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NETFLIX

“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.
A year-old film on Netflix titled "12.12: The Day" saw a spike in viewers after the political turmoil that hit South Korea this week.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 6, 2024
Korean coup movie hits No. 1 on Netflix after martial law chaos
The film depicts the events surrounding a Dec. 12, 1979, coup in South Korea, a theme also tackled in Han Kang's novel "Human Acts."
Japanese creatives, athletes and activists saw their efforts recognized on the world stage in various ways this year. At the Oscars (left) Takashi Yamazaki and his team took a prize for “Godzilla Minus One,” while later in the year Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada (center) took Emmys for their work in “Shogun.” Shohei Ohtani (right) was arguably the biggest Japanese star of the year.
CULTURE / 2024 in Review
Dec 4, 2024
Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024
From Oscars and Emmys to a Nobel Peace Prize, it was a year of awards and triumphs in key cultural fields.
Netflix's subscribers in Japan topped 10 million in the first half of this year, with Japanese content being its third-most-viewed non-English content, after those in Korean and Spanish.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024
Netflix Japan subscribers top 10 million
The streaming firm's Japanese-language programming is grabbing attention in the growing market.
Hiroshi Kurosaki’s Netflix series “Beyond Goodbye” centers on a woman (Kasumi Arimura, left) who discovers her dead lover’s heart saved the life of a quiet pianist (Kentaro Sakaguchi).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Nov 29, 2024
Hiroshi Kurosaki looks beyond Japan for heart-wrenching drama
The director’s Netflix series relies on lush visuals and truths about love and loss to appeal to an overseas audience.
High-rise buildings in Tokyo. Through faking documents and passports a criminal group conspired to pose as the owner of a real-estate plot and buildings in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward in 2017, defrauding Sekisui House of ¥5.5 billion.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 28, 2024
Real-life ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ ordered to pay ¥1 billion in damages
The Tokyo District Court ruled that the defendants knew they were engaging in a fraudulent scheme in their dealings with Sekisui House.
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 21, 2024
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
Ko Shinjo’s novel, a bold exploration of the twisted psyches of criminals, is best appreciated as a companion work to the recent Netflix series of the same title.
Mike Tyson fights Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Nov 17, 2024
Mike Tyson has 'no regrets' after losing to Jake Paul in return to ring
The 58-year-old legend lost a unanimous decision against the 27-year-old Paul.
Mike Tyson (left) and Jake Paul faceoff during a news conference on Wednesday to promote their upcoming bout on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 14, 2024
Mike Tyson looking forward to fighting Youtuber Jake Paul as boxing world recoils
The Netflix-backed bout has drawn widespread condemnation from across the boxing world.
As streaming services like Netflix invest in Japanese content, the hope is to revitalize the nation’s cultural exports and elevate its television landscape.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 9, 2024
Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ reveals some surprising truths
"Tokyo Swindlers" can reveal some home truths — even when they’re presented by a group of fraudsters.
Kim Sang-man’s “Uprising” has attracted significant attention ahead of its world premiere thanks largely to the involvement of  its producer Park Chan-wook, best-known for directing ultra-violent thrillers like 2003’s “Old Boy,” which played a key role in bringing South Korean cinema to the global forefront.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2024
Netflix war epic to open Asia's largest film festival
Streaming-only content has contributed to a significant surge in the global visibility of Korean and Korean diaspora stories.
Netflix has developed more local content for India featuring Bollywood actors over the years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 23, 2024
India probing Netflix for visa violations and racial discrimination, email shows
Netflix has often faced heat in India over its content deemed insensitive by some users, as well as an Indian tax demand since 2023.
Comedian Yuriyan Retriever takes on the role of Japan’s most hated heel, Kaoru “Dump” Matsumoto, in “The Queen of Villains.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Sep 20, 2024
Yuriyan Retriever is Japan's biggest heel — and proud of it
The comedian takes on the role of Kaoru “Dump” Matsumoto, a real-life rule-breaking brawler in women’s professional wrestling, in Netflix's “The Queen of Villains.”
A nefarious fraudster (Etsushi Toyokawa, left) and his protege (Go Ayano) engineer a multibillion-yen property scam in Netflix’s “Tokyo Swindlers.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 25, 2024
Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ is this summer’s guiltiest pleasure
The flashy new series about real estate scammers is a ridiculous treat to watch.
Durian Lollobrigida and his co-hosts — actors Megumi and Chiaki Horan, singer Thelma Aoyama and former “Terrace House” panelist Yoshimi Tokui — offer in-studio commentary on the contestants’ footage in Netflix’s new reality dating show, “The Boyfriend.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 13, 2024
'The Boyfriend' host Durian Lollobrigida puts a face to queer joy
Involvement in Netflix's new reality dating show is just the latest success in the Japanese drag queen's rise.
Actors Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, last month.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2024
Eddie Murphy's 'every man' hero returns in 'Beverly Hills Cop' sequel
Forty years after the original, the iconic 1980s franchise revists Axel Foley and his pals while serving old-school action.
Horror artist Junji Ito adds just a dash of comedy to his work, though he aims for it to be understated. “If it’s truly a horror story, the humor must be restrained and more veiled,” he says.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2024
Fear still matters to Junji Ito
Currently on view at Tokyo's Setagaya Literary Museum is an extensive collection of the horror master's work, the first large-scale exhibition of it's kind in Japan.
Netflix is ramping up local production in Southeast Asia, aiming to boost its subscriber base in the region even as U.S. rivals are pulling back.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024
Netflix uses ‘Squid Game’ playbook for untapped Southeast Asia
Asia Pacific, accounting for just 11% of Netflix's 2023 revenue may offer significant growth potential due to its large, young demographic.
Joey Chestnut (left) and Takeru Kobayashi compete in the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest in New York on July 4, 2009.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 13, 2024
Netflix to air 'ultimate' hot dog eating contest
The announcement comes a day after the esoteric world of speed eating contests was rocked by news that Joey Chestnut had been banned from a popular New York event.
Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs will face the Steelers in one of the two NFL games that will be aired on Netflix on Christmas Day.
MORE SPORTS
May 16, 2024
Netflix reaches deal to air NFL games
Netflix will broadcast two NFL games next season for the first time in a landmark move that comes as the streaming giant bolsters its portfolio of sports-based programming.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past