Japan's national location incentive refunds half of eligible Japanese production spend, capped at ¥1 billion per project. Only a Japanese company can apply, and the project must clear one of three spend or reach thresholds. It has funded eighteen-plus film and TV projects since 2023. It is not a standing tax credit — it is a competitive grant with rounds that open and close within the fiscal year.
制度の仕組みWhat the incentive actually is
The programme's formal name is Support for Attracting Domestic Location Shooting by Overseas Production Companies (海外制作会社による国内ロケ誘致等に係る支援), one of several schemes bundled under Japan's JLOX+ content-industry subsidy umbrella. It is funded by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, operated by the Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO), with location coordination support from the Japan Film Commission.
The mechanism is a reimbursement grant, not a tax credit. The subsidy covers half of eligible Japanese production costs, up to a cap of ¥1 billion per project, against eligible costs of up to ¥2 billion. A single applicant may submit more than one project. Since the programme's 2023 launch it has supported eighteen-plus film and television productions, among them the following reported recipients.
Titles are as reported in programme case studies and press coverage; confirm current recipients on VIPO's site before citing.
対象要件Three ways to qualify — you only need one
A project must clear one of three thresholds, plus four additional conditions that apply regardless of which threshold is used.
Direct Japan spend
Direct production spend inside Japan of ¥500 million or more, regardless of total budget or release scale.
Total budget + Japan spend
Total production cost of ¥1 billion or more, with direct Japan spend of at least ¥200 million.
Global release + Japan spend
Confirmed release, streaming or broadcast in 10 or more countries, with direct Japan spend of at least ¥200 million.
Route C is the one most guides omit, and it is the one that makes a large international streaming series more plausible than a single-territory theatrical release, even at a similar Japan-spend level.
Clearing a threshold is necessary but not sufficient. The published guidelines also require, in addition to whichever route above applies:
- Confirmed Japan scenesThe Japan-set sequences must be locked into the project, not exploratory or optional.
- Benefit to the domestic industryLocal hiring, use of Japanese studios, or postproduction and VFX work carried out in Japan by Japanese staff.
- Location promotion cooperationWhen the finished work is released, the applicant must cooperate with promoting the filming location — including licensing footage for tourism use.
- A global strategy for the Japan contentSome demonstrated plan for how the Japan sequences contribute to the work's international reach.
申請できるのは誰かWho can actually apply
This is the single most consequential fact in this article. It means your choice of Japanese production partner should be filtered on grant experience, not just crew quality — a partner who has taken a project through jGrants before will move faster and avoid the paperwork errors that sink first-time applicants.
応募の実務How the application cycle actually runs
There is no single annual deadline. In practice the programme runs in multiple rounds within a fiscal year, and rounds have closed early — or reopened later in the year — depending on how much of the budget remained. The most recent completed cycle ran roughly as follows.
Applications are filed through jGrants, Japan's national grants portal, which requires a gBizID prime account — a business ID that itself takes one to two weeks to issue, and can only be obtained by a Japanese-registered entity. Set this up before you need it, not during a round.
2026年度の変更点What changed for fiscal 2026
The scheme has historically run on a strict single-fiscal-year clock: costs had to be incurred and reported within one fiscal year, which made it structurally difficult to claim on a shoot spanning two Japanese seasons or crossing a fiscal year-end. Reporting for fiscal 2026 is expected to allow multi-year claims for the first time, in response to repeated feedback from production companies that the single-year window did not match how international shoots are actually scheduled.
まとめWhat this means for your budget
| If you are | The incentive is |
|---|---|
| A TVC or branded shoot | Almost certainly not applicable — budget as though it does not exist |
| A single-territory indie feature under ¥500M | Only reachable via Route B or C — check total budget and release plan |
| A studio feature or major streaming series | Worth building into the financing plan from day one |
| A documentary with confirmed global distribution | Check Route C — ten-country release is a lower bar than it sounds for a straight-to-streaming doc |