japanamerica

Talking about Japan's WWII war loot, hidden in the Philippines, recovered by the Americans in project Golden Lily, and transformed into the M-Fund, the Black Eagle Trust and others. (click to play) Wrote about it here . And here . Also here .

Japan's anime studios fall victim to coronavirus disruptions 'Pokemon' and 'Sazae-san' are delayed as animators and voice artists work from home Nikkei Asian Review TOKYO -- Japan's anime industry has been plagued for years by adverse conditions: long hours in cramped studios, razor-thin profit margins, domestic labor shortages and a reliance on public fan gatherings and box office sales. But since the government declared a national state of emergency for Tokyo and other cities on April 16 in response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, urging citizens to work from home, those adversities have anime producers scrambling for new business models. Dozens of productions have been suspended indefinitely, including hit series like "Pokemon" and "One Piece"; theatrical releases in the popular "Doraemon" and "Detective Conan" franchises; and even "Sazae-san," the domestic drama that holds the Guinness Wor...

Anime cons ‘will never be the same’ after the coronavirus The Japan Times [*Since the publication of this story, San Diego Comic-Con, Anime Expo, Otakon, and other major pop culture conventions have been canceled. Some have moved online to host virtual events. Project Anime provides a list .] The anime convention season, usually in full swing from March through the end of summer, has been decimated by the spread of the novel coronavirus. Hundreds of events held annually across the globe, from Paris and Seattle to Toronto and Tokyo, most of which attract thousands of guests, are now canceled or postponed. Some of them won’t come back. The cascade of announcements started in Tokyo at the end of February. AnimeJapan, usually held in March and the industry’s only major yearly trade fair, was abruptly called off on Feb. 27, one day after the government’s request to avoid large-scale gatherings. At the time, the decision felt rushed and a bit rash. A list of performers...

GeeXPlus brings anime YouTubers to Japan The Japan Times Social-media influencers who review products on platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Instagram are now pillars of marketing agencies worldwide, especially when their consumer base skews young. Whether the product is hand soap or ham sandwiches, in a world where “expert” has become a dirty word, getting a push from a social-media star with over a million followers can make or break a sales campaign. One major Japanese publisher and producer is seeking to capitalize on the phenomenon in pop culture with a concrete if highly unusual approach. Last July, Kadokawa Corp. soft-launched a subsidiary of its Book Walker Co. Ltd. digital e-book division called GeeXPlus (“Geeks plus”) Inc., whose main goal is “connecting Japanese brands to global influencers” by providing “promotion planning, production and distribution” for English-speaking YouTubers. In October of last year, GeeXPlus invited three anime YouTubers to live and cr...

Anime's evolution in lands down under The Japan Times For the past quarter century, fans of Japanese pop culture in Australia and New Zealand have been served almost exclusively by a single distributor. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Madman Entertainment boasts over 90 percent of the region’s market share in anime home entertainment, and an even greater share of its anime theatrical business. Not surprisingly, those statistics drew the attention of the Sony Corporation, whose Aniplex Inc. subsidiary invested in Madman two years ago and bought its anime division outright last year. Sony Pictures Television and Aniplex have now consolidated Madman Anime Group into their other recent anime distribution acquisitions: Funimation in the United States, Wakanim in France, and Manga Entertainment in the United Kingdom and Ireland. On March 7 and 8, Madman hosted 12,000-plus fans at its second Madman Anime Festival in Sydney , Australia’s largest city, after presenting simi...

When American country meets Japanese anime The Japan Times The artists gathered at last month’s Tokyo premiere of “ Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury ” were as eclectic as the film they’d all made: a 41-minute anime music video set to an entire album by the Grammy-winning Sturgill Simpson, a country music singer-songwriter from Kentucky. After the screening, delivered in 7.1 surround sound so rich it enveloped like an aural duvet, Japanese and American anime luminaries including Koji Morimoto (“Akira”), Michael Arias (“Tekkonkinkreet”), Masaru Matsumoto (“Appleseed Alpha”), Shinji Takagi (“Steamboy”), Arthell Isom (“Strike Witches”) and Henry Thurlow (“Tokyo Ghoul”) stood shoulder-to-shoulder beneath projected images of scenes from the omnibus project. Standing tallest among them was a squinting Simpson, just in from the U.S. and still, he confessed, addled by jet lag. But the mash-up doesn’t end there. The film’s overarching storyline was inspired by Akira Kurosaw...

I am grateful to my hosts in Houston for a wonderful evening at Rice University, where I gave a presentation on Japanese director and artist Makoto Shinkai and the current fast-paced changes in the global anime industry, including at Texas-based Sentai Filmworks and Funimation. My thanks to hosts The Japan-America Society of Houston (JASH), and sponsors All Nippon Airways and the Consulate General of Japan — plus, that stellar Texan crowd. PS The ribs weren't bad, either.