Tokyo Anime Center Opens Third Overseas Branch in Charlotte, NC

Tokyo, March 18, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) and DNP Imagingcomm America Corporation¹, a DNP Group Company, are pleased to announce that Tokyo Anime Center (TAC)² opened its third overseas branch at Charlotte, NC on March 15, 2025. 

The new overseas branch will be called Tokyo Anime Center Charlotte UDM and will be the first TAC branch to operate as a Shop-in-Shop branch model, presenting a specialty store within a shopping center that offers other services. Compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar-based model, the new TAC branch will allow for greater flexibility in terms of store space, content and set up time. By combining the brick-and-mortar-based and Shop-in-Shop branch models, the DNP Group will accelerate the development of TAC in the United States, expanding the opportunities to connect overseas fans with Japanese content, including anime and manga.

External image of TAC Charlotte UDM branch

TAC Overseas Expansion

In 2023, sales from Japan's anime industry market set a historical high of 3,346.5 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%. Overseas sales accounted for 51.5% of this figure, rising 18% year-on-year to 1,722.2 billion yen, surpassing the scale of the domestic Japanese market for the first time since 2020³. The overseas market is expected to expand further, and related markets such as goods and events, are also expected to grow.

DNP's first overseas TAC, Tokyo Anime Center in SAN FRANCISCO, has attracted an estimated 500,000 visitors in the nine months since it opened. The second store, Tokyo Anime Center Burlington Mall, which opened in February 2025, has attracted many visitors from various states in the United States. In response to these expectations and needs, DNP will establish a new operating format, referred to as the Shop-in-Shop branch model, to accelerate the expansion of this business throughout the United States.

The Shop-in-Shop branch model is a branch set up in a shopping mall, which coexists with other stores and outlets that offer other services. This operating format allows for more flexibility in terms of time and space compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar-based model, leading to an acceleration in office expansion. Even in areas that do not have specialized anime and manga facilities, this model will enable more fans to experience authentic Japanese content in a simpler manner. The development of pilot stores may also be considered

DNP will use the Tokyo Anime Center Charlotte UDM as a place to test various content-related services in the United States and to collaborate with local companies.

Tokyo Anime Center Charlotte UDM

Location：Urban District Market 2315 N Davidson St, Charlotte, NC 28205

Grand Opening: Saturday, March 15, 2025

DNP Initiatives and Upcoming Activities

DNP combines proprietary strengths in Printing & Information (P&I), including the ability to safely and securely process large amounts of information and expression technology, with the strengths of our partners to meet the needs of consumers by providing optimal content and related services tailored to their needs.

Other DNP initiatives include:

• Management of Tokyo Anime Center in DNP PLAZA SHIBUYA, to disseminate the appeal of Japanese anime culture and content to consumers in Japan and overseas. 
• Event businesses that utilize various intellectual properties (IP), such as manga and anime original artworks.
• Management of the creator co-creation service FUN'S PROJECT⁴. 
• Development and management of our XR communication business⁵ which creates new experiences and economic zones by leveraging Extended Reality (XR) technology that fuses real and virtual spaces. 

Leveraging the technology and know-how cultivated through these efforts to provide diverse value to consumers in addition to our network of diverse content holders and creators around the world as a strength to accelerate initiatives that lead to the further development of content culture, and make a contribution to the creative industry. 

In order to expand our content business overseas, we will use the three TAC branches in North America as a base to accelerate on-site testing of various products and services and for collaboration with local companies and organizations. DNP aims to expand to over 10 locations across North America by the end of fiscal year 2026.

1: DNP Imagingcomm America Corporation: https://www.dnpimagingcomm.com/

2: Tokyo Anime Center in DNP PLAZA SHIBUYA is a joint enterprise with The Association of Japanese Animations. https://tokyoanimecenter.jp/en/

3: According to information from The Association of Japanese Animation’s Anime Industry Report 2024. The scope of the anime industry market is based on estimates of the amount paid by users for anime-related products. 

4: FUN'S PROJECT https://funs-project.com/ (in Japanese Only)

5: XR Communication Business: https://www.dnp.co.jp/biz/products/maintag/xr.html (in Japanese Only)

*Company and product names mentioned in this news release are the registered trademarks or the trademarks of those companies.

*Product specifications and service contents mentioned in this news release are as of the date of announcement. Please note that they may be changed without notice.