Yoshimoto Kogyo is making great efforts to create an entertainment industry hub in Okinawa, not only for Japan, but for Asia and the world. Yoshimoto Kogyo put on conference on the topic April 21 at the Laugh & Peace Entertainment School Okinawa to outline plans for what CEO Hiroshi Osaki calls an “Asian Entertainment Platform” that will, find and develop talent and create a way to share content.

“We lost the 20th Century to the United States, because Hollywood succeeded in producing and distributing movies cheaply,” Osaki said. “And we are losing the 21st Century, because we do not have enough Japanese content.” But he does have a plan to change that.

Osaki explained that the new platform is not ready to be launched, but he wanted to take the opportunity to speak about it with members of the media assembled for the 10th Okinawa International Movie Festival. Yoshimoto Kogyo is working with two other companies on the project. Transcosmos Co. will help with the digital construction of the platform, while cyber-security firm Blue Planet-works will make sure content cannot be pirated.

Content will be delivered in a wide variety of formats. “We want to make things like TV shows, but not quite like the shows on TV,” Osaki said. The range will not be limited to films and series, but will include music, comic books, games, social media and virtual reality. Monetization will also take many forms, including subscriptions, pay as you go, ads and even tipping content creators. The aim will not be mindless entertainment, but to make important things accessible through entertainment, including education, tourism, local challenges and even health care.

The purpose of the upcoming platform will be to foster new entertainers, and to stream content from Okinawa and Japan to the rest of the world. Osaki wants the efforts to be centered on Okinawa, saying, “I want entertainment to become Okinawa’s main industry.”

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