The Japanese market is driving the demand for Blu-ray recordable and rewritable (BD-R/RE) blanc media, according to the Japan Recording-Media Industries Association (JRIA).

Domestic demand for recordable Blu-ray discs in fiscal 2014 is expected to increase to 328 million - almost 1.8 times higher that the demand estimated for fiscal 2011, the industry body said Wednesday.

Japan has been a growing market for Blu-ray recorders and TVs with built-in recorder, which are mainly use BD-R/RE discs. In addition, the transition to digital terrestrial TV broadcasting has furtjer increased the market demand for BD media.

In fiscal 2011, which ends March 31, the association expects the demand to hit 182 million discs, 75 percent higher than last year. JRIA projects demand will reach 243 million in fiscal 2012 and 296 million in fiscal 2013.

On the other hand, JRIA predicts demand in Japan for recordable DVDs will shrink to 371 million discs in fiscal 2014, down 34 percent from the estimated 560 million discs in fiscal 2011.