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Japan Times
JAPAN / OBITUARY
Jan 30, 2017

'Father of Pac-Man,' Masaya Nakamura, dies at age 91

Masaya Nakamura, the founder of game developer and distributor Namco Ltd. and known as "the father of Pac-Man," died Jan. 22, Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. announced Monday via a corporate website.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 25, 2016

Love 'em or hate 'em, the end of SMAP marks the end of an era

The Olympics have always been popular in Japan, and this year's games in Rio de Janeiro were no exception. While NHK was broadcasting the games in the early hours of Aug. 14, a breaking news message flashed across the screen: "SMAP to disband Dec. 31."
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 21, 2016

Quotes of 2016, from 'Die, Japan' to 'Trump shock'

Some of the good, bad and ugly of what various people said or shouted out loud in 2016.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 1, 2016

Tokyo Comic Con calls on Hollywood's big guns for star power

As we sit down for an interview, Tokyo Comic Convention Committee Chairman Mitsuaki Munegumi casually points to a glass case in the center of the room.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 19, 2016

Is Japanese pop music losing its relevance?

Shukan Bunshun recently ran some articles describing how last year the talent management company LDH allegedly paid entertainment behemoth Burning Productions to ensure that one of LDH's acts would win the top prize at the 2015 Japan Record Awards (JRA). Accompanying one of the articles was a photo of...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 13, 2016

Launch of Sony PlayStation VR could be game changer for industry

Sony Corp.'s PlayStation VR hit the stores on Thursday, capping 2016 as the year that many have called the dawn of virtual reality.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 30, 2016

Tokyo VR attraction puts you in the heart of a Gundam battle

In 2009, anime fans were delighted when a life-size statue of a Gundam robot was unveiled in Tokyo's Odaiba district. The statue has now become a landmark attraction in the shopping and entertainment area.
BUSINESS / TRAVEL INSIDER
Aug 30, 2016

Ethnic food on Korean Air; Garuda named top airline; Delta introduces 'suites'

Ethnic food on Korean Air
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2016

Missile spat can't diminish China's K-pop love

In the war for Chinese hearts and minds, South Korean soap stars are clearly the winners.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Aug 10, 2016

Games industry unlikely to try to clone 'Pokemon Go'

Top video game companies, caught off-guard by the runaway success of "Pokemon Go," are wrestling with how to play catch-up after the augmented reality app became a worldwide phenomenon.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Aug 9, 2016

Alvark Tokyo transform operations for B. League's inaugural season

The team has changed its name from the Toyota Alvark to the Alvark Tokyo as Japan's men's pro basketball enters a new era with the launch of the B. League this fall.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jul 24, 2016

Yumi Ito of The Peanuts was a muse to both moth and men

I learned of the death of Yumi Ito, the last remaining member of 1960s pop duo The Peanuts, while battling a giant moth that had found its way into my apartment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 7, 2016

Matthew Ireton: 'Continuation is the key to success'

Radio/TV show host on calligraphy, singing shirtless and waking up ridiculously early.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2016

Why China's censors silenced a Net sensation

China's leaders, so determined to export their culture to the world, are instead cultivating a neutered entertainment industry with their censorship.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2016

Clinton dominates in Hollywood endorsements and cash

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' positions on fracking, free tuition and breaking up big banks wouldn't sound out of place in an Oscar winning-actor's acceptance speech.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2016

Tencent taps ninja Naruto to chase China's $31 billion anime market

A blue-eyed ninja with spiky blond hair and whisker marks is leading Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s campaign to capture the eyes and wallets of China's anime fans.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 16, 2016

Dotonbori: Where Osakans eat, drink and be merry

Comparing Osaka with almost any other Japanese city is akin to likening a bloodied steak to boiled chicken.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jan 16, 2016

Online streaming keeps anime afloat

Last week in California, I caught up with some of the chief purveyors of Japanese popular culture in the United States and elsewhere in the world. It became rapidly clear that 2016 won't be at all like 2015 — or any other year before it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 9, 2015

'San Andreas' struggles to hold water in post-3/11 Japan

In the 1970s, Hollywood disaster movies were a lucrative genre. In 1974 "Earthquake" and "The Towering Inferno" were released, and the decade saw the box-office success of multiple "Airport" films.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2015

Who are you calling a honky? Gaffe-prone Fuji TV stumbles again

Internet users were snorting in derision after participants on a Fuji TV entertainment show wore T-shirts with a bizarre English slogan incorporating a word that some Caucasians might find offensive.
WORLD
Jul 22, 2015

Security experts hack into, seize control of moving car

A pair of veteran cybersecurity researchers have shown they can use the Internet to turn off a car's engine as it drives, sharply escalating the stakes in the debate about the safety of increasingly connected cars and trucks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 18, 2015

Project Anime asks the right questions

More than 90,000 attended the 24th annual Anime Expo (AX), North America's largest Japanese pop culture convention, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 2 to 5. The four-day event featured a concert by idol group Momoiro Clover Z, who were joined onstage by two members of veteran American...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2015

'Puzzle & Dragons' maker plans expansion into game publishing

GungHo Online Entertainment Inc. plans to strike partnerships with third-party game developers and share its recipe for success as the maker of the world's highest-grossing smartphone title begins to expand into publishing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 31, 2015

'Tenimyu' 2.5-D shows net over 2 million tickets sold

There's kabuki, noh, butoh, bunraku, regular plays, glitzy musicals and Japan's unique all-female Takarazuka musical theater troupe — but another home-grown performance-art genre has for some time been carving a niche in this country's diverse entertainment world in the shape of so-called 2.5-D musicals....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2015

Asia casinos woo Chinese gamblers with nose jobs, Peking duck and escorts

At the oceanfront Ramada Plaza hotel on South Korea's Jeju Island, about a hundred Chinese gamblers huddle around felt-topped tables, wagering as much as 5 million won ($4,500) at baccarat.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.