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December 10, 2024
 

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“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.
Video game music has come a long way from its humble origins.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Dec 7, 2024
Beyond beeps and boops: Video game music has grown up
Video game music has gone from 8-bit chiptunes to fully realized productions that bring the gamer’s experience to life.
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 19, 2024
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
“The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” newly translated into English, is an explicit rerun of the author’s older works with an alternate ending.
Matt Groening (right), creator of the show "The Simpsons," attends the premiere of the "The Simpsons Movie" along with characters from the series in Springfield, Vermont, in July 2007.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2024
‘The Simpsons’ has become a parody of itself. That’s a good thing.
With the "The Simpsons" viewership down to just 10% of its peak, the show is often in the news for controversies rather than content.
In the April-September period, Nintendo logged net profit of ¥108.7 billion ($710 million), down 60% from the same period a year earlier.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 5, 2024
Nintendo lowers sales forecast as first-half profits plunge
The video game giant now expects sales of ¥1.28 trillion, down from the previous estimate of ¥1.35 trillion, and also issued a less optimistic operating profit forecast.
Muhammad Ali (left) fights George Foreman in Kinshasa, in what was then known as Zaire, in a bout better known as The Rumble in the Jungle, on Oct. 30, 1974.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Oct 30, 2024
Rumble in the Jungle remembered after 50 years
The bout between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali is still fondly remembered in Kinshasa.
The Tokyo Ballet’s 60th anniversary program includes Maurice Bejart’s famous shorts, such as “Bolero.”
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 13, 2024
The Tokyo Ballet marks year of rebirth with tributes to history and innovation
Long-time collaborator Bejart Ballet Lausanne brings masterworks to Japan for The Tokyo Ballet's 60th anniversary celebrations.
A survey showed the use of terminal care and attended deaths at home kept increasing after surging in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024
Terminal care at home surged in Japan during COVID-19 pandemic
Cases of terminal care at home grew for clinics certified to meet standards for supporting home care, such as having doctors available to make house visits.
The protagonist of “The Colors Within” is Totsuko (voiced by Sayu Suzukawa), a cheerful young woman who views the world in a unique way: Everyone she sees gives off their own distinct color that represents their personality.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 30, 2024
'The Colors Within' tunes into everyday moments of love
Director Naoko Yamada's new anime film, which explores themes of acceptance and communication without words, was born from a creative relationship of complete trust.
British hard rock outfit Bring Me the Horizon delivered a dramatic set that featured a surprise appearance from local metal-meets-idol group Babymetal.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 23, 2024
Summer Sonic: The heat doesn’t matter when the lineup works
Where would you see a bill with Maneskin, Gen Hoshino, Christina Aguilera and Bring Me the Horizon in the prime slots? At a sold-out music festival, that’s where.
In September, world leaders will meet in New York for the United Nation's Summit of the Future to strengthen international cooperation on digital technology and innovation, as well as development financing, security, employment and gender equality.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2024
The U.N. is charting a new course for our technology future
By closing digital and data divides through international cooperation, we can foster a technology culture that addresses global challenges.
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.
Akira Otani's "The Night of Baba Yaga” explores the boundaries of finding one's place in society as it questions ideas of violence, love, family and honor.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2024
‘The Night of Baba Yaga’ weaves a yakuza thriller into a meditation on queerness
Translator Sam Bett gravitated to the Akira Otani novel for its refusal to adhere to established genre conventions.
Students receive school lunch at Senju Aoba Junior High School in Tokyo in June 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 17, 2024
Obesity increased among children in Japan during pandemic
The study analyzed the health checkup data of about 186,000 people who graduated from junior high school between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2022.
Tourists take pictures from a boat on the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2024
Thailand is already seeing signs of a 'White Lotus' travel bump
The series recently wrapped filming at several resorts and locations in the nation.
Seize The Grey wins the Preakness Stakes as jockey Jamie Torres celebrates at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
May 19, 2024
Seize the Grey wins Preakness Stakes to deny Triple Crown hopeful Mystik Dan
Mystik Dan failed in its bid to become the 14th horse to complete U.S. flat racing's coveted Triple Crown.
Andy Summers’ exhibition “A Series of Glances,” currently on view in Tokyo and Kyoto simultaneously, features photographs taken in a wide range of locations around the world, including “Centaur,” which was snapped in Montserrat in July 1981.
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2024
Andy Summers captures life on and off stage in moody monochrome
The guitarist for The Police, who cites Akira Kurosawa as an important influence, puts his passion for photography on display in Japan.
Cold medicine packages at a drug store. Japan has faced unseasonal and larger-than-usual outbreaks of infectious diseases over the past year after the COVID-19's downgrade to the same level as flu.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 7, 2024
Anti-infection measures still needed, one year after COVID-19 downgrade
Despite the drop in COVID-19 cases, childhood infectious diseases and the flu have spread in the country over the past year.
On May 2, the streets of Arashiyama, a well-known tourist destination in Kyoto, were filled with tourists, including many from abroad, ahead of the four-day weekend.
JAPAN / Society
May 6, 2024
Excitement returns to tourist spots in Japan one year on
Medical institutions have remained on alert for a possible spread of infections, including during the Golden Week holiday period.
In the new Disney+ series “House of the Owl,” Min Tanaka (left) plays a powerful political fixer, or “kuromaku,” who has a troubled relationship with his adult children, particularly his idealistic son, played by Mackenyu.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 18, 2024
'House of the Owl' brings Hollywood values to Japanese TV
Min Tanaka plays a powerful political fixer in the 10-episode show, which centers on the behind-the-scenes machinations of "kuromaku."
Firms should quit turning foreign workers into Japanese ones
Filipino housekeepers undergo training to work for a Japanese staffing company. By applying the same criteria when hiring overseas and local workers, Japanese firms tend to underutilize the unique skills that foreign nationals can bring.
Nissan boss Uchida races to save the automaker — and his job
Makoto Uchida, President and CEO of Nissan, holds a press briefing at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 in Tokyo on Oct. 25, 2023. Uchida is under presser to deliver a turnaround and to keep his job at the troubled carmaker.
Japan to scrap ¥1.06 million employee pension threshold in 2026
The government's pension reform plan under consideration will make it easier for part-timers to join the kosei nenkin employee pension program.
South Korea martial law fallout deepens as prosecutors close in
South Korea Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (left) and the ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon speak at a news conference after their meeting to discuss plans for President Yoon Suk Yeol's "orderly retreat" at the People Power Party headquarters in Seoul on Sunday.
Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and her music, dies at 54
Miho Nakayama rose to stardom in 1985 after the release of her first single “C,” which established her popularity as an idol.
Welcome to Yama, Japan’s first Michelin-starred dessert restaurant
Koichi Katsumata is the first chef to receive a Michelin star in Japan for an 'assiette dessert' (dessert course) restaurant
Futaba pivots to 'hope tourism' to revive its fortunes
The town of Futaba is still dealing with the effects of 3/11, but that isn't stopping some residents from looking forward.
2024 was the year Japanese TV found its prestige
“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. 
What constitutes fatal dangerous driving in Japan?
Critics have said that drivers who were speeding well over the speed limit or those who were extremely drunk were not indicted for dangerous driving because of its vague definition.
Japan's soft power soared to new heights in 2024
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.

Podcast

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

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?
By Thu-Huong Ha

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