▲ The drama "Emergency Room 24 Hours," produced by Japan's Fuji Television using generative AI
Fuji Television, one of Japan's major commercial free-to-air broadcasting networks, has decided to fully introduce artificial intelligence (AI) into its drama production.
The Nikkei reported on November 6 that Fuji Television, under the Fuji Media Holdings umbrella, plans to utilize generative AI for the production of all live-action dramas starting in October of next year.
Fuji Television plans to use Google's video generation tool, among others, for drama production.
Fuji Television established a dedicated team last September and received technology transfers from an AI video production company.
This company is already utilizing AI in the production of the currently broadcasting drama "Emergency Room 24 Hours."
The spraying of blood in surgery scenes was created using AI.
In the past, depicting similar scenes required filming liquid spraying directly or using visual effects (VFX). Utilizing AI reduced production time by 70 to 80 percent compared to traditional VFX work.
Fuji Television expects that the use of AI will help reduce production costs.
In fact, for "Emergency Room 24 Hours," aerial shots of an explosion accident site were generated using AI instead of using a helicopter.
According to Nikkei, Japanese terrestrial broadcasters are experiencing a decline in advertising revenue due to viewers shifting away in the mobile era.
As a result, with shrinking production budgets, the programming production costs of five major commercial broadcasters last year (April 2025 – March 2026) decreased by 12 percent compared to nine years ago.
Fuji Television is the first among Japanese broadcasters to utilize AI across all drama productions.
The use of AI is expected to spread to other broadcasters in the future.
TBS's "VIVANT" and Nippon TV's "Tokyo Miconinja" have already used AI in their production.
Previously, online video streaming service Netflix announced in July that AI was used mainly for editing and processing in about 300 works.
Netflix also published guidelines that include bans on entering personal data and unauthorized use of actors' likenesses and voices, and Fuji Television similarly maintains a policy prohibiting the training of AI on actors' faces.
(Photo: Captured from Fuji Television website, Yonhap News)
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