Tag - video

 
 

VIDEO

Professional models cosplay characters from Persona 5: The Phantom X, one of many titles on display at Tokyo Game Show, Japan's largest gaming industry event.
LIFE / Digital
Sep 26, 2025
Tokyo Game Show 2025 leans into renewal and rebirth
Japan’s largest games industry show returns with its largest spread of exhibitors yet.
The Tokyo Game Show opened Thursday in the city of Chiba with 521 Japanese exhibitors and 615 exhibitors from overseas — the largest share yet.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2025
Tokyo Game Show kicks off with largest lineup yet
The four-day event is hosting a record 4,157 booths and 1,136 exhibitors, more than half of which are from overseas.
American saxophonist Patrick Bartley is the leader of J-Music Ensemble, a jazz-fusion band specializing in instrumental covers of Japanese music.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2025
Finding jazz in J-pop: Patrick Bartley’s musical second language
The J-Music Ensemble leader translates Japanese culture into a classic American musical tradition.
Super Mario soft toys in various sizes at collector Kikai's residence in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Aug. 19
LIFE / Digital
Sep 12, 2025
'He's a regular man, not unlike us': Marking 40 years of Mario games
Super Mario Bros., released for Nintendo's home consoles in Japan on Sept. 13, 1985, was a landmark of early video gaming.
Melos Han-Tani is a game designer of eclectic interests whose upcoming releases, Angeline Era and Danchi Days, are set in alternate-history Ireland and a public housing complex in Japan, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 12, 2025
Melos Han-Tani: ‘Figuring out what you value is valuable for any artist’
A designer, programmer and composer, Han-Tani draws inspiration from a wide range of sources and channels his creativity through games, music and writing.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is the latest overnight success to come from the world of Japanese video games — never mind it was originally released in 2021.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 6, 2025
Racehorses, anime girls and gambling: Umamusume’s recipe for success
The latest overnight hit from Japan’s gaming world relies on a quirky mix of elements from the worlds of pop culture and sports.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance makes excellent use of stages dripping with atmosphere to punch up the feel of its tight combat mechanics.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 25, 2025
Sega's ninja-themed Shinobi series is back from the dead
The long-running series hasn’t had a console release since 2003, but the new title is nearly enjoyable enough to make the wait worth it.
The Kyoto District Court on Thursday delivered a guilty verdict on the founder of video-sharing service FC2 over obscene videos that appeared on the platform.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2025
Founder of video platform FC2 found guilty of hosting obscene videos
A Kyoto court sentenced Riyo Takahashi, 51, to three years in prison — suspended for five years — and fined him ¥2.5 million.
Cosplay fans hold small fans to cool down while outside the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya on Aug. 3, 2024.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2025
Japan's World Cosplay Summit to escape summer heat in 2027
The annual extravaganza, usually held in Nagoya, sees thousands of people from all over the world embody their chosen anime, manga and gaming stars in elaborate costumes.
Merchandise are pictured for sale at a Nintendo store in central Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 2, 2025
Nintendo to raise U.S. pricing of original Switch hardware
Nintendo attributed the changes to "market conditions," a hint at the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Nintendo said its quarterly revenue had more than doubled year-on-year thanks to the Switch 2, which became the world's fastest-selling console after its launch in June.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2025
Nintendo keeps Switch 2 forecast unchanged despite hot start
The Kyoto-based company said on Friday that it still expects to sell 15 million units of its next-generation hardware by March, maintaining a conservative view.
Visitors play Hades 2, an upcoming independent game for Nintendo's Switch 2, during the BitSummit indie gaming expo in the city of Kyoto on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025
Indie game studios battle for piece of Switch 2 success
With Nintendo game sales long dominated by in-house franchises, it can be hard for outsiders to break through.
Sega's first brick-and-mortar store in Japan is an example of how the country's video game industry is thinking of its digital products as tangible experiences.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 18, 2025
Sega’s first Japan store signals ‘immersive entertainment’ push
Opened on July 18 in the Shibuya Parco building, the video game company’s brick-and-mortar venture hints at a broader trend in Japan’s gaming landscape.
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 12, 2025
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
The Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society almost shuttered earlier this year, but a flood of support has buoyed efforts to save games on extinct media.
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jul 12, 2025
Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?
When it comes to Hideo Kojima’s visuals, art imitates life — and it’s more often Hollywood’s version of life than Japan’s that influences his games.
Microsoft’s gaming division began cutting hundreds of employees on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 3, 2025
Microsoft makes deep Xbox job cuts and cancels games
Microsoft announced Wednesday that it’s eliminating 9,000 workers companywide in its second wave of layoffs this year.
Australian singer Donna Burke in Tokyo on May 29. People comment on how familiar her voice is when footage of Burke performing shinkansen announcements go viral online.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 27, 2025
A trained star: The Australian singer who became the voice of the shinkansen
The “JR voice” has built a career that encompasses voice work for prominent game franchises including Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy.
Many recent video games, including Breath of the Wild and Planet of Lana, have borrowed from the pastoral aesthetic of Studio Ghibli films like “Princess Mononoke.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2025
Studio Ghibli’s majestic sensibility is drawing imitators
Forty years after the Japanese animation studio was founded, game creators are embracing its legacy of moral integrity.
A customer buys a Nintendo Switch 2 in Tokyo on June 5. Online outrage over the gaming console’s price, terms and features was loud but meaningless, as record-breaking sales showed once again that internet backlash rarely reflects real consumer behavior.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 25, 2025
The 'internet' hated Switch 2 — consumers bought it anyway
The internet gives consumers a voice they once didn’t have. But separating signal from noise is a challenge — just look at the Switch 2.
A customer poses with a Nintendo Switch 2 console at a Bic Camera electronics store in Tokyo on June 5.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2025
Nintendo's Switch 2 sets sales record in boon for gaming sector
The numbers bode well for its target of selling 15 million units by March next year.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan