Here’s a question:
Do you know what the highest grossing media franchise in the world is?
Pokémon.
Yeah, the Japanese video game your 8-year old cousin played where he caught weird little creatures and made them fight.
The video game equivalent of a tyrannical zookeeper grossed more than $90 billion.
Yes, you read that correctly. Billion. With a B.
Let’s put that into perspective.
Pokémon has made more money than the Lord of the Rings franchise, the Harry Potter franchise, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise combined.
What is the second highest grossing media franchise?
Hello Kitty.
The Japanese cartoon character of a female bobtail cat living as a perpetual 3rd grader has grossed $86 billion.
Here’s another question:
Why Japan?
Five of the top ten highest grossing media franchises are from Japan.
Pokémon ($95 billion), Hello Kitty ($86 billion), Apanman ($60 billion), Jump Comics ($40 billion), and Mario ($38 billion).
I believe the answer has to do with Japan’s rapid economic growth after World War II, often referred to as the “Japanese post-war economic miracle.” Despite the nuclear bombardment of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan grew to be the world’s second largest economy in just under 20 years.
This was mostly due to the economic interventionism of the Japanese government and assistance from the U.S. after the war.
Against all odds, Japan in the 1960s grew to be the one of the wealthiest and most cultured countries in the world, second only to the United States.
This economic miracle allowed Japan the cultural proficiency to create five of the top ten wealthiest media franchises.
Although, this pales in comparison to the other five media franchises.
The other five are all owned by one guy
Some guy named Walt.
(Bing!)