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September 10, 2025
 

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CULTURE

TV & Streaming

Film
Books
Art
Music
TV & Streaming
Stage
Entertainment news
“The Summer Hikaru Died” is a slow-burn horror and a coming-of-age narrative, but its thematic layers and queer undertones open conversations about friendship and belonging.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dark folklore meets teenage angst in ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’
Slow-burn horror in the countryside coupled with queer undertones makes for a memorable anime adaptation.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Virtual singer Kaf's music becomes magic in 'Kamitsubaki City Under Construction'
After evolving from an online presence into a live performer, Kaf has now stepped into voice acting as part of a multimedia project built around a supergroup of virtual artists.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
From foil to fan favorite, Kuromi embodies Sanrio’s darker side of cute
Once My Melody’s mischievous antagonist, Kuromi is now outshining her pastel-pink counterpart, with a rebellious personality that resonates with today’s audiences.
Filmmakers interview the general manager of a Bald Men's club for an upcoming Flix Oven documentary that will be available via the streaming platform Samansa.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Aug 14, 2025
Samansa bets on commuter cinema
By Ryne Hisada
As attention spans get shorter, a Japanese startup is banking on short films as easily digestible entertainment.
A musical genius (Takeru Satoh, second from right) recruits an unknown rookie drummer to play with Japan’s hottest band in “Glass Heart.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Aug 7, 2025
'Glass Heart’: A flashy rock fairytale scrubbed of grit
By James Hadfield
Netflix’s drama series about a musical genius forming Japan’s hottest new band is glossy, shallow and strangely sanitized.
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 3, 2025
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
By Mike Fu
NHK's new four-episode miniseries, “After the Quake,” probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
“The Wakey Show” is NHK’s first new daily children’s program in three years, and it carries on the station’s storied past in youth-centric educational entertainment.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 27, 2025
Rise and shine with ‘The Wakey Show’
By Patrick St. Michel
Broadcaster NHK's first new daily children’s show in years puts puppets and positivity up front.
Netflix reality show “K-foodie meets J-foodie” follows South Korean YouTuber Sung Si-kyung and Japanese actor Yutaka Matsushige as they share meals in their respective countries.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 6, 2025
Can a meal make you besties? ‘K-foodie meets J-foodie’ says yes.
By Patrick St. Michel
The new Netflix show pairs a Korean crooner and a Japanese food icon for a cross-cultural food rally.
Netflix reality series “Offline Love” follows five men and five women as they spend 10 days in Nice, France, finding romance.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 18, 2025
‘Offline Love’ ditches digital dating and puts old-school romance to the test
By Patrick St. Michel
Netflix Japan's new reality series whisks its participants to a picturesque seaside city in France and leans into nostalgia for a simpler time.
Netflix series “Asura,” directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is a remake of a classic TV drama (known as “Like Asura” in English), created by Kuniko Mukoda and broadcast by NHK between 1979 and 1980.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 12, 2025
The different faces of ‘Asura’ through the generations
By James Hadfield
While Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new series meticulously remakes a classic NHK drama, this reinterpretation tweaks the story to give its female characters more agency.

Japan eyes two types of 'hometown resident' registration
People buy groceries from a mobile supermarket in a rural area of Nagomi, Kumamoto Prefecture. The government is considering a new "hometown resident" registration system to help strengthen regional revitalization measures.
Ed Sheeran teams up with Tokyo’s Oedo Line
The “Oh! Ed! Collaboration Campaign,” launched on Tokyo's Keio Line to celebrate the Friday release of Ed Sheeran’s latest album, “Play,” includes a eight-car train dedicated to the pop star's music and trivia related to his career
Workers say corporate South Korea was warned about questionable U.S. visas before Hyundai raid
Activists holding signs that reads "No one is illegal!" protest against a huge immigration raid last week in the U.S. state of Georgia, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Tuesday.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
Search is on for loopholes in Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argues that U.S. President Donald Trump has sole authority to invest Japan's promised $550 billion.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.
Shizuoka farmers fight to preserve sustainable tea method that’s steeped in tradition
As of August 2024, the number of confirmed chagusaba farmers had fallen to 302, just over half the 582 reported in 2015, according to the Shizuoka Chagusaba Farming Method Promotion Council.
Search is on for loopholes in Japan’s $550 billion investment pledge
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argues that U.S. President Donald Trump has sole authority to invest Japan's promised $550 billion.
In rural Hokkaido, the stops and starts of tourism revival on full display
Redevelopment plans for Kawayu Onsen have hit some snags — an example of how bringing tourists back to declining rural communities is far from easy work.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality
Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

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