It is hard to imagine anyone who has never heard of at least one of these names: Pokémon, Hello Kitty, or Godzilla. Even outside Japan, most people recognize at least one of them, while some may even be passionate fans of all three. Each of these properties is a globally recognized intellectual property created in Japan.

Around the world, countless characters exist, yet Japan could be considered the leading nation for intellectual property. For instance, a financial services company in the United States, TITLEMAX, released a ranking of cumulative IP revenues up to 2019. Pokémon held first place, Hello Kitty came second, Super Mario ranked eighth, and remarkably, ten of the top 25 IPs were Japanese.

Having spent most of my life in Japan, I had never questioned why the country continually produces such popular IP. However, as I have increasingly witnessed the global popularity of anime through my work, I became interested in exploring what lies behind this creativity. In this article, I will examine possible reasons why Japan’s character business has become so popular worldwide, drawing on hypotheses.

Japan Full of “Monsters”: A Connection to the Idea of Eight Million Gods

One personal hypothesis is that Japan’s polytheistic worldview plays an important role. As depicted in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, Japan has long embraced the belief that spirits reside in rivers, forests, and even in radishes or chicks—an outlook known as the faith in “Yaoyorozu,” or “Eight Million Gods.” Although many modern Japanese identify as non-religious, they may unconsciously carry forward this perspective that everything possesses a soul.

Because of this sense that spirits dwell in all things, creators may look at the ordinary world around them and imagine new characters. For example, when seeing mice or pigeons in town, a creator like Satoshi Tajiri could envision creatures such as Pikachu or Pidove. In Digimon, which unfolds in a digital setting, monsters inspired by plants and musical instruments also appear. There is even an entire series whose hero is literally a bread bun—Anpanman, a household name for Japanese children.

Historical Roots of Personification in Japanese Art

This tendency is not limited to modern anime. About one thousand years ago, the Japanese national treasure Chojujinbutsugiga (literally “Animal-person Caricatures”) depicted rabbits and frogs frolicking together in humanlike ways. Similarly, artworks portraying Hundred Demons on a Night Stroll, which date back roughly five hundred years, showed abandoned houses, lanterns, and signboards transforming into demons and marching in procession.

These cultural and artistic traditions suggest a deep historical precedent for attributing spirit and character to animals, objects, and everyday life. It is highly possible that this spiritual and cultural background has influenced the creation of today’s characters, connecting works such as Spirited Away, Pokémon, and Hello Kitty to centuries-old patterns of Japanese imagination.