Amazon.com, Inc. has announced that they will start offering their Prime Video to Amazon Prime members in Japan by September 2015, according to a press release issued by Amazon Japan.
The new video service will be available to Prime members at no additional charge.
The company said that the new service will give Amazon Prime members in Japan access to Japanese and U.S. movies, TV shows, anime series, music concerts, and variety shows, according to the press release.
Amazon Prime members will get access Amazon's own award-winning originals and new Japanese originals.
Jasper Cheung, president of Amazon Japan, said in the press release that the Japanese people should expect high-quality local and popular programming from Amazon's Prime Video.
"As we've shown with the launch of Prime Video in the U.S. and around the world, we are investing significantly to bring high-quality, local and popular programming to Prime members," he said. "We know the entertainment customers' want, and we plan to deliver it with Prime Video, all at no additional cost."
Venture Beat adds that Royce Price, vice president of Amazon Studios said that "Prime members in Japan will love what we introduce just for them."
Exclusive content that is tailored to Japanese customers, like popular local drama and anime, is expected to be included in the Prime Video.
Techcrunch added that Amazon's announcement follows Netflix's own announcement that they will be debuting their video streaming service in Japan on September 2.
Netflix partnered with SoftBank Corp., a mobile provider in Japan, to make its launch in Japan easier and more accessible to Japanese consumers.
Techcrunch added that Amazon may have an advantage against Netflix in terms of pricing the video streaming service and the existing consumers to tap into.
The Amazon Prime has been available in Japan for 10 years already.
Amazon Prime is available to Japanese customers for an annual membership fee of ¥3,900 or more than $32, according to the press release.
