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Hulu, known outside Japan as Hulu Japan, is a Japanese
subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It ...
streaming service Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
owned and operated by HJ Holdings, a subsidiary of
Nippon Television Network Corporation JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a subsid ...
. Launched in September 2011, Hulu was the Japanese counterpart to the American service with the same name. The service was acquired by Nippon Television in 2014, and has since branched off from its US counterpart. Hulu Japan offers a library of television series from Nippon TV and other broadcasters (including
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
,
TBS Television TBS may stand for: Broadcasting * Taipei Broadcasting Station, a radio station in Taipei, Taiwan * TBS Holdings (formerly Tokyo Broadcasting System), a stock holding company in Tokyo, Japan ** TBS Television (Japan), a television station ** ...
,
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
,
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
, and
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network. As of 2022, the service was also the sixth highest-grossing subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in Japan.


History


Founding and establishment

On September 1, 2011,
Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
, a video distribution service operating in the United States, launched its first overseas expansion in Japan. The business in Japan was to be conducted by Hulu Japan ''GK'', a wholly owned subsidiary of Hulu. The company signed content distribution agreements with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
,
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
,
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
and
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. Users were charged a monthly fee of 1,480 yen, and unlike in the U.S., no free service was offered. In January 2012, Hulu Japan began streaming films owned by
Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...
, a distribution company primarily responsible for the release of
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
films in Japan. The following month, Hulu Japan announced that it had signed contracts to distribute content from Japanese film distributors
Asmik Ace Entertainment , formerly , is a Japanese film production and distribution company. In the past, the company has distributed video games. It was formed in 1997 through a merger between the Asmik Corporation and Ace Entertainment, both in Japan. The name Asmi ...
,
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
,
Shochiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...
, Toei,
Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...
, and AMG Entertainment to distribute their content. The fee was reduced to 980 yen in April 2012. The number of users of the service exceeded 1.85 million as of March, seven months after its launch. In November 2013, Hulu Japan announced a partnership with
TBS Television TBS may stand for: Broadcasting * Taipei Broadcasting Station, a radio station in Taipei, Taiwan * TBS Holdings (formerly Tokyo Broadcasting System), a stock holding company in Tokyo, Japan ** TBS Television (Japan), a television station ** ...
to distribute over 3,000 episodes of TBS content. At the time, the service delivered approximately 14,000 titles.


Acquisition by Nippon

On February 27, 2014,
Nippon Television Network Corporation JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a subsid ...
acquired Hulu's Japanese business from Hulu, LLC for an undisclosed amount; the new company, HJ Holdings GK, established by Hulu, LLC through a corporate separation, would become a subsidiary of Nippon TV. The service would continue to license and retain the "Hulu" brand and technology in Japan under a subsidiary of Nippon as part of a separate agreement. After the acquisition of the service Hulu Japan's Vice Chairman Masafumi Funakoshi would state that he was aiming for the service to reach ¥150 billion in revenue by 2020. Even after the acquisition by Nippon TV, Hulu Japan continued to distribute programming from
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
,
TBS Television TBS may stand for: Broadcasting * Taipei Broadcasting Station, a radio station in Taipei, Taiwan * TBS Holdings (formerly Tokyo Broadcasting System), a stock holding company in Tokyo, Japan ** TBS Television (Japan), a television station ** ...
,
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
, and
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.'', a remake of the German drama series ''
Der letzte Bulle ''The Last Cop'' (German: ''Der letzte Bulle'') is a German television series that was first aired in 2010. The series is about a policeman from the 1980s put into a modern police department in Essen. Plot The show is set in Essen, in the cent ...
''. In October, a sequel drama series was co-produced with Nippon TV and broadcast on Nippon TV. A sequel was released in theaters on May 3, 2017, as ''Last Cop The Movie'' and grossed 400 million yen at the box office. On February 16, 2016, Hulu Japan announced that it had signed an exclusive contract with the American cable channel
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
for a subscription video on demand (SVOD) service in Japan. On May 8, 2017, Nippon TV announced a revamp of Hulu Japan streaming service with the reasoning for the revamp being that, despite Nippon TV's acquisition of Hulu Japan, Hulu Japan's distribution system was common with that of the United States, and thus could not undergo Japan-specific modifications. In addition, the URL of "hulu.jp" has been changed to "happyon.jp" which was later revert back to "hulu.jp" in 2019. The reason for the change was to reduce risk during the system migration, and to make the transition without stopping the service. This sudden change in the URL made users anxious that the name of the service might be changed, or that the service structure might be drastically altered. On May 17, 2017, the revamp took place, but the service could not be used properly for several days. Also, without notice, changes were made to the copyright protection rules, and some users who had externally connected their displays were unable to view the service. This situation caused Hulu to offer users "Hulu 1 month free ticket", "
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
gift certificate (1000 yen)" or "
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
code (1000 yen)", and also caused the first decrease in users since the acquisition. In July 2017, Hulu Japan conducted a third-party allotment of shares with
Yahoo! Japan is a Japanese web portal. It was the most-visited website in Japan, nearing monopolistic status. According to ''The Japan Times'', as of 2012, Yahoo! Japan had a footprint on the internet market in Japan. In terms of use as a search engine, ...
,
Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...
,
Yomiuri TV JOIX-DTV (channel 10), branded as , is the Kansai region flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned by the , itself a subsidiary of Yomiuri Chukyo FS Broadcasting Holdings. FYCS is partially c ...
, and
Chukyo TV Chukyo can refer to: * Emperor Chūkyō (1218-1234), 85th emperor of Japan the city of Nagoya ( 中京 Chūkyō). Various things are named after the city: *Chūkyō Industrial Area *Chūkyō Metropolitan Area *Chūkyō Television Broadcasting *Ch ...
as subscribers of the service with the purpose being to strengthen the management foundation and enable the production and procurement of more attractive content and significantly improve promotional capabilities. Hulu Japan launched its TVOD service, Hulu Store, on June 10, 2020. The store being available for
SVOD SVOD may refer to: * Subscription video on demand (SVOD) * Streaming video on demand (SVOD) * Stacked Volumetric Optical Disc (SVOD) * RSBN-2S ''Svod'' (avionics), a short range navigation system found on the ''Ilyushin Il-18 The Ilyushin I ...
members. In June 2022, Hulu Japan introduced a new feature called "Points" which would allow users to rent or purchase videos from the Hulu Store on the Hulu app for Android and iOS devices with that feature enabling users to make one-time purchases of content within the app. On July 12, 2023, Nippon TV and
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
announced and launched the first-ever bundled plan between Hulu Japan and
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
called "Hulu , Disney+ Set Plan". The new plan offers a monthly subscription price of 1,490 yen, which represented a savings of approximately 26% compared to subscribing to them separately.


Content


Programming

The distributors who license content to Hulu include
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
,
TBS Television TBS may stand for: Broadcasting * Taipei Broadcasting Station, a radio station in Taipei, Taiwan * TBS Holdings (formerly Tokyo Broadcasting System), a stock holding company in Tokyo, Japan ** TBS Television (Japan), a television station ** ...
,
Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...
,
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
, and
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...
that is available through the service.


Sports

Hulu is streaming all
Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, b ...
events,
B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...
basketball,
Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...
(which is owned by Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings who also owns
Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...
) baseball, and
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...
(AJPW) events (from 1972 until 1999 which footage is owned by Nippon TV). Starting from August 2022, Hulu Japan signed a multi-year domestic distribution partnership agreement with
Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
to broadcast games from
2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
season onwards mainly
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
and
AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...
games.


References


External links

*
Corporate site
- {{VOD services Hulu Hulu Japan Android (operating system) software Nippon Television Nippon News Network Internet properties established in 2011 Internet television streaming services IOS software PlayStation 4 software PlayStation 5 software Subscription video on demand services Toho Z Holdings 2011 establishments in Japan ja:Hulu Japan