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Tokyo—January 13, 2026—Hakuhodo Inc., a leading integrated marketing and innovation company headquartered in Tokyo, is pleased to announce the launch of Fanfare, a global team to help scale fandom for Japanese entertainment content throughout the world, mobilizing the knowledge and networks across the Hakuhodo Group in collaboration with Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures Inc., a company specialized in the planning, production, distribution and promotion of entertainment content including anime and movies. This will enable us to support global rollout and fandom expansion for anime, manga, movies, music, games and other entertainment content made in Japan.

The Hakuhodo Group has long supported many projects in various entertainment areas, respecting the aspirations and cultures of creators and producers to pull the heartstrings of sei-katsu-sha (our term for the holistic person).

Having won dedicated fans over the years, Japanese entertainment content has the power to stimulate feelings in sei-katsu-sha around the world, across national and cultural boundaries. Making the most of this potential, we will help deliver to the world the fun, joy and excitement aroused by anime, manga, movies, music, games, and other content.

Fanfare, a Group-wide global team built on the knowledge accumulated by the Hakuhodo Group, represents our flagship solution for ensuring global recognition of the value of Japanese entertainment content. Through co-creation with a variety of partners and fans inside and outside Japan, we are committed to connecting the attractiveness of content and the energy of fans for sustainably scaling the circle of emotions.

At Fanfare’s core are the following five approaches:

■ Key features of Fanfare: Five approaches

Japan IP Expert Collective
The Hakuhodo Group is a collective of people with deep insights and varied expertise in entertainment content including anime, manga, movies, music and games. Building on a track record of collaboration with content holders over the years, including leading publishers and gaming companies in Japan, we powerfully assist the global rollout of IP, providing end-to-end support from IP creation to creative communication, content activation and tie-ups with sponsors.

Fandom Spark Network
This is a global network that delivers the attractiveness of Japanese content to each country in a localized manner, working with entertainment-loving local staff across the globe to gain understanding of fan culture on the ground. Fusing our understanding of local sei-katsu-sha with the knowledge of specialists, we form co-creation teams to connect fans with clients.

Global Fan Culture Lab
Centered on Hakuhodo’s Sei-katsu-sha Insight philosophy, we study the energy and cultural background of entertainment fandoms across the globe. Leveraging our global network, we provide knowledge for content producers and companies to build even more fruitful relationships with their fans.

Fan Data Intelligence
To identify the sources of fans’ energy, we integrate qualitative fandom insight analysis with quantitative data analysis by data scientists. We thus gain a broad understanding of how content generates empathy, amplifies energy and builds fandom in every part of the world from the aspects of emotions and data.

Fan Echo Framework
We perform multi-layered analysis of fandom by fusing our knowledge of emotions and data. We thus identify the tipping points to amplify fans’ energy in waves, from the layer of core fans to the light and mass layers, for more detailed analysis of the energy structure of fans and triggers for their empathy by country and by layer.

Under the banner of Fanfare, Hakuhodo and Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures will continue to provide support on a global scale aiming for a future in which entertainment content from Japan is embraced in every part of the world with “localized empathy.” We are committed to sustained fandom expansion and the creation of new value through a co-creative approach so that clients and fans may get together and create together.

 

About Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures

Trade name: Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures Inc.
Established: October 1990 (commenced operations in October 2003)
Location: Akasaka Biz Tower, 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Business activities: Movie and anime planning, development, production, distribution, advertising and sales; planning and production of social media games, etc.

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