is
Sony's music arm in
Japan. SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Corporation and independent from the United States-based
Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry. Its subsidiaries including the
anime production enterprise,
Aniplex, which was established in January 1997 as a joint-venture between Sony Music Entertainment Japan and
Sony Pictures Entertainment, but which in 2001 became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was prominent in the early to mid 90's producing and licensing music for Anime such as
Roujin Z from acclaimed Manga artist Katsuhiro Otomo and
Capcom's
Street Fighter anime series.