A group representing the Japanese content industry said Friday that joint antipiracy measures resulted in the seizure of 707,709 items of pirated Japanese goods in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan between January and April.

The Content Overseas Distribution Association, which represents producers of films, music, comics and games, said it investigated 994 stores in the three economies, including shops that exclusively hawk pirated Japanese DVDs and other items. The probe led to the arrest of 59 people, it said.

Among the confiscated items were illegal copies of popular Japanese animated films, including "Howl's Moving Castle," "Steam Boy" and "Gundam," said CODA leader Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chief executive officer of publisher and filmmaker Kadokawa Holdings Inc.

If each pirated DVD were priced at 1,500, yen the value of the more than 700,000 seized items would surpass 1.06 billion, yen CODA said.

Japan's major content makers set up CODA in 2002 out of frustration with their individual efforts to investigate the distribution of pirated goods. Now they conduct joint probes with police and customs authorities in the other economies, allowing them to reduce costs and avoid procedural burdens, CODA said.

"The outcome of the latest investigation shows only the tip of the iceberg," said Takero Goto of the Japan Video Software Association, who heads a CODA task force in charge of piracy probes.

Goto said piracy is considered a "low-risk, high-return" crime in China and other Asian economies in comparison with drug-trafficking and other crimes.

"The profit margin is said to reach 800 percent. Perpetrators pose as regular moviegoers and secretly record images at theaters," Goto said.

To promote sales of authentic Japanese items, the group created the "CJ" mark, standing for "Content Japan," to distinguish legal goods from fakes.