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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...
WORLD
Mar 22, 2015

EU to launch propaganda war amid Russian 'disinformation' push

The European Union is set to launch a first operation in a new propaganda war with Russia within days of EU leaders giving formal approval to the campaign at a summit Thursday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Mar 18, 2015

From a minstrel no-show to a black beauty queen, in a week

From preventing a blackface TV broadcast to the nation embracing a black face as the embodiment of Japanese beauty, it's been quite a week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 23, 2015

Meet the man who helped Sony get its game back

"How many people came for video games?" asks a keynote presenter at Sony Corp.'s PlayStation bash in Las Vegas last December. The crowd roars. "And how many came to give Shu Yoshida a hug?" The roar gets even louder.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 21, 2015

Film about ex-U.S. spy agency contractor Snowden set for Christmas release

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone's big-screen dramatization of U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's mass surveillance revelations will be released Dec. 25, distributor Open Road Films said Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015

Fifty Shades of Grey: 'The real perversion here is how business has infected even matters of the heart'

The lyrics to the Gang of Four song "Contract" (from their seminal post-punk album "Entertainment!"), set to brittle guitar chords and thrashing drums, explored the distance between the bedroom and the boardroom. Singer Jon King addressed a lover who "dreamed of scenes / like you read of in magazines,"...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2015

Sony still faces tough hurdles despite CFO's successes

Despite Kenichiro Yoshida's successes as Sony CFO, the company is still facing tough hurdles.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 15, 2015

Mainstream Japanese society slowly working to accommodate sexual minorities

When she was in her teens, Yumiko Higuchi was suicidal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2015

Pascal to step down as Sony studio head after hacking upheaval

Amy Pascal will step down as co-chair of Sony Pictures Entertainment after hackers angry about a movie she championed mocking North Korea's dictator exposed a raft of embarrassing emails between Pascal and other Hollywood figures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 4, 2015

Ninagawa still exploring in eighth take on 'Hamlet'

Yukio Ninagawa's "cherry-blossom" staging of "Macbeth" at the Edinburgh Festival in 1985, with actors in that famously Scottish play sporting kimono rather than kilts, was a sensation due to its radical reimagining of so revered a work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2015

Back to the love hotel for ex-pink film director

Interviews with people you know well can turn awkward if you try to be the probing questioner instead of the coffee-shop companion. No such worries with 61-year-old Ryuichi Hiroki, the former pink film (i.e., soft pornography) director who made his commercial and critical breakthrough with the erotically...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 13, 2015

Lantis looks to woo a dedicated fan base with anisong tour

Fans breach the language barrier at overseas expos of Japanese pop culture as soon as the music starts. Legions of non-Japanese, most of whose knowledge of the language is limited to basic greetings and exclamations, burst into karaoke-style singalongs, mimicking dance moves and waving glow sticks. This...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 11, 2015

Fear and retribution rule amid Xi's crackdown on corruption in China

Chen Zhenggao, a member of the Communist Party's elite Central Committee, clearly has enemies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 10, 2015

Code + culture: New Internet artists from Japan

If the Internet is an ocean, why do we spend so much time floating on its surface? What's really going on down there? Not just in the deepest, darkest trenches, but among the forgotten protocols, faulty algorithms and emerging parameters outside the busy shipping lanes and far from the crowded life rafts...
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2015

Sony to delay sale of PlayStation 4 in China

Sony Corp. will delay sales of the PlayStation 4 in China, originally scheduled for this Sunday, due to "various factors," the company said.
BUSINESS
Jan 2, 2015

Good plug for BlackBerry: Old, secure units came through for Sony after hackers hit

If there's one company that's gotten a bit of good press from the Sony Corp. hacking scandal, it's BlackBerry Ltd.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 1, 2015

What if 'The Interview' had been made in Japan?

It couldn't happen here — that was my first takeaway from the massive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment prompted by the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy "The Interview." In the film, the two heroes journey to North Korea ostensibly to interview its real-life leader, Kim Jong Un, but in fact,...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jan 1, 2015

Most read Culture stories of 2014

OK Go's Japanese-inspired music video and Sailor Moon's special birthday were some of the most read and shared Culture articles of 2014.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 29, 2014

Sony's 'Interview' fetches $15 million online in four days

"The Interview" earned more than $15 million in online sales in its first four days of distribution as Sony bypassed a wide theater release amid concerns from major cinema chains about threats of violence.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2014

Sony says PlayStation still has problems, gradually coming back online

Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Network suffered connection problems for a fourth straight day since hackers attacked the video game network, and the company said on Sunday that service was gradually being restored.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 26, 2014

Xbox, PlayStation game networks felled by known hacker group

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox Live and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation Network, Internet services that video gamers use to play online, were hit by connection failures Christmas Day, with the hackers Lizard Squad claiming responsibility.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.