The Internet Movie Database, via Toon Zone, reports that for the second year in a row, a new record has been set for the box office in Japan. Grosses rose to $2.03 billion in 2004, representing a 3.8% increase compared to 2003, according to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. Japan’s domestic films were mainly responsible for the surge in ticket sales, with the country’s highest grossing film of the year, Howl’s Moving Castle, earning $192 million.