(FORTUNE Magazine) – Here's one more American-made product that's a hit in Japan: musicals like A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls, complete with their U.S. casts. Turns out Tokyo's trendier theatergoers much prefer U.S. musicals -- and to a lesser degree, ^ plays -- to Japan's traditional Kabuki. Now Japanese companies, which previously imported American shows, are moving closer to center stage: They are taking on the role of Broadway angels. Not surprisingly, U.S. producers are scrambling to court these generous backers. TV Asahi, a leading broadcasting company, has a New York subsidiary to finance projects on the Great White Way. In February, liquor giant Suntory invested in Wendy Wasserstein's play The Heidi Chronicles on Broadway. Suntory also has a big stake in the critically acclaimed Jerome Robbins' Broadway, a $9 million production. Suntory International President Shiro Yasuno, who visited the Imperial Theater to take in the show, pronounced it ''superb.'' The company hopes to take the production to Tokyo. Given the Japanese penchant for safe investments, why the yen for a hit-or- miss industry? Both TV Asahi and Suntory say they are not being angelic for the money -- which is just as well. Last year TV Asahi lost the $300,000 it invested in Blues in the Night, a musical that folded after eight weeks. Explains Kenji Sudo, vice president of TV Asahi's Theatrical Productions subsidiary: ''We Japanese are always being accused of buying real estate in Hawaii and New York. We want to support culture so we won't be bashed on trade.'' Speaking of trade, is the Broadway musical something that the Japanese will first copy and then produce for shipment to the U.S.? ''It has lots of singing, dancing, simple plot -- and not much dialogue,'' says Sudo. Still, he does not think his countrymen can master the art form. ''We don't have the talent,'' he says. Kazuo Yamazaki, deputy general manager of cultural affairs at Suntory, disagrees. He says the Japanese will ''pick up know-how, little by little'' and eventually produce ''American'' musicals in Japan. Exports could be next.