කෙටි වීඩියෝ නාට්‍ය උන්මාදය ජපානයටත්

Minute-long soap operas see rising popularity in Japan

The short-form soap opera craze has reached Japan, with new shows emerging to meet demand following a global trend.

Such minute-long melodramatic content rose as short-form video platforms have taken the world by storm. It first went viral in China and was quickly adopted by other countries.

Different from traditional TV series, these short episodes which are mostly a few seconds long are able to hook views with their fast unfolding stories. They have become increasingly popular among young people in Japan.

Fueled by its popularity, Japan's short-form soap opera industry is seeing specialized production companies emerge. In Tokyo alone, one company churns out five to eight bite-sized episodes, each lasting roughly one to one and a half minutes, every week.

Shot vertically to focus on characters, these mini-dramas cost a fraction, around 10 percent, of traditional TV series. With less emphasis on sets and props, production companies can release episodes at a significantly lower cost.

The small crew multi tasks extensively. Co-founder Tada Satoru exemplifies this by serving as director, actor, playwright, and video editor.

"Actors sometimes handle other tasks, such as setting up light or audio editing. This saves us a lot of money and at the same time, offers staff more room for career growth," said Satoru.

Satoru, struggling to establish a business model in Japan's nascent short-form soap opera market, drew inspiration from China's success before tailoring it to Japanese taste.

Now, his company has become an industry leader and started to join forces with Chinese video platforms. The company has also worked for famous Japanese companies to promote their products or services. The year 2023 saw its revenue increase six-fold.

"Many of our Chinese counterparts make money by selling their videos. However, such a model is far from mature in Japan. What we really want to learn from China is how to promote products through these videos to make money," said Satoru.

Experts believe that this industry is favorable to start-ups since the cost is low and the episodes are easy to make.

Many Japanese TV stations and companies, having seen the popularity of this genre, have started to dabble in the market.

Since Japanese viewers are more receptive to paid content, the market size of this industry is expected to reach one billion U.S. dollars (about 7.09 billion yuan) by 2026.

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