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Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 13, 2016

SMAP may split as boy band bolts from management feud

It looks like it may be splitsville for the princes of Japanese showbiz.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 13, 2016

'Paddington': Can the 'other bear' crack the Japanese market?

'I can't pinpoint the exact reason, but Paddington remains a somewhat distant character for me." So wrote teddy bear aficionado Satomi Terakawa in an email interview. Terakawa harbors a lifelong love for stuffed toy bears, and spent 15 years designing and making teddy bears for a toy boutique in Ginza....
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 14, 2015

Get the goods on manga and anime

Back in the Stone Age of streaming media, the most notorious and popular of pirate anime websites suddenly went legit. In January 2009, after securing distribution agreements with Japanese studios, and a licensing deal with TV Tokyo that included episodes of the global hit series Naruto Shippuden, the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2015

The gorgeous world of Japanese gore

Zerai Naoi makes his living by keeping gore hounds fed on a shoestring budget. If you want to sample his work, it helps to have a strong stomach.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 23, 2015

Kodo-kai still raking in funds despite tougher yakuza laws

The Kodokai is emerging as Japan's strongest yakuza group, thanks to its prodigious money-making skills.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Oct 18, 2015

Dan teaches us how to be 'the man' in Japan

Every time I turn around, it seems, people are always asking me, "Do you know Dan Smith?" Or, they'll assume I already know him — what with his being black, working in the media and living in Japan for, like, forever and all. Sometimes I nod that I do, sometimes I even front like I know him ("Oh yeah,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2015

Corporations lie, and some get away with it

In the midst of so many contexts where we expect people sometimes to lie — sports, entertainment, certainly politics — it is disturbing that the one place to which we run for truth is private corporations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2015

Sony triggers clause to allow it to sell half of music venture stake to Jackson estate, or buy other half

Sony Corp. triggered a contract clause that would allow the Japanese electronics maker to to sell its half of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing venture it co-owns with Michael Jackson's estate, according to people familiar with the situation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 23, 2015

Neither here nor there: the families torn between Nigeria and Japan

Caught between instability in Nigeria and isolation in Japan, African immigrants fear the loss of their children's love.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 16, 2015

Girls take charge of their love lives in 'Chigasaki Story'

Koji Fukada's 2013 beach film "Hotori no Sakuko" ("Au Revoir l'Ete") was a loving homage to French master Eric Rohmer, with lengthy European-style vacations bestowed on Fukada's Japanese protagonists.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2015
Sep 9, 2015

The impact and effects of changes in China's economy

Since late August, China's economy and stock prices have dominated headlines worldwide.
WORLD
Aug 24, 2015

Ashley Madison hack sends shivers through hook-up, porn sites

Larry Flynt, a defender of free speech and sexual freedom if there ever was one, has this advice for anyone worried by the hack of infidelity site Ashley Madison: Muzzle yourself.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 20, 2015

Shun Oguri faces off with an artistic master in 'Red'

'If it's possible, I'd like to act live on stage at least once a year," says film and television star Shun Oguri following an intensive rehearsal at a small studio in central Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 17, 2015

Secret strategies of world's most lucrative apps

A few months ago, Yoshiki Watabe, a producer at Japan's DeNA Co., was looking to draw attention to the company's hit mobile game. He introduced a spiky-haired hero armed with an outsized sword — then gave players a mere four days to bring down an evil mega-corporation.
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2015

Keep hackers out of the driver's seat

Automakers and consumers need to recognize the increasing vulnerability of today's computer-laden cars to hacks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 5, 2015

Why the world's largest record label wants to be a movie studio

Amy Winehouse's 9-year-old album "Back to Black" is outselling newer records from Beyonce, Adele and Pitbull, buoyed by critical praise for the documentary about the singer's sudden rise and fall.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2015

Japan's Enron reckoning

The Toshiba scandal should be an impetus for the Abe government to do even more to improve corporate governance.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2015

How Sony sanitized films to please China's censors

In a 2013 script for the movie "Pixels," intergalactic aliens blast a hole in one of China's national treasures — the Great Wall.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 25, 2015

Sony's Yoshida affirms faith in indie developers

Shuhei Yoshida, the bespectacled president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, didn't attend the BitSummit independent game festival in Kyoto on July 11 simply to deliver a speech and reaffirm Sony's commitment to indie developers — he wanted to try out some games.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Jul 24, 2015

July 25, 2015

The managing director of Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc., Takeshi Ashida (left), and Director of the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office of the Embassy of the United States, Rachel Nelson, pose at a preview of the movie 'Chef.' Along with the preview, a tasting of American gourmet food truck cuisine...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2015

Sony, Panasonic cling to TVs, betting on halo effect of premium sets

Japan's once-mighty electronics-makers have lost billions of dollars from TVs, but Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. won't quit, saying retreating from the world's living rooms would close the door to more promising businesses.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2015

Hirai predecessor Stringer sees Sony turnaround taking hold

Sony Corp. President and CEO Kazuo Hirai is getting a vote of confidence from predecessor Howard Stringer in his effort to turn around the electronics maker.
JAPAN
May 10, 2015

Japan Today says it will retain foreign perspective despite acquisition by conglomerate Fuji Media

Recently acquired Japan Today will stick to its motto of presenting news 'through the perspectives of foreigners,' the Fuji Media Holdings group says.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 9, 2015

Dancing on the waves at Miyajima

"The mystery of the Orient is legendary . . . it was in the air the moment we stepped ashore in Kyoto, and now in Tokyo it began to envelop us." That's how Charlie Chaplin described his arrival in Japan. I'm not sure if the "Little Tramp" ever visited the island of Miyajima on any of his four trips to...
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 24, 2015

Mourinho's strategy effective if not entertaining

To Jose Mourinho, winning is the ultimate entertainment.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 22, 2015

Sony beats estimates as Hirai revamp fuels earnings growth

Sony Corp. raised its profit forecast for the second time since February as Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai's revamp stokes earnings from games and financial services.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 19, 2015

Historically, Japan is no stranger to blacks, nor to blackface

I am a black Japanese half. I was bullied because of my skin color in elementary school, so I have a strong complex about my skin color. If Japanese truly adored blacks, it wouldn't bother me. But do Momokuro really adore blacks? I think if you asked them if they wished they had been born black, they...

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?