_{Treasure Box Japan screening, hosted by Ted Baracos (extreme right), Director of Market Development at Reed MIDEM}

Treasure Box Japan was initiated at MIPCOM 2012 when seven Japanese broadcasters, namely Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV), TV Asahi Corporation (TV Asahi), Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc (TBS), TV Tokyo Corporation (TV Tokyo), Fuji Television Network Inc. (Fuji TV) and Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), joined forces to promote Japanese content collectively, notably Japanese formats. Japanese formats have already been well established internationally; memorable past hits such as Iron Chef (Food Network), Dragon’s Den (on BBC in the UK and ABC Australia), Ninja Warrior (Singapore’s MediaCorp), America’s Funniest Home Video (ABC in the U.S.), and most recently Hole in the Wall (FOX and CCTV) testifying to the worldwide appeal of the country’s entertainment formats.

AT MIPTV 2013, the second installment of “Treasure Box” featured an eighth broadcaster – Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation (YTV).

Toshikazu Sugae (pictured right), Vice President at Yomiuri-TV Enterprise (YTE) representing YTV, tells TV ASIA Plus that the broadcaster had previously exhibited at MIP, with limited results. Sugae shares that unlike China and Korea who have well-established country pavilions, Japanese broadcasters had never come together till the previous MIP that is MIPCOM 2012. Up till then, governmental support was limited, but with “Treasure Box”, the Japanese government now sponsor up to 50% of marketing expenses required to promote this initiative.

At MIPFormats’ Treasure Box Japan screening on Sunday April 7, each broadcaster took all but 5 minutes to present one hit format out of the catalogue in front of a packed capacity crowd at Audi A at the Palais. Some highlights include NTV’s A-Ha! Experience, a spot-the-difference game show that the broadcaster says is “not about what you know but what you see”; TBS’ Athletic Fire, a competition format that sees celebrities of ‘regrettably’ all fitness levels pit themselves against professional athletics, with hilarious results; and TV Tokyo’s What’s Daddy, a reality series a crew follows a child who goes to the far reaches of the globe to surprise his/her dad – to dramatic results.

While not every participating broadcaster had a booth at MIPTV, a post-screening networking lunch (buyers access only) provided many interested parties opportunities to speak to sales reps up close.

_{Post-screening networking lunch, buyers access only}

When asked about the possible competition that is amplified now that fellow broadcasters showcased their formats alongside one another, Suage insists there is simply no such thing.

“We have different types of formats. It is important to exchange information, otherwise we cannot compete with other countries,” says Sugae. “We’ve in fact had quite a few internal meetings prior to MIPTV to discuss how we can work together to bring “Treasure Box Japan” to MIPTV, so no, there is really no competition.”

About Treasure Box Japan While Japanese broadcasters have been individually active in the international markets for over thirty years, there has never been an all-Japan union until TREASURE BOX JAPAN.  Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) recently implemented a policy to actively help promote and localise Japanese content globally, and TREASURE BOX JAPAN marks the first-ever joint effort between the Japanese broadcasting industry and the Japanese government on the international stage.