we have these businesses that have been founded by immigrants or their children.
(Editor’s note: If you look at the largest American companies, a majority of them were founded or co-founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.)
I went to the Cotton Club to listen to some Jazz the other night. To buy tickets, I had to write my name in katakana. I did it. I used copy/paste on a katakana translation website. But why did I have to do that? It’s a barrier to business. I’ve run into so many of those in Japan.
Hiroyuki Araki: Yeah. I can see that. I understand how you feel.
Anime Herald: Very easy for a Japanese person. Not so easy for me.
Hiroyuki Araki: I think there are things that are easy for you but difficult for us. We need to improve on that front, I suppose.
Anime Herald: What do you find most challenging when trying to do business in America?
Hiroyuki Araki: The nuance in communication, understanding each other. The language barriers are my biggest hurdle. It bothers me how inadequate English education is in Japan.
Anime Herald: Let’s cheat and say that the communication issues have been solved. What are the other major challenges you face when working with American companies?
Hiroyuki Araki: It’s not exactly a hurdle, but we’re currently producing a Japanese sports manga. We’d like to bring it to the international stage. We’d like to have it finished in time for the Olympics.
Anime Herald: How far ahead do you look in your pipeline for future anime?
Hiroyuki Araki: Our planning pipeline runs through 2030.
Anime Herald: Understood. Thank you.
A Conversation With Hiroyuki Araki of Amuse Inc. – Seth Burn