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May 21, 2025
 

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CULTURE

TV & Streaming

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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
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
NHK's new four-episode miniseries, “After the Quake,” probes the ripple effects of past major disasters across Japanese society.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Rise and shine with ‘The Wakey Show’
Broadcaster NHK's first new daily children’s show in years puts puppets and positivity up front.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Can a meal make you besties? ‘K-foodie meets J-foodie’ says yes.
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.
The new Nippon TV series “The Hot Spot” follows an alien superhero navigating rural Japanese life but focuses more on dialogue than splashy, action-packed plot points.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Feb 10, 2025
‘The Hot Spot’: Close encounters of the mundane kind
By Patrick St. Michel
Japanese dramas have been taking bolder risks recently, and Bakarhythm’s new sci-fi series surprises by centering its high-concept ideas on trivial occurrences.
Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu, who was hugely popular across Asia for her leading role in the 2001 television drama "Meteor Garden," died from a respiratory illness during a family trip to Japan over the Lunar New Year holiday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 3, 2025
Taiwan's 'Meteor Garden' star Barbie Hsu dies at 48
The actor, who rose to fame as the romantic lead in a 2001 television drama based on a manga series, died from a respiratory illness during a family holiday in Japan.
Players in Jakarta, Indonesia, take part in the “Red Light, Green Light” game from the Netflix series “Squid Game.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 30, 2025
'Cute and murderous': How the iconic killer doll in 'Squid Game' came to life
By Minwoo Park and Hyunsu Yim
Young-hee, the innocent-looking robotic doll who has a deadly role in the mega-hit Netflix series, is partly inspired by the production designer's daughter.
Animated series “Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi” premiered on Cartoon Network on Nov. 29, 2004, and ran for three seasons. The show is based on real-life J-pop band Puffy.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 24, 2025
The cartoon chaos of ‘Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi’ was ahead of its time
By Patrick St. Michel
Love for the J-pop duo’s zany Cartoon Network series has endured online for over 20 years since its premiere.
“The Elephant Man” and “Twin Peaks” director David Lynch became a favorite among Japanese moviegoers who flocked to new arthouse cinemas (known as “mini theaters”) popping up around the country in the 1980s and ’90s.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 23, 2025
How 'Twin Peaks' turned David Lynch into Japan's favorite weirdo
By James Hadfield
The director’s work thrived in the early days of arthouse “mini theaters,” and cherry pies and canned coffee fueled the nation's "Twin Peaks" mania.

Man falls to his death from Osaka condo, killing cyclist below
Osaka's Kita Ward. Two men died Monday morning in the ward after a man fell from a high-rise condominium and struck a passing cyclist below, according to local police.
Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
Japan confirms hard-line position ahead of possible tariff talks in Washington
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that when Japan states it wants the tariffs reviewed, it means Tokyo wants them removed.
Amid rice shortage, farm minister comes under fire for saying he gets plenty
Agriculture minister Taku Eto has come under fire for saying at the weekend that he receives so much rice from his supporters that he has enough to sell it.
Nissan’s troubles might go all the way back to Ghosn 
A lot at a Nissan plant in Mexico. The company may have overextended itself during the Ghosn era.
Nissan’s troubles might go all the way back to Ghosn 
A lot at a Nissan plant in Mexico. The company may have overextended itself during the Ghosn era.
Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
The race for more time: Japanese runner decided to freeze eggs for her future
Tomomi Bitoh, seen crossing the finish line in Antarctica, on the first stop of the World Marathon Challenge, is one of the very few Japanese athletes to speak publicly about her experience with egg freezing.
Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.

Podcast

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

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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