News On Japan

Netflix Says Half of Its Subscribers Use Service to Watch Anime

Netflix's anime slate for 2022 looks bright, with returning fan favorites like Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and new series, like Kotaro Lives Alone.

Apr 01 (cbr.com) - More than half of Netflix's global users used the streaming service to watch anime in 2021, and the future of Japanese animation premiering on Netflix appears promising.

"Anime is one of the cornerstones of our investment in Japan, watched by nearly 90% of our members here last year," Kohei Obara, Netflix's Anime Creative Director, told Variety. "At the same time, interest in anime has grown worldwide, and more than half of our members globally tuned into it last year. From diversifying our slate to bringing back fan favorites, we want to continue growing our members' discovery and love for anime, both in Japan and around the world with this next chapter of anime on Netflix."

Netflix plans to continue investing in anime and will debut 40 series on the service in 2022. Returning series include episodes 13-24 of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, the latest season of the long-running fan-favorite show featuring Jolyne Cujoh, her father Jotaru Kujo and their powerful Stands. Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045 Season 2, continuing the adventures of Major Motoko Kusanagi following Season 1's debut in 2020, will also arrive on Netflix in May. Season 1 of Spriggan -- the long-awaited anime reboot of Hiroshi Takashige's manga series, which was first adapted into an animated film in 1998 -- is another major series to debut on the streaming service in June.

New shows on Netflix include Thermae Romae Novae, a series about a Roman architect who time travels to a modern Japanese public bath, Kotaro Lives Alone, the tale of a 4-year-old boy who moves into an apartment next to a manga artist, and The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh, a two-part film spinning off of The Seven Deadly Sins, a shonen series focusing on a group of knights in a fantasy version of Britannia. ...continue reading

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The Liberal Democratic Party, Nippon Ishin no Kai, and Komeito have reached an agreement on the framework for Japan’s new free high school tuition program, which will begin in fiscal 2026. Under the plan, tuition support for private full-time high schools will be capped at 457,000 yen, while correspondence courses will have an upper limit of 337,000 yen.

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Prime Minister Takaiichi’s first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Trump drew high praise from officials at the Prime Minister’s Office, who described the atmosphere as friendly and open. According to government sources, the two leaders addressed each other by their first names, “Sanae” and “Donald,” a gesture that one senior official called “120 points,” underscoring the success of the meeting.

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The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, the 45-year-old accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, began on October 28th at the Nara District Court. While Yamagami has admitted to killing Abe, the central issue now lies in determining his sentence.

The traditional ritual of Paantu, in which masked gods covered in mud ward off evil spirits, took place on October 28th in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, filling the village with laughter and screams.

A passenger car crashed into a Nissan dealership in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, on October 29th, damaging a total of nine vehicles including those on display.

Emperor Naruhito met with former U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in six years at the Imperial Palace on October 27th. The two exchanged greetings in English, with the Emperor saying, "I’m pleased to see you again," as he welcomed Trump to the Imperial residence around 6:30 p.m.

A 43-year-old former employee of Tsuda University has been re-arrested by Tokyo Metropolitan Police on suspicion of vandalism for spraying his bodily fluid on female students’ clothing on campus.

An elderly woman was found dead in a roadside ditch in Akita City on October 27th, with police investigating the possibility that she was attacked by a bear. A local resident discovered the woman lying face down in a drainage channel around 11 a.m. and called emergency services.

A 38-year-old man was arrested near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on October 24th after attacking a riot police officer with a knife, injuring the officer’s right leg.

A Tokyo District Court has ruled that addressing a colleague using the 'chan' suffix constitutes sexual harassment, ordering a male employee to pay 220,000 yen in damages.