Tag - tbs

 
 

TBS

Freelance television announcer Tomoaki Ogura took the role of presenter of Fuji Television Network's morning show "Tokudane!" from 1999 to 2021, gaining popularity for his frank comments.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2024
Japanese announcer Tomoaki Ogura dies at 77
Ogura became famous for his unique narration style and trademark high-pitched voice.
“Shogun,” created by American channel FX and made by a joint American-Japanese team, utilized the strengths of both Japan and Hollywood to create a bona fide smash that critics adored. 
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / 2024 in Review
Dec 7, 2024
2024 was the year Japanese TV found its prestige
The triumph of “Shogun” at the Emmys served as an exclamation point for an industry taking big swings and opening up to trans-Pacific partnerships.
“Extremely Inappropriate!” centers on Ichiro Ogawa (played by Sadao Abe), a crude high school teacher who is chain-smoking his way through 1986. He accidentally ends up on a bus that turns out to be a time machine, which drives him to 2024.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Apr 5, 2024
‘Extremely Inappropriate!’ took a big swing. TV is better for it.
The drama — which features a fish-out-of-water protagonist and satirizes social issues — is the most divisive Japanese TV show of the year so far.
People exit the platform at a train station along the Yamanote Line in Tokyo in 1986. A time-traveling TV comedy with a bawdy middle-aged hero from the era has become a big hit in Japan, juxtaposing brash 1980s attitudes with the more politically correct present day.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 29, 2024
Satire TV show strikes a generation-spanning chord in Japan
"Extremely Inappropriate" uses a time-traveling protagonist to humorously highlight the gap between attitudes of the 1980s and the 2020s.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2022
Toyota won't renew contract with actor Teruyuki Kagawa after alleged sexual assault
The automaker has already pulled its commercials featuring Kagawa, and broadcaster TBS has said it will remove the actor from its weekday morning information program.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jul 5, 2020
Japan’s netizens make up for traditional media outlets' shortcomings in addressing Black Lives Matter
Social media users have offered a broader perspective of commentary on protests against systemic racism happening abroad.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 18, 2019
TBS drama misses an opportunity to shine a light on genuine workplace issues
The most common gripe I hear from white-collar employees at Japanese companies is about the fluid meaning of "quitting time." The feeling is that even if a worker has finished their tasks for the day, it is considered bad form to leave the office before their colleagues or supervisors do. There are,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 16, 2017
Getting to the bottom of a slippery game show gone viral
No aspect of Japanese pop culture titillates the world more than the country's game shows. From references on "The Simpson's" to inspiring Western riffs on subjects such as "Banzai" and "I Survived A Japanese Game Show," the idea of wacky creations bordering on torture have played a central place in...
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 22, 2017
Lawmakers hold hearings into whether the rape case against journalist was dropped due to Abe ties
A group of opposition lawmakers on Tuesday kicked off the first in a series of hearings where they will question police and ministry officials over a high-profile case involving an alleged rape by a former television journalist with close ties to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Oct 29, 2017
TV drama glorifies the Japanese scourge of working illegally for nothing
In the TBS drama 'Rikuo,' female factory workers work all hours — some of them unpaid — to make a new type of running shoe.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 30, 2017
Japan's pensioners are literally getting older
Because of the election announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, the new Cabinet he formed last summer to boost his falling support rate will do no work, since it was launched during the summer vacation and Abe dissolved the Diet as soon as it opened on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2017
High-profile journalist with close Abe ties accused of rape
A 28-year-old woman has accused a former TV reporter, regarded as one of the journalists closest to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, of raping her two years ago.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 20, 2017
Will there be a price to free education?
During a Lower House budget committee debate on May 8, Akira Nagatsuma of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to clarify remarks he had recently made about revising the Constitution. On May 3, which happened to be Constitution Day, Abe had delivered a message via...
JAPAN / Media
May 28, 2016
Shooting the messenger: journalism under siege in Japan
Journalists who refuse to toe the official line are under pressure, experts say

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?