Blu-ray technology may end up as the last mainstream physical media, but it's not dead yet. While major electronics companies have stopped making the players and writable discs are few and far between, two Japanese companies are pushing to keep the technology alive.

As TechSpot reports, I-O Data and Verbatim Japan announced that they will continue supplying Blu-ray players and discs in the Japanese market and have made arrangements to secure the necessary supplies, despite global material shortages. They cite a need for these discs for backups, local storage, and a range of business purposes, and even plan to continue improving the underlying technology.

Considering how much better Blu-ray can be than streaming media, this could be a much-needed lifeline for cinema fans who find streaming compression unsightly.

I-O Data released a Windows-compatible external Blu-ray drive, the BD Reco (BRP-R1), in February. Designed to make it easy to record 4K media to Blu-ray discs, it was initially marketed to the Japanese anime crowd, who are known for building their own personalized collections. In the absence of competition, though, this could find favor in other markets too.

Outside Japan, Blu-ray hasn't had anything near the same kind of consistent support, but it's still around thanks to Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Although future consoles may drop physical media, older systems may provide a long tail for those who want to enjoy a local media collection on Blu-ray discs.

Blu-ray technology is officially 20 years old this year, having been officially unveiled at CES 2006. It then faced off against the compete HD-DVD technology, which Microsoft pushed on its Xbox 360 with an add-on drive, but Blu-ray won that race easily. It's never had a real replacement, though UHD Blu-rays could be considered that in some senses.

With no sign of an 8K option, and with streaming platforms becoming the primary way audiences consume TV and movies, Blu-ray is unlikely to be replaced any time soon. Although Japanese companies supporting it don't do much for the US and other Western markets, it at least means there is a supply of recordable discs out there. The physical media resurgence among Gen Z and younger generations may have an outlet for their preferences going forward.