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CULTURE / Music
Nov 5, 2013

Hostess exists rather happily on the edge

With international repertoire's share of the music market down to about 15 percent, it has never been harder to break foreign acts in Japan. And given the shrinking market for non-Japanese music, it seems quixotic to set up a company specializing in bringing foreign repertoire into the country — especially...
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Oct 31, 2013

Waseda students teach you how to have fun

University festivals are probably not the first place foreign residents in Japan would seek out entertainment, but as evidence of the existence — despite many reports to the contrary — of a certain joie de vivre among the nation's young, they are hard to beat. And the hardest to beat is surely Waseda-sai,...
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 29, 2013

DeNA plans push beyond games

DeNA Co., the Tokyo-based company whose service lets people play games on mobile phones, is seeking to expand its e-commerce and mobile entertainment businesses and is mulling acquisition opportunities.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2013

Pianist Ai Kuwabara to live out her dream on stage at Tokyo Jazz Festival

Pianist Ai Kuwabara is waxing nostalgic at the offices of her record label, East Works Entertainment, in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 29, 2013

Obama criticized for delivering predictable rhetoric amid historic backdrop

President Barack Obama began with a recapitulation, an attempt to recall in lyrical fashion who came to Washington in 1963, where they came from, how they got here and why they made the journey.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 19, 2013

Samsung, Sony set pre-emptive strikes

Samsung Electronics Co. and Sony Corp. reportedly plan to unveil new devices next month as two of Asia's biggest technology companies try to showcase their products before Apple Inc. releases new iPhones and iPads.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2013

Sony to release flagship Xperia smartphone in September: sources

Sony Corp. will launch a flagship smartphone for its Xperia brand next month that features imaging technology developed for its cameras and ultrahigh definition TVs, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 13, 2013

Otakon celebrates 20 years of anime fandom in the U.S.

The American anime convention, Otakon ("Otaku Convention"), begins with a costume parade before it officially opens. Last week I had a bird's-eye view of the spectacle from my 14th-floor hotel room in Baltimore, Maryland. An endless army of imaginary characters trudged across the elevated concourse and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2013

Forget the beach, try an on-the-job vacation

KidZania, the theme park where children can role-play professions such as doctor or firefighter, has proved popular around the world: entertainment centers are now operating in 10 countries in addition to Japan, including Mexico, Indonesia and Portugal.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 8, 2013

Eat yourself broke at Grand Front Osaka

You've gotta love a city whose primary motivation is to accumulate wealth then promptly squander it through the time-honored pursuit of kuidaore (eating oneself to bankruptcy). Now, with the opening of the massive Grand Front Osaka commercial, residential and entertainment complex on the north side of...
BUSINESS / BALANCING INTERESTS
Jul 22, 2013

Farmers stealing TPP spotlight from other key issues

While a great deal of political and media attention is focusing on what the Trans-Pacific Partnership might mean for Japan's agricultural sector, less is being devoted to how it could impact investor-state disputes and copyright laws, two controversial areas that present a growing challenge to forging...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 7, 2013

The aidoru industry seeks big bucks in numbers

They say that Japan is suffering from a major shōshika (少子化, plummeting birth rate) syndrome, but a cursory glance at the entertainment industry reveals a singular fact: The young people of this country are well and thriving, and huddled together in mass aidoru gurūpu (アイドルグループ,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 5, 2013

Hate pornography, sure, but be wary of banning it

Prosecutions for the possession of the filthiest pornography confirm foreigners' suspicions that the British care more for animals than people. Between 2008 and 2011, the English and Welsh authorities charged 1,922 men for having images of bestiality about their person. By contrast, they brought only...
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2013

News Corp. publishing arm breakup plan wins approval

After years of being criticized by investors for his love of newspapers, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is now a step closer to cleaving off his declining publishing business.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2013

A world of flowers and willows in Kyoto's geisha districts

'No matter what happens / I am in love with Gion. / Even when I sleep, / Beneath my pillow / The waters ripple.'
CULTURE / Music / MONEY AND MUSIC
Jun 6, 2013

Been down so long, it looks like up

I've been to a lot of music-industry conferences over the years, and for the past decade I've listened to the same old song: How can the recording industry fight online piracy, which it blames for plunging music sales?
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2013

Will the BBC learn anything from the Stuart Hall sex scandal?

The first Tuesday in May was an awkward day for BBC newsreaders. Once again the main headlines were dominated by scandals within their own institution. One of their most well-known presenters had admitted to 14 indecent assaults on 13 victims aged as young as 9, and a report was published citing "a strong...
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
May 11, 2013

Aoi Festival will be held Wednesday in Kyoto

The Aoi Festival, one of the three largest in Kyoto, will take place Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 28, 2013

Daytime in Kin Town's nocturnal city

The three drunken U.S. Marines who stumbled into my motorbike headlamps were clearly combat-trained, as their agility in shifting from advanced inebriation to performing a nimble leap onto the sidewalk suggested seriously attuned reflexes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 26, 2013

Young Gree chief loses $2.6 billion to smartphone boom

In five years, Yoshikazu Tanaka became Japan's youngest billionaire as investors piled into Gree Inc., valuing his controlling stake in the early maker of phone-based games at $4 billion. Just 18 months later, that has shriveled to about $1.4 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Apr 24, 2013

New-style Japanese souvenirs; Cinco de Mayo Festival in Tokyo

NEW PRODUCTS
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 10, 2013

Pop tourism gains traction

Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke volumes: It was Hatsune Miku, of course, Japan's holographic, animated virtual pop star, beloved fashion...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2013

Graft: a cancer on society

Some British companies fear that adhering to the international convention against bribery and corruption puts them at a competitive disadvantage.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami