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K

Emerging Gen Z J-pop group ME:I will perform on this year's "Kohaku Uta Gassen," national broadcaster NHK’s New Year's Eve spectacle.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Nov 24, 2024
'Kohaku' still matters for J-pop bragging rights
The recently announced 2024 lineup underlines how capturing a year of J-pop in one broadcast bonanza is impossible these days.
Many of the acts making their debut at this year's "Kohaku" song contest came out for the lineup announcement at NHK's studios in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 19, 2024
NHK announces Number_i, Illit and Glay for ‘Kohaku’ lineup
Acts from the former Johnny’s were frozen out for a second year as NHK opts for new names and old favorites.
Sanzo K. Matsunaga’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Bari Sanko” centers on two men involved in an office hiking club. One is into dangerous off-path trekking, the other is more of a by-the-book conformist.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 19, 2024
Akutagawa winner ‘Bari Sanko’ takes office politics to the mountains
Though the plot takes time to get going, Sanzo K. Matsunaga’s novel takes a nuanced look at the implications of being an independent thinker in Japan’s corporate culture.
Members of the K-pop group NewJeans are embroiled in a dispute with their corporate backers over their creative relationship with an executive producer.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2024
NewJeans’ ultimatum casts K-pop’s displays of labor in a new light
A YouTube live broadcast from the girl group raises age-old questions about labor practices in the Korean pop industry.
Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard’s initial $14.86-a-share proposal, seen as cheap at only 20% above Seven & I’s share price, may fail without a higher bid.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2024
How 7-Eleven can get a big price from Circle K
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s initial $14.86-a-share proposal, seen as cheap at only 20% above Seven & I’s share price, is unlikely to succeed without a higher bid.
British hard rock outfit Bring Me the Horizon delivered a dramatic set that featured a surprise appearance from local metal-meets-idol group Babymetal.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 23, 2024
Summer Sonic: The heat doesn’t matter when the lineup works
Where would you see a bill with Maneskin, Gen Hoshino, Christina Aguilera and Bring Me the Horizon in the prime slots? At a sold-out music festival, that’s where.
J-pop act Atarashii Gakko! is set to deliver a jubilant performance at Summer Sonic this weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2024
Summer Sonic bets on a more local lineup
The international music festival seeks to boost attendance figures with more domestic and Asian acts such as Atarashii Gakko!, Number_i and Creepy Nuts.
Naoki Prize winner Michi Ichiho (left), and Akutagawa Prize winners Sanzo K. Matsunaga (center) and Aki Asahina pose with their award-winning books at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2024
Three novelists named for Akutagawa and Naoki awards
Authors Sanzo K. Matsunaga and Aki Asahina won the Akutagawa Prize for literary writers, while the Naoki Prize for genre fiction went to Michi Ichiho.
Fans celebrate BTS' 11th debut anniversary during 2024 FESTA, an event for fans of the K-pop boy band a day after band member Jin was discharged from the South Korean army after 18 months of military service, in Seoul on June 13.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2024
TikTok sees K-culture spend doubling to $143 billion by 2030
In the U.S. and Southeast Asia, research has found that about 80% of social media users have found Korean culture through TikTok.
NewJeans members (from left) Hanni, Haerin, Danielle and Minji attend an event at which they were named tourism ambassadors to South Korea.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 13, 2024
South Korea names K-pop group NewJeans tourism ambassadors
The quartet take on the role previously held by "Squid Game" star Lee Jung-jae and K-pop megastars BTS.
Fans of K-pop act BTS queue up for the annual BTS FESTA, organized by HYBE, the band's agency, in Seoul on Thursday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 14, 2024
BTS mania hits Seoul ahead of 'huggathon' with Jin
Fans flew in from around the world to get a chance to win a hug from BTS member Jin, who finished his military service earlier this week.
The Indian national flag at the historic Red Fort in Delhi on Monday ahead of the country's general election, which begins Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
India's opposition battles on against bleak odds in general election
The main opposition alliance hope to confound expectations of an easy win for Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in the vote starting Friday.
South Korean pop group BTS perform during the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards on April 3, 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2024
Universal Music to distribute BTS and rappers in new Hybe deal
As part of the agreement, the companies will collaborate on artist promotions and marketing activities in North America.
Baseball fans wait to enter Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Wednesday ahead of the MLB opener between the Dodgers and Padres.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 20, 2024
K-pop stars to help showcase South Korea during Seoul Series
Before Ohtani’s debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Diego Padres begins, K-pop girl group aespa will hit the stage for a performance.
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.
J-pop duo Yoasobi performed its 2023-defining hit, “Idol," during the 74th edition of NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” giving the show its best moment — and drawing anger from netizens.
CULTURE / Sound Off
Jan 12, 2024
Yoasobi delivered the standout moment of ‘Kohaku.’ Why did some music fans hate it?
The J-pop duo brought artists from J-pop and K-pop together on stage for the night's best performance, but it didn’t take long for negative voices to emerge on social media.
Yuka Tada and her friend pose for a photograph at a BTS fan cafe in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 12, 2023
BTS members head for South Korea military service; fans vow to wait
With three members already serving, the remaining four members of the K-pop supergroup begin their 18-month service.
From left: Prin, Sen and jiGook of QI.X call themselves one of the first openly queer, transgender K-pop acts.
CULTURE
Sep 30, 2023
Queer K-pop group QI.X wants to change South Korea
In conservative South Korea, few LGBTQ entertainers have ever come out. The young members of QI.X don’t see the point of staying in.
Zaein, created by artificial intelligence company Pulse9, is one of South Korea's most active virtual humans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 26, 2023
In South Korea, AI-driven virtual humans go mainstream
Digital humans have been created for some of the country's largest conglomerates, with research indicating the tech could be worth $527 billion by 2030.
Crowds packed the Mountain Stage at Summer Sonic for Yoasobi’s set on Saturday and went wild when the J-pop duo played the opening notes of “Idol.”
CULTURE / Music
Aug 25, 2023
Summer Sonic closes out the season with one hot party
Asian artists NewJeans, Gen Hoshino, Awich and Babymetal drew impressive crowds at the summer festival despite the overbearing heat.

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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?