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JAPAN / Society
Jan 31, 2018

'Country of cowards': Comedy duo's political satire stands out in gun-shy Japan

In what was perhaps a make-or-break moment for their careers, comedy duo Woman Rush Hour did something on prime-time television in December that most of their fellow comedians try their best to eschew: They talked about politics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 3, 2017

Mobile gaming firm Akatsuki to adapt Japanese content for U.S. TV and movie screens

Mobile gaming company Akatsuki Inc. announced Tuesday the launch of a U.S.-based entertainment production company aimed at developing feature films for a global audience based on popular Japanese content including manga, anime and novels.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 14, 2017

Racial and ethnic hate speech thrives in online games

Spend enough time hunting terrorists or wandering dystopian wastelands in online games and you are bound to come across players hurling xenophobic and racist taunts at each other, from Islamophobes in Europe to South Koreans and Japanese bickering over disputed islands.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 19, 2017

Missile row drives South Korean culture underground in China

Cai Yufang, 21, is a big fan of South Korean television dramas like "Shopping King Louie," a show about a profligate chaebol heir who loses his memory and learns the value of love and labor from a sweet, simple country girl.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 28, 2017

Big in Japan? Artists from abroad may find it more difficult to draw a crowd

There are now just three major record labels left on the planet: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 5, 2016

Police keep pressure on Nagoya nightlife district's 'freelancer' street touts

Shopping and entertainment districts in Chubu are seeing a jump in solicitation, including in Nishiki 3-chome (Kin-san), a bustling part of Nagoya's Naka Ward that is known as the liveliest downtown area in the region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jun 9, 2016

Can Netflix's 'Hibana' spark a revolution in Japanese TV?

With the recent announcements made by both Netflix Japan and Amazon Japan that they will be putting out original locally made content, the country seems to be moving further into the age of internet-based TV. And it appears that the team at Netflix could be one step ahead with the recent release of its...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 18, 2016

K-pop agency says did not force Taiwan star to apologize over flag incident

A South Korean entertainment agency behind a 16-year-old singer who triggered a fresh rift between China and Taiwan by holding a Taiwan flag said Monday it did not force her to apologize.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 3, 2015

For North Korean defectors, fame brings cash — and suspicion

Kang Myung-do, then son-in-law of North Korea's premier, made a spectacular claim about Pyongyang's nuclear capability when he defected to the South over two decades ago, asserting the secretive country had built five atomic bombs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 25, 2015

Sony taps Tom Rothman of 'Titanic' fame to head movie studio

Sony Pictures Entertainment has named veteran film executive Tom Rothman, a force behind all-time top-grossing blockbusters "Titanic" and "Avatar," to head its movie studio in a shuffle prompted by the fallout from the recent cyberattack.
WORLD
Jan 3, 2015

Website names Ecuador as top retirement country

Ecuador has been named the best country to retire in by InternationalLiving.com.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 29, 2014

Sony bulls looking beyond hackings to lucrative turnaround play

It may not be as far-fetched as the CIA dispatching a celebrity tabloid show host and his producer to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Yet a 43 percent rally in the shares of money-losing Sony Corp. is pretty remarkable.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2014

Xi's cultural revolution looks doomed to fail

China's government has just reserved the right to send film and television actors, directors, writers and producers on all-expenses-paid, involuntary, 30-day sabbaticals to rural mining sites, border areas, and other remote locations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 30, 2014

Unreleased films feared filched in Sony attack; North Korea suspected

Two as-yet unreleased films might have been stolen in a cyberattack on Sony Corp. that may be linked to North Korea.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 5, 2014

Australian billionaire Packer in Bondi Beach street brawl with longtime friend

Billionaire Australian gaming mogul James Packer was seen brawling on a Bondi Beach street with a fellow businessman, David Gyngell, a lifelong friend, former best man and chief executive of the Nine Entertainment Group, media reported on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2013

Sony sells Gracenote unit for $170 million

Sony Corp. has agreed to sell its Gracenote audio-recognition software business to Tribune Co. for $170 million, part of its effort to shed units as it focuses on fewer products.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 26, 2013

Observing the world in Yokohama's giant Orbi

What's on show at this new, nature-themed high-tech museum should appeal to your senses — literally.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2013

Loeb Sony drive based on faith in Abe

Corporate activist Daniel Loeb took his team to Japan in April 2012 to determine if the world's third-largest economy was ready for investment. The Bank of Japan had set a new 1 percent inflation goal, an encouraging step in a country where growth had stagnated for two decades.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 2, 2013

Language no barrier to multimedia Jon Kabira

With a long rousing cry of “Goooooooood Mooooorning Tooookyoooooooooooo!” Jon Kabira launches into his weekly radio show “JK Radio — Tokyo United” every Friday at 6 a.m. on J-Wave.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2013

Microsoft hits reset button in unveiling Xbox One console

Microsoft unveils the Xbox One, an entertainment console that wants to be the one system households will need for games, television, movies, sports and other entertainment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 24, 2013

Yoshimoto seeks laughs and profit beyond Japan

Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo, the giant talent agency that celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, has made an enduring business out of that fleeting phenomenon: laughter.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 9, 2012

Globe-trotting acrobat left a mark on Japan

PROFESSOR RISLEY AND THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE TROUPE: How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan — and Japan to the West, by Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge Press, 2012, 336 pp., $35 (hardcover) When a storyteller wields a scholar's pen, history truly comes alive. When that history crosses the...
Japan Times
Features
Apr 29, 2012

Konami staffer's victory not a game-changer

There is no shortage of laws in Japan stating that working women should be given the same employment protection and rights as their male counterparts.
BUSINESS
Feb 29, 2012

Okada to pursue casino project in Philippines

Billionaire Kazuo Okada, accused by Wynn Resorts Ltd. of making improper payments to Philippine gambling regulators, said he will "vigorously" pursue his casino project in the country.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan