Taking on Uncharted Lands.
Pioneering Japanese Entertainment in Saudi Arabia

Avex Asia's Saudi Arabian operations started in 2019.

In Saudi Arabia, there had been a ban on many forms of entertainment which was only lifted in recent years. The first initiative that Avex undertook in the country was “STAR ISLAND,” the futuristic fireworks entertainment event from Japan that synchronizes traditional fireworks with cutting-edge technology. The event was held on Saudi National Day in 2019. This year, for the national event “Jeddah Season 2022,” which was attended by approximately 6 million people, Avex produced the “Anime Village,” an interactive event area that brought together various popular Japanese anime content into one venue. The event brought great surprise and excitement to the local people who were hungry for entertainment.

In this issue, we sat down to talk with Shunta Takahashi, President and Representative Director of Avex Asia, and Teijiro Ohtomo, General Manager of the Business Development Office, about their business strategy, Avex Asia's strengths, the response they received towards Anime Village, and their ability to make overseas expansion of entertainment possible by viewing risks as opportunities.

Interest and Enthusiasm for Entertainment,
Felt by Locals in Saudi Arabia

First, let us discuss the state in which entertainment exists in Saudi Arabia.

After years of planned limited entertainment, the country has recently been aiming to break away from its dependence on oil, and in April 2016, it released its economic reform plan, Saudi Vision 2030. The country has placed serious focus on policies for actively incorporating foreign entertainment to promote cultural and entertainment activities. The market is said to exceed 140 billion yen by 2030.

Recognizing the potential of Saudi Arabia, Avex Asia was one of the first companies to enter the market.
As president and representative director, Takahashi is in charge of the general framework of the business, including Saudi Arabian companies and government officials. Ohtomo, on the other hand, is responsible for the hands-on production of the business in Saudi Arabia.

Ohtomo "To give you some background, we had invited the government of Saudi Arabia to “STAR ISLAND” in Singapore in 2018, which led to the holding of “STAR ISLAND” in Saudi Arabia in 2019. The Anime Village project was particularly made possible through cooperation with the Singapore team within Avex Asia."

Takahashi "Avex Asia has always been looking for markets that have a high demand for quality entertainment that still have momentum to them. With “STAR ISLAND,” we were able to quickly realize that the demand for entertainment in Saudi Arabia is huge. Saudi Arabia is a country with high interest and enthusiasm for entertainment. Its people want it, and its economy is strong. So when I looked at the total picture, I could see proof of the sheer potential for doing business in Saudi Arabia."

However, looking back on the time when they first started visiting Saudi Arabia, Takahashi laughed, saying, "I had a hard time conveying the image of success to the Japanese management team."

However, in addition to a solid reasoning, Takahashi's intuition and “sense of smell,” which he had acquired through his multiple overseas experiences, proved to be the GO signs in his decision to take on the challenge in Saudi Arabia.

Enjoying taking on unprecedented challenges, venturing into uncharted territory, and turning it into a business - this is Avex Asia's strength and weapon for competing globally.

Takahashi "Until we first held “STAR ISLAND,” I’m pretty sure most people thought, 'Is that really possible?' However, I still felt that it was, and I felt the same way when we expanded into China in 2017. When it came to actually developing the business, I started to move forward based on realistic evidence, intuition, and research on what kind of partners existed in the area. Taking that all into consideration, I thought it was worth taking on the challenge."

Japanese Anime Unites.
An Event of Dreams

Whenever Takahashi and Ohtomo visited Saudi Arabia, they were amazed by the people they met, who would say, "I didn't know Anime this interesting existed!" They were also taken back by the local's willingness and desire to pay for new and fun experience what they thought they're worth.

Otomo "Anime is not a niche genre in Saudi Arabia, but rather one of the mainstays of entertainment. The Anime Village was widely visited by men and women of all ages. I got the sense that they enjoy anime as a form of entertainment on par with movies and music."

The first edition of the Jeddah Season, which opened in 2019, was the culmination of the country's new policy and the people's desire for entertainment in general, not just animation. Held in Jeddah, the cultural center of Saudi Arabia, the month-long festival featured more than 150 events, including live concerts, theater, art exhibitions, and sporting events.

However, it was later suspended for two years due to the spread of the new coronavirus. After overcoming this, the long-awaited second edition of the “Jeddah Season 2022” opened on May 2nd of this year. From May 19th to July 2nd, the Anime Village, an interactive event area produced by Avex Asia in collaboration with a local company, Sela, opened its doors.

Takahashi "We partnered with a local company, Sela, which was a major player at the festival, to produce the event. Sela mainly attracted sports events, but thanks to the recent entertainment trend, it has scaled up to become a comprehensive entertainment company, and now it is a quite prominent one that is entrusted by the government with large-scale events such as the Jeddah Season."

At the timing of the project's launch, Avex Asia and Sela created an image sketch of ideas they shared in common: "It would be ideal if we could do this," they agreed. It was a dream come true to have all of Japan's leading animation companies in one place, a bold idea that some conservative Japanese companies might have brushed aside as impossible, due to certain "grown-up" reasons. However, after returning to Japan, Takahashi and his team immediately went to the IP holders of domestic anime and made detailed presentations, persuading them to help realize the "grand gathering of Japanese anime," with the conviction that Avex would take full responsibility.

Ohtomo "We were very grateful for how the IP holders, who saw the potential of the Saudi Arabian market but had not been able to start entering, trusted us, saying, 'as long as Avex is the go-between.' This made it possible for us to form a team consisting of the IP holders, Avex Asia, and Sela To be honest, if it was only a go-between, any company could have done it, if they really tried. But we were very particular about how much value we could add to the entertainment side of the project. Avex Asia was the only company in Japan that could have create that added value, and we were very confident of that."

More Than Meets the Eye.
A “Real” Anime Experience

On May 2nd, 2022, the “Jeddah Season 2022” opened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Anime Village, an interactive event area, was opened with great fanfare at the same time.

In the Anime Village, there were 12 pavilions with hands-on anime content (“Mobile Suit Gundam,” “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” “Captain Tsubasa,” “Ghost in the Shell SAC 2045,” “Godzilla,” “Jujutsu Kaisen," ”Attack on Titan,” “Naruto,” “PAC-MAN,” “Hunter x Hunter,” “Bleach,” and “My Hero Academia” [japanese alphabetical order]), as well as an Animate Shop and Sanrio Shop, where visitors could purchase merchandise.

Ohtomo "The response to the VR was particularly positive. It was the first time for local people to experience such high quality VR, synched with the animation and the story on top of that, and many visitors praised it, saying 'Amazing!' Also, the Animate and Sanrio stores were not just simple pop-up stores, but were designed to be as realistic to actual stores in Japan as possible, and I think they were surprised and delighted by the experience. What we were particularly keen on with the Anime Village was to give visitors a genuine entertainment experience."

Takahashi "The key word that we share with Sela is 'experience,' and we focused on that aspect while moving the project along as well. As the name Anime Village suggests, we wanted visitors to enter the city and experience the real world of various popular anime. I think this is what set it far apart from regular exhibitions."

Offering a non-superficial anime experience, while using cutting-edge technology, was the most important factor. Thanks to this stance, Saudi locals who were looking for entertainment, were pleasantly surprised.

Takahashi "You had things like “Gundam” standing right next to the “Attack on Titan” pavilion, which was right next to the “Captain Tsubasa” pavilion. In a country like Saudi Arabia, where there was no entertainment, we were able to create a dreamlike world that made people think, 'Is this really happening?' We have been working on this project with the belief that we can really do it. The crucial thing was, of course, the 'how' in opening the doors for the very first time. Through this project, I think we were able to prove that Avex was not just blowing hot steam."

As a result, the Anime Village in Saudi Arabia is as close to the image that Avex Asia and Sela first envisioned in their sketches as possible. The sketches are now proudly displayed in the event director's office at Sela.

As with Avex Asia's project in Saudi Arabia, there are many hurdles to overcome when taking on unprecedented challenges and venturing into uncharted territories. However, it is precisely because the risks involved were seen as "opportunities" that the company was able to expand its entertainment business overseas in a way that surprised everyone, as can be seen with the Anime Village project.

Global expansion in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East will continue to open up possibilities not only in animation, but also in music, video, and even food—all areas of entertainment that Japan can be proud of.

At Avex, entertainment is not bound by any restrictions. If it is something that ultimately moves people, it is Avex's mission to deliver it.

Looking back on this project, the positive attitude and lively expressions on the face of the two project leaders as they spoke of the difficulties they faced showed their determination to continue challenging the possibilities of entertainment.