Universal Music Japan Appoints Rui Suzuki as Chief Financial Officer

A “soft” state of emergency has been declared in Tokyo and three surrounding districts as authorities tackle rising Covid-19 cases.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentAs anticipated, the Japanese government on Thursday declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and the three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa for a period of one month starting on Jan. 8.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has reportedly ceased production of most PS4 models in Japan, including the PS4 Pro.This is according to a new Game Watch report, which claims that the only PS4 model that will remain in production is the Jet Black 500GB PS4 Slim.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentAnticipating that the Japanese government may again call for movie theaters to temporarily close in Greater Tokyo due to an upsurge of coronavirus cases, Toho Cinemas and other leading exhibitors are halting sales of advance tickets for cinemas in the areas.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentSavaged by COVID-19, global box office plunged between 57% and 76% in major markets outside the U.S., with the U.K. and Ireland leading the rout, crashing 76% against 2019, according to a Comscore study, published Wednesday.Also hit hard were China (-70%), South Korea (-71%), and Italy and Spain (both down 72%).

Hayao Miyazaki's nearly two-decade reign atop Japan's all-time box office rankings has come to an end. Runaway anime blockbuster Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train became Japan's biggest box-office hit of all time over the weekend, pushing Miyazaki's beloved classic Spirited Away (2001) into second place.

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent“Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train,” the animated film that has become the Japanese entertainment world tsunami of 2020, pushed its cumulative earnings to $313.7 million (JPY32.5 billion) over the Dec. 26-27 weekend.

Refresh for latest…: There was a bit more varied action at the international box office this weekend, including the continued rollout of Warner Bros/DC’s Wonder Woman 1984, a sizable start for China’s Shock Wave 2, the debut of Disney/Pixar’s Soul, The Croods: A New Age nearing $100M global, and a brand new milestone for Japan’s Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train which, according to estimates, has overtaken Spirited Away to become the highest-grossing film ever in the market.

Two years after his death, the Navy veteran who became the oldest survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor will have a post office named in his honor. President Trump signed a bill Monday ordering the main post office in Poway, a San Diego suburb, to bear Ray Chavez’s name, according to NBC News.

direct to your inbox Researchers have starting giving patients an antibody treatment that could offer immediate protection to people have been exposed to coronavirus to prevent them becoming seriously ill and dying.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWhile the North American box office pulls in less than $5 million per weekend due to COVID-19, the China and Japan markets are not only open, but also capable of breaking theatrical records. It may feel logical to hurry more U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNetflix has announced the greenlight of a second series for Japanese thriller series “Alice in Borderland” barely two weeks after its online debut. The show is a live-action adaptation of a popular manga.The eight-episode sci-fi fantasy is the story of a dissatisfied unemployed man (played by Yamazaki Kento) who follows a mysterious light source and finds that, but for himself and two friends, the population of Tokyo has seemingly disappeared.

Super Nintendo World will be opening at Universal Studios Japan very soon and a new look at the theme park was just unveiled!

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKaouther Ben Hania’s “The Man Who Sold His Skin” has been sold by Paris-based Bac Films International to further territories. The movie will represent Tunisia in the Oscar race for best international feature film.“The Man Who Sold His Skin” world premiered at Venice, where it won the best actor award for Yahya Mahayni.

It was a frozen Christmas Day in 1949, in the elastic aftermath of World War II, when a dozen U.S. soldiers with the 27th Infantry Regiment "Wolfhounds" accompanied a Red Cross representative to the Holy Family orphanage, tucked into the snowy streets in Osaka, Japan.

It’s not going to end well for Japan’s “Twitter killer.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJapanese police on Wednesday formally charged 42-year-old local man Shinji Aoba with murder relating to the arson attack in July last year at Kyoto Animation.The blaze, set using gasoline, killed 33 people on the scene and three more in hospital.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPolice in Osaka, Japan have begun a legal case against a man who is alleged to have cyberbullied Kimura Hana, the reality TV star who died earlier this year, apparently by suicide.Kimura, a professional wrestler, was one of six cast-members of “Terrace House,” which played locally on Fuji Television and globally on Netflix. The show was subsequently canceled.Police on Thursday referred the case to prosecutors in Osaka.