Toei, the Japanese studio behind Kamen Rider, now has written rules for generative AI and is already applying the technology on some film and video work, president and chief executive Yoshimura Fumio said on Friday 6 November 2026. He was speaking in Taipei at the Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), as reported by Variety. He gave no figures on how much of Toei’s output involves AI, and the rules were not set out in the reports reviewed.
Key facts
- Policy: Toei has written rules for generative AI and has applied AI to film and video work this year
- Uses named: AI-created backgrounds, a system to help less experienced producers estimate budgets, and routine back-office work
- Games: Toei Games will release Hino in early 2027, then Killa and Debug Nephemee from spring 2027, all on Steam first
- Setting: Yoshimura was the headline speaker at the TCCF forum in Taipei, which runs 6–9 November
What Yoshimura said about AI
A dedicated team at Toei is testing how far AI can be used in real production, Yoshimura told the forum, and the company is building a system to help junior producers estimate budgets. “We have put in place rules for the use of generative AI, and from this year we have started using AI in our film and video production,” he said. “We are already working on things like creating backgrounds with AI.”
Back-office departments use AI for routine tasks, data processing and internal queries, and Toei is looking at it for creative supervision of merchandise. Yoshimura cited Dreams of Violets, a 75-minute live-action feature made entirely with generative AI that was selected for the Tribeca Festival in June; it was reportedly made by two creators for around $2,000. He framed AI as a tool rather than a threat: “I believe AI is not something that takes away jobs, but a tool that expands the possibilities of expression and business.”
The remarks are the chief executive’s account of company policy, and the text of the rules was not part of the reports reviewed. They do not say which productions use AI backgrounds or how AI-made material will be credited.
The Toei Games schedule
Yoshimura also put dates on the company’s move into games. Toei announced the Toei Games label on 24 April 2026, according to the trade site Branc, with three original titles from outside developers: Hino, from the studio UnGloomStudio and based on the pen illustrations of the artist Yatara; Killa, a detective adventure from Black Tangerine; and Debug Nephemee, from Nephemee Studio. None adapts a Toei property.
Variety now reports Hino for early 2027 and the other two from spring 2027, launching on Steam before Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox. At the April announcement Killa was listed for 2026, per Branc, so it has moved back. In an interview at the Busan Indie Connect festival earlier this year, Toei Games producer Hiroaki Nagashima said the creators keep the original rights while Toei holds secondary rights such as merchandise, events and screen adaptations, and that Toei plans to release on Steam and Switch together in Japan.
Yoshimura said Toei wants games to become the starting point for stories, in place of novels and comics.
Kamen Rider beyond Japan
The keynote also set out how Toei is taking Kamen Rider, which turned 55 this year, beyond Japanese television. The current series, Kamen Rider Zeztz, was released almost simultaneously in Taiwan, the rest of Asia and North America, which Yoshimura called a big step. Toei is pushing into India, where the franchise was introduced at a Japanese IP event in 2025 and a deal followed with a local Disney-affiliated company.
In April Toei launched The Kamen Rider Animated, an animation label whose first project pairs the studio with Aniplex and Shirogumi, the company that worked on Godzilla Minus One. A live-action label, The Kamen Rider Premium, will make full-scale hero action films aimed in part at international audiences.
The overseas push has a number attached. Under its medium- to long-term plan, Toei New Wave 2033, the company aims to raise the share of its sales from outside Japan from 30% to 50%, with Asia the current focus. “The main battlefield for our business is overseas,” Yoshimura said.
For related coverage, see FilmBunch’s reports on Weta FX’s AI pact with Taiwan’s TAICCA, Lionsgate and Sony’s live-action Naruto and Sony Pictures’ quarterly results. More under Money & Policy.
What happens next
The detail to watch is the text of Toei’s generative AI rules, if it publishes them, and the first productions to say AI-made backgrounds are in the final picture. On the games side, the dates to watch are the Steam release of Hino in early 2027 and the spring 2027 launches of Killa and Debug Nephemee.
Our reading
Toei’s examples are narrow and sit on the cost side: backgrounds, budget estimates and back-office work. The reports of the keynote do not mention AI-generated performances or scripts, and Yoshimura described AI as a tool that expands what the company can make. Set beside a plan to lift overseas sales to half of the total, the uses named so far fit a company trying to produce more for more markets, though Toei has not drawn that link.
What the rules cover beyond those uses is not known, and neither is how AI-made backgrounds will be labelled in finished films. The text of the rules, or the first production to disclose AI work in the final picture, would settle it.
Sources
- Variety (6 November 2026; Yoshimura’s TCCF keynote on AI rules, Toei Games dates, Kamen Rider strategy)
- TAICCA (programme announcement for the 2026 TCCF forum, 6–9 November, with Yoshimura as featured speaker)
- Deadline (6 November 2026; TCCF opening, with Yoshimura due to give his keynote the same day)
- Toei Games (official site, titles and concept)
- Branc (26 April 2026; Toei’s announcement of Toei Games and its three launch titles, 24 April)
- GamerBraves (interview with Toei Games producer Hiroaki Nagashima at Busan Indie Connect, 2026)