Search - entertainment

 
 
Mori Building CEO Shingo Tsuji speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Nov. 30.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 15, 2023

Mori’s CEO eyeing the next Roppongi Hills, casino resort in Tokyo

The real estate developer behind the towers that have reshaped central Tokyo’s skyline isn’t done yet.
Foreign tourists take pictures in Tokyo's Asakusa district in November.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2023

Japan’s post-pandemic tourists shift spending to crafts and jewelry

Average spending on traditional handicrafts per visitor was ¥13,338 ($92) in the July-September quarter, up 80% from the same period in 2019.
The Shimbashi area of Tokyo's Minato Ward is crowded with office workers on Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2023

Pubs in Japan thriving again as year-end parties return

On Friday night, many drinking places in the Shimbashi district of Tokyo's Minato Ward were packed with customers.
Shinjuku's Kabukicho is filled with colorful individuals that give the neighborhood its character.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 22, 2023

Christmastime in Shinjuku Golden Gai

One of Tokyo's most storied watering holes gets a little quiet during the holidays now that it relies quite a bit on tourists.
Competitors play "Warships" at Squid Game: The Trials, Netflixユs new attraction in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, 2023. For $30, fans can compete in some 70 minutes of play, with moral twists and six group activities, including nonlethal versions of the showユs challenges.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 13, 2023

Netflix builds a ‘Squid Game’ universe as it awaits a second season

A reality show and a live experience are two ways of keeping the dystopian series in the public eye. Is the original’s bleak message being diluted?
Jargal Lhagvasuren practicing an aerial routine at the Mongolian Circus School in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on May 18. Contortionists and acrobats with celestial skills train in squalid conditions as the promise of a former sumo wrestler to restore the national circus to its past glory has gone mostly unfulfilled.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 26, 2023

Mongolians are circus stars all over the world, except at home

The promise to return state circus in Ulaanbaatar to its former glory remains unfulfilled, forcing trained performers abroad.
A group of 19 host club owners in Kabukicho who own most of the host clubs in the area have pledged to ban the pay-later system by April and prohibit entry to those under 20 years old from January.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2023

How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt

False promises of love — and even marriage — lead to huge bills for some as young as 18, who are often then coaxed into sex work to make repayments.
Hitoshi Matsumoto (left) and his Downtown comedy partner, Masatoshi Hamada, at an event in 2014
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 27, 2023

Popular Japanese comedian denies sexual assault allegations

The talent agency of Hitoshi Matsumoto, one half of the duo Downtown, said it is considering legal action over the report.
From movies, anime, manga and even to sports stars, 2023 was a year where global audiences demonstrated their increasing fondness for Japanese soft power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 27, 2023

From Godzilla to Shohei: Japan's soft power had a big year

Little by little, Japan is getting better at pitching its copious wares overseas, and 2023 proved that.
FC Barcelona's Martina Fernandez scores during a Women's Champions League group match against FC Rosengard in Barcelona on Dec. 21. A share of 83% of respondents from a recent corporate survey said they planned to increase their investment in women's sports in 2024.
SPORTS
Dec 29, 2023

After landmark World Cup, more sponsors keen on women's sports

A share of 83% of respondents from a recent corporate survey said they planned to increase their investment in women's sports in 2024.
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Jan 2, 2024

Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon

From February, you can expect a rush of creativity, passion, courage and confidence with the arrival of the Wood Dragon, say astrologers.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks during a game against the Grizzlies on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jan 6, 2024

Victor Wembanyama sets course to become a basketball billionaire unlike any other

Known to fans as "Wemby,” Victor Wembanyama entered the NBA with a level of buzz unlike any player since LeBron James.
Sony plans to file the termination notice before a Jan. 20 extended deadline for closing the deal with Zee.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2024

Sony plans to call off $10 billion merger with India’s Zee

The plan to cancel the deal is due to a standoff over whether Zee CEO Punit Goenka would lead the merged entity amid a regulatory probe.
Hiromi Uetake has future plans to turn some of the currently unused rooms of the former elementary school into taprooms for visiting customers.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 14, 2024

Craft beer’s hoppy road to the deep north

Beer drinkers in these occasionally frozen lands now enjoy flavors infused with deep stories and their home prefectures’ splendid natural beauty.
The final 10 contestants of the reality show “The Debut: Dream Academy” in November. The show aimed to select the members of a new global K-pop girl group.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2024

K-pop without the ‘K’ just won’t pop

The BTS hiatus may have slowed K-pop down, but the answer isn't to take the Koreanness out of it. If not, all that's left is run-of-the-mill pop.
Journalist Shiori Ito sheds a tear as she speaks to reporters outside the Tokyo district court on Dec. 18, 2019, after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2024

Japanese journalist brings lonely #MeToo battle to Sundance

Shiori Ito's fight for justice is the subject of "Black Box Diaries," a documentary she herself directed.
A Cathay Pacific Airways aircraft prepares to land at Hong Kong International Airport. Data shows that major airlines produce almost twice as much emissions for every passenger they carry than low-cost carriers.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 23, 2024

No-frills flying emerges as air travel’s painful, greener future

Budget airlines’ obsession with lowering weight to save fuel happens to produce the best emissions metrics in the skies.
Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula One, during a news conference in Madrid on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 24, 2024

Madrid to host Spanish GP from 2026; Barcelona's future uncertain

The Barcelona circuit's contract expires after the 2026 race but F1 chief Stefano Domenicali suggested the Barcelona track could remain on the calendar beyond then.
Singer Taylor Swift walks off the field after the AFC title game in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 29, 2024

Taylor Swift may race back to U.S. from Tokyo to watch Travis Kelce in Super Bowl

Taylor Swift has an Eras Tour performance in Tokyo the night before the Super Bowl.
The victory of Ukraine-born Karolina Shiino (center) in the Miss Japan contest held last month has sparked a debate on what makes someone truly Japanese.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 1, 2024

A Ukraine-born beauty queen and what it means to be Japanese

Shiino's Miss Japan victory has ignited a debate on the definition of "Japaneseness," and raises questions on what it truly means to be Japanese.
A customer tries his Vision Pro at the launch of the product at a store in Los Angeles on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 4, 2024

Vision Pro headset is Apple's next Mac and TV combined

The $3,500 headset, which blends 3D content with a view of the outside world, landed in the company’s physical U.S. stores on Friday.
Many young people who feel neglected at home flock to the Toyoko area to find a community where they can fit in.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Feb 5, 2024

Toyoko Kids: The lonely street children of Tokyo

Bound together by shared neglect and marginalization, the group have formed a distinct, social media-linked youth subculture on the streets of Shinjuku.
Yoshikazu Higashitani, who goes by the name GaaSyy, leaves the Tokyo Detention House on Sept. 21 after being released on bail.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 9, 2024

Four-year prison term sought for ex-lawmaker GaaSyy

GaaSyy, whose real name is Yoshikazu Higashitani, is accused of making threats against actor Go Ayano and others in online videos.
Taylor Swift attends Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and 49ers in Las Vegas on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 12, 2024

Superstar Taylor Swift attends Super Bowl to cheer on Chiefs' Travis Kelce

The Super Bowl got an early jolt of excitement on Sunday when enormous TV screens around the stadium showed Swift arriving about two hours before kickoff.
Canned ready-to-drink cocktails, including Asahi Breweries' 9% Clear Cooler Strong chūhai produced in conjunction with Seven & I Holdings, at a 7-Eleven store in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Tuesday
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2024

Asahi calls time on new strong chūhai amid low-alcohol shift in Japan

New versions of the canned fizzy cocktails with alcohol content of 8% or higher will not be launched in order to “reduce inappropriate drinking.”
Shohei Ohtani is expected make his regular-season debut with the Dodgers in Seoul on March 20.
BASEBALL
Feb 16, 2024

Seoul mayor hopes interest in Shohei Ohtani and MLB brings more games to South Korea

The Seoul Series will be a chance for South Korea and MLB to work together to revive professional baseball’s popularity in the nation.
Travelers at Shanghai Hongqiao railway station on Feb. 6. For the Feb. 10-17 period, there were 99.5 million rail trips made in China, a figure 36% higher than the comparable period in 2019.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2024

China’s new year travel and spending top pre-COVID levels

Some 474 million tourist trips were made around the country during the festival, which began Feb. 10 and concluded Saturday.
A bloody demonic outbreak strikes Japan in “Visitors: Complete Edition.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2024

‘Visitors’ revels in all its gory glory with deadpan humor

Kenichi Ugana’s extended version of his brilliant splatter short is endearingly shaggy — and messy.
The LDP's Takuo Komori stepped down from his post as parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs after it was revealed he had underreported political funds.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2024

Will the LDP funding scandal change Japanese politics?

What can we learn from the LDP funding scandal? One thing is certain: The saga fits a pattern that is anything but unseen in Japanese politics.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, in Menlo Park, California, on Sept. 27, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2024

Mark Zuckerberg’s Asia tour to focus on AI

The Meta Platforms’ CEO is in Japan with his family on a ski trip, and is set to meet with his developers in Tokyo to discuss virtual-reality and AI.

Longform

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