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October 27, 2025
 

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CULTURE / Longform
Sep 26, 2022

Big in China, but can the party last for Japan’s artists?

Overseas artists can make a splash in China — provided they abide by the rules.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 26, 2022

Japanese pop culture in China: It’s complicated.

Japan and China recently celebrated 50 years of relations and, since then, Japanese art, film and music has had a major impact on Chinese society. Recently, however, the Chinese market has become increasingly difficult to navigate.
Japan Times
Dec 25, 2017

Pop Culture Experience Program 'pop-cul.jp' for International Visitors to Japan Launch on January 2018!

'MANGA Drawing Experience for Press' on January 4.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2013

Loeb presses Sony on IPO, blasts film flops

Sony Corp. investor Daniel Loeb, pressing the case for an initial public offering of the company's entertainment unit, has leveled new criticism at management of the company's film and television studio.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 23, 2013

Sony to mull selling stake in show biz

Sony Corp. said Wednesday that its board of directors will consider a proposal by a U.S. hedge fund to put on the stock market a minority stake in Sony's entertainment division, retracting an earlier statement that they won't be put up for sale.
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.
Thailand's Queen Sirikit waves to people during her arrival in Chinatown for Lunar New Year celebrations in Bangkok, in January 2012
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 25, 2025

Thailand's Queen Mother Sirikit, influential style icon, dies at 93

The palace said she had been hospitalized since 2019 due to several illnesses before passing away late on Friday.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups reacts during a game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Oct. 8. Billups has been charged in a case involving the alleged rigging of high-stakes poker games.
BASKETBALL / NBA / FOCUS
Oct 26, 2025

NBA insider arrests highlight risks of leagues embracing sports betting

The arrests will bring fresh scrutiny to the relationship between online sports books and professional leagues, worth millions of dollars to both sides.
U.S. director Kathryn Bigelow attends the Los Angeles special screening of her Netflix film "A House of Dynamite" at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, California, on Oct. 9.
WORLD
Oct 26, 2025

Pentagon frets over ‘A House of Dynamite’ nuclear doomsday film

The Pentagon agency responsible for the more than $50 billion system of ground-based interceptors designed to avoid just such a scenario isn’t happy about it.
JAPAN / Explainer
Oct 3, 2023

Unpacking the latest Johnny & Associates news conference

The flood of information released during the agency's latest news conference may have been difficult to grasp. Here's what you need to know.
Boy band Epex is set to play an event at a 1,000-capacity hall in Fuzhou, Fujian province.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 30, 2025

China’s first K-pop concert in years signals efforts to mend ties

In the middle of a trade war, China extends a cultural olive branch to its Korean neighbors.
Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo's Minato Ward. Fuji TV came under fire over the manner in which it handled a case of “sexual trouble” involving former boy band member Masahiro Nakai and a female announcer.
JAPAN / Media / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2025

How the Japanese TV industry is changing

After a series of major scandals in recent years, Japan’s TV industry appears to be growing more sensitive to issues of harassment and misconduct.
Japan National Stadium will be called the MUFG Stadium from 2026 to 2030.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 15, 2025

MUFG buys Japan National Stadium naming rights for five years 

The financial services company anticipates opportunities from the investment.
Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima (second from right) acknowledged that company founder Johnny Kitagawa had sexually abused agency employees for decades during a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 9, 2023

What’s in a name? A lot of baggage and trauma, unfortunately.

Johnny and Associates' recognition of abuse is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to move forward.
Thailand has taken its first step toward legalizing casinos, as the government looks to attract high-spending tourists to support the nation's economy.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 29, 2024

Thailand takes first step to legalize casinos to aid economy

Thailand is the latest nation to consider entering the global casino industry, which is estimated to have generated $263.3 billion in revenue last year.
Sony has prioritized acquiring more content and intellectual property rights at a time when the company’s hardware efforts are stagnating.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2025

Sony lifts forecast on expectations of game and music improvement

Sony has prioritized acquiring more content and intellectual property rights at a time when the company’s hardware efforts are stagnating.
Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” is the CEO and founder of tech company Cover Corporation, which runs Hololive, an industry-leading virtual YouTuber talent agency.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2025

Virtual idols, real fans: Hololive’s bet on the future of pop

Hololive CEO Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” has global ambitions for his virtual YouTuber sensations.
Crunchyroll, now owned by Sony Group Corp., is setting its sights on India as a major growth market.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 15, 2023

Former piracy site Crunchyroll cashes in on anime's global appeal

Crunchyroll expects the anime industry will have more than 800 million fans globally by 2025 outside markets in China and Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2023

Media respond to report on sexual abuse at Johnny and Associates

The committee said Japan's mainstream media chose to ignore Kitagawa’s sexual abuse in order to maintain access to Johnny & Associates' talent pool.
Singer and dancer Shizuko Kasagi's life is the basis for the new morning drama series on NHK.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Longform
Oct 1, 2023

When the 'Queen of Boogie' reigned in Japan

Shizuko Kasagi gave Japan a reason to rejoice again and inspired a generation of young women in the process.
A rendering of the new Junglia theme park scheduled to open in Okinawa in 2025
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2023

Nature-focused theme park to open in Okinawa in 2025

The park aims to take advantage of the outstanding forests of northern Okinawa Prefecture, which have been designated a World Heritage site.
While Hayao Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking, “The Boy and the Heron,” did not attain the ¥10 billion milestone that the beloved animator’s movies had once routinely surpassed, it debuted at the top of the North American box office and became the first original anime film to lead the box office in the United States and Canada.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Dec 15, 2023

Japan’s auteurs and anime triumphed in 2023

From Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron” to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” the box-office hits kept coming.
J-pop duo Yoasobi performed its 2023-defining hit, “Idol," during the 74th edition of NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” giving the show its best moment — and drawing anger from netizens.
CULTURE / Sound Off
Jan 12, 2024

Yoasobi delivered the standout moment of ‘Kohaku.’ Why did some music fans hate it?

The J-pop duo brought artists from J-pop and K-pop together on stage for the night's best performance, but it didn’t take long for negative voices to emerge on social media.
In an emergency move, Bob Iger returned to Disney in November 2022, just 11 months after retiring, to rescue the company from his hand-picked successor as CEO, Bob Chapek.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2024

Hunt for Disney CEO Bob Iger's successor kicks into high gear

Board members are seeking to reassure investors that they are taking the matter of succession seriously, having extended Iger's retirement date five times.
Thailand is the latest nation to consider competing for a pie of the global casino industry, which IBIS World estimates generated $263.3 billion in revenue last year.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 5, 2024

Thailand plans bill to legalize casinos, spokesman says

Any opening of casinos will be in line with its recent embrace of a more liberal landscape to revive its tourism industry.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addresses the joint extraordinary leaders summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in Riyadh on Nov. 11.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

Mohammed bin Salman’s style shift sets up a new world order strategy

The implications of Saudi Arabia’s transformation under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will reverberate far beyond the kingdom’s borders for decades to come.
“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.
The streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district in 2020. Consultations over matters relating to host clubs have been increasing every year at police stations nationwide, according to the National Police Agency.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2024

National Police Agency panel calls for stricter rules against host clubs

The expert panel recommends targeting malicious practices, rather than specific establishments, to cover more ground.
An advertisement in Tokyo's Kabukicho, Japan's largest red-light district. The country is home to a thriving adult entertainment industry and has recently seen a boom in sex tourism fueled by the weak yen and availability of red-light services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

From geisha to oshikatsu, toxic tropes fuel sex industry

It isn't only the foreign gaze that produces stereotypes of Japanese women as submissive and promiscuous. Local laws and cultural norms play just as important a role.
Wakana, a Japanese fan of Thai BL, visits a temple in Thon Buri, Bangkok featured in the Thai adaptation of the Japanese series “Cherry Magic.” Her media consumption kindled an interest in Thai culture and language, and ultimately led her to relocate to Thailand. “I fell in love with the whole country,” she says.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 28, 2025

Boys’ love dramas from Thailand make waves in Japan

Thailand has become a top producer of BL (boys’ love) dramas — and audiences in Japan are among the most ardent consumers.
Bear kills another person in Japan in record year for fatal attacks
Police investigate the scene of a bear attack that killed one person and injured three others on Friday in the village of Higashinaruse in Akita Prefecture.
Tokyo launches English-language international school database
A screenshot of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's international schools portal site
Strong quake shakes Hokkaido as authorities urge vigilance
Kunashiri Island is seen across the Nemuro Strait, just before sunrise from Rausu, Hokkaido. A strong earthquake struck the area at a depth of about 40 kilometers early Saturday.
New tourism minister calls concentration of tourists in certain areas 'very serious'
Tourism minister Yasushi Kaneko holds a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Florian Wiltschko: ‘Shinto helps me understand and live within Japanese culture’
Florian Wiltschko’s interest in Shintoism began with a trip to Japan in his teens. He now serves as the supplicant priest at the 355-year-old Hisai Hachiman Shrine in Mie Prefecture.
Loss to Wallabies doesn't dampen Japan’s optimism
Japan's Michael Leitch controls the ball during the match against Australia on Saturday.
Stars align for Kim-Trump meeting — but any talks will be on N.K. leader’s terms
A South Korean soldier stands next to a TV broadcasting a news report about a possible summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, at the main railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
New ‘immigration minister’ post signals Takaichi Cabinet’s priorities
Kimi Onoda, economic security minister and minister for harmonious coexistence with foreign nationals, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Number of suicide cases among students in Japan hits record high in 2024
The health ministry's Suicide White Paper for 2024 has found that numbers for both men and women peak at age 21, with “concerns over future career paths” being identified as the most likely cause.
The newly formed LDP-JIP coalition may not be as solid as it seems
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi and Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura sign a policy agreement between the two parties at the Diet in Tokyo on Monday.

Podcast

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

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.
By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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