Author name: admin

Webtoon Entertainment is investing in a Japanese webcomic and manga studio as part of the online comic company’s global expansion strategy. LINE Digital Frontier, the Japanese operation of Webtoon, is buying a minority stake in No. 9, a Tokyo-based company that produces popular webcomics such as “Savior of Divine Blood.” The deal, Webtoon’s first investment since its U.S. initial public offering in June, aims to strengthen its content pipeline in Japan, Chief Strategy Officer Yongsoo Kim said in an interview. “We expect a huge growth in the U.S. in the next couple years,” Kim said. “But in the near term, Japan will be our fastest growing market.” The company, backed by South Korea-based Naver, did not disclose the size of the investment. “We believe that this will accelerate our efforts to increase the portion of locally produced content,” Kim said. Webtoon’s Japanese app, Line Manga, topped the local app market by revenue in August and September, according to research intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Sales of webcomics, which originated in South Korea and have a relatively brief history compared to Japanese manga, grew quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic and became a thriving source for TV drama adaptations. Recently, amid concerns over slowing growth, webcomics platform operators have been striving to boost paid user engagement. The deal comes at a time of growing demand for intellectual property that can be adapted into TV series, games and movies. Recently, Sony Group acquired a stake in publisher Kadokawa, which has a large library of anime, manga, film and gaming content. In October, the Japanese entertainment conglomerate Toho acquired U.S. animation distributor GKIDS. Source link

DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM – Hamas and Israel reached a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza that mediators said would take effect on Sunday and include a release of hostages held there during 15 months of bloodshed that devastated the Palestinian enclave and inflamed the Middle East. The complex phased accord outlines a six-week initial ceasefire with the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands of people have been killed. Hostages taken by militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. At a news conference in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ceasefire would take effect on Sunday. Negotiators are working with Israel and Hamas on steps implementing the deal, he said. Source link

Kobe – Store owners in Kobe’s Nagata Ward, battered by a powerful earthquake 30 years ago, are welcoming students on school trips from all over Japan to help revitalize the area. Kiyoto Morisaki, 72, president of Kinki Taxi, who proposed the program to show the current state of Nagata Ward, said he wanted to bring back the liveliness of the area after the quake on Jan. 17, 1995, caused immense damage there. Morisaki said that although the company’s headquarters and his home were spared from damage, he was “stunned” seeing the area burned to the ground in a fire that occurred soon after the temblor. Source link

Dalton Investments has demanded Fuji Media Holdings immediately establish a third-party committee to investigate facts related to alleged sexual misconduct committed by TV star Masahiro Nakai. In a letter sent through its affiliate, Rising Sun Management, to Fuji’s board of directors on Tuesday, the U.S.-based investment management firm said it is “outraged” by the “serious flaws” in the broadcaster’s corporate governance in relation to its handling of the recent uproar sparked by Nakai, a former member of the now-defunct, hugely popular boy band SMAP. Dalton is a major shareholder of the Japanese media conglomerate. According to media reports, Nakai made a large lump-sum payment to a woman in relation to “sexual troubles,” and that an executive of Fuji TV, a company under the Fuji Media group, had been involved in arranging a meeting between the two. Fuji TV has denied any involvement in the matter. Source link

Amid fears U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could put pressure on its alliance partners, the top Japanese and Philippine diplomats have stressed the importance of “good communication” with the incoming U.S. leader and the need to continue to build momentum for trilateral ties. “We will approach the next U.S. administration to convey that the constructive commitment of the United States to this region is important, also for the United States itself,“ Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Wednesday during a joint news conference with his Philippine counterpart, Enrique Manalo, in Manila. Southeast Asia is located at a “strategic pivot in the Indo-Pacific” and is a world economic growth center, Iwaya said, calling bilateral and trilateral ties with the U.S. “vital for regional peace and stability.” Trilateral cooperation, in particular, will be “highly important” going forward as Tokyo, Washington and Manila seek progress in key areas such maritime and economic security, critical infrastructure and cyberspace. Source link

Japan saw a record of nearly 37 million foreign visitors in 2024, the latest data from the Japan National Tourism Organization shows, thanks to a weaker yen and more inbound flights from countries such as China. The number of foreign arrivals had already topped 2023’s total by September and broke the annual record set in 2019 of 33.4 million visitors within only 11 months. The full-year number in 2024 represents a 47.1% year-to-year increase and was up 15.6% compared with 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic curbed transportation across the globe. Source link

Melbourne – Ex-Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper is coming out of retirement to play for Toyota Verblitz of Japan Rugby League One after receiving a call from former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, he said Wednesday. The 33-year-old played the last of his 125 test matches in 2023 before being unceremoniously axed by then-coach Eddie Jones ahead of the Rugby World Cup. He turned to Rugby Sevens but called time on his playing career in June after missing out on selection for the Paris Olympics. He has worked as a commentator since then. Hooper, who captained the Wallabies a record 69 times, told Australia’s Channel Seven he had signed with Verblitz for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign. He previously played for the club in 2021. “It’s a great club, really good people and competitive,” Hooper said, adding that he got a call from Verblitz coach Hansen after Springboks legend Pieter-Steph du Toit was sidelined by injury. “There wasn’t too many places I would have really been keen to play, and this was right up there because I had such a fond memory from being up there a few years back,” said Hooper. “Really lucky, to be honest, and thankful for Steve Hansen to give me an opportunity.” Hooper told the broadcaster he was fit and free from injury but needed to put on some muscle. “There is still a little part of me that would like to see if I could mix it again,” he said on why he was returning. “It’s a bit of a Hail Mary that we didn’t see coming. There was some discussions a while back but this has really developed in pretty much a week’s time.” Source link

Shinji Ishimaru — a candidate in last year’s Tokyo gubernatorial race who stunned many by finishing second, behind incumbent Gov. Yuriko Koike — announced Wednesday he will set up a new regional party, with the aim of fielding candidates in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in July. In a news conference in the capital, the former mayor of Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture, said concerns over the future of the country led him to the foundation of this new party, which he named Saisei no Michi — “The Path to Rebirth.” “For a long time I’ve had the growing feeling that things were getting bad in this country, and that we need to do something about it,” Ishimaru said, explaining that the party will seek to promote public participation in politics, enhance the autonomy of local municipalities and foster the revitalization of each local community. Source link

New users have piled in to Chinese social media app RedNote just days before a proposed U.S. ban on the popular social media app TikTok, as the lesser-known company rushes to capitalize on the sudden influx while walking a delicate line of moderating English-language content, sources told Reuters. In a live chat dubbed “TikTok Refugees” on RedNote on Monday, more than 50,000 American and Chinese users joined the room. Veteran Chinese users, with some sense of bewilderment, welcomed their American counterparts and swapped notes with them on topics like food and youth unemployment. Occasionally, however, the Americans veered into riskier territory. “Is it ok to ask about how laws are different in China versus Hong Kong?” one American user asked. “We prefer not to talk about that here,” a Chinese user responded. Such impromptu cultural exchanges were taking place all across RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, as the app surged to the top of U.S. download rankings this week. Its popularity was driven by American social media users casting about for an alternative to ByteDance-owned TikTok days ahead of its looming ban. In only two days, more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu, a person close to the company told Reuters. Xiaohongshu did not immediately respond to a request for comment. U.S. downloads of RedNote were up more than 200% year-over-year this week, and 194% from the week prior, according to estimates from app data research firm Sensor Tower. The second most-popular free app on Apple’s App Store list on Tuesday, Lemon8, another social media app owned by ByteDance, experienced a similar surge last month, with downloads jumping by 190% in December to about 3.4 million. The influx appeared to catch RedNote by surprise, with two sources familiar with the company telling Reuters they were scrambling to find ways to moderate English-language content and build English-Chinese translation tools. RedNote maintains only one version of its app, rather than splitting it into overseas and domestic apps — a rarity among Chinese social apps that are subject to domestic moderation rules. Still, the company is keen to mine the sudden rush of attention, as executives see it as a potential path to achieve global popularity similar to TikTok’s. RedNote, a venture capital-backed startup with a most recent valuation of $17 billion, allows users to curate photos, videos and text documenting their lives. It has been viewed as a possible IPO candidate in China. In recent years, it has become a de facto search engine for its 300 million-plus users looking for travel tips, anti-aging creams and restaurant recommendations. The share prices of some China-listed companies that conduct businesses with RedNote, such as Hangzhou Onechance Tech Corp., surged as much as 20% on Tuesday, hitting the daily limit. The spike in U.S. users comes ahead of a Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. on national security grounds. TikTok is currently used by about 170 million Americans, roughly half of the country’s population, and is overwhelmingly popular with young people and the advertisers looking to reach them. “Americans using Rednote feels like a cheeky middle finger to the U.S. government for its overreach into businesses and privacy concerns,” said Stella Kittrell, 29, a content creator based in Baltimore, Maryland. She said she joined RedNote in hopes of further collaborations with Chinese companies which she found helpful. Some users said they joined the platform to seek alternatives to Meta Platforms-owned Facebook and Instagram, and to Elon Musk’s X. Some expressed doubt that they could rebuild their TikTok follower base on those apps. “It’s not the same: Instagram, X, or any other app,” said Brian Atabansi, 29, a business analyst and content creator based in San Diego, California. “Mainly because of how organic it is to build community on TikTok,” he said. Source link

The 172nd Akutagawa literary prize was awarded Wednesday to authors Jose Ando and Yui Suzuki, while Shin Iyohara took home the Naoki Prize. The Akutagawa Prize, given to up-and-coming writers for short- to medium-length works of literary fiction published in a newspaper or magazine, acknowledged Ando’s “Dtopia” and Suzuki’s “Goethe wa Subete o Itta” (roughly translated as “Goethe Said It All”). Ando, 30, receives the award after being nominated two times prior, whereas this marks an Akutagawa debut for Suzuki, 23. “Dtopia” is set on the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora and centers on a reality show in which 10 men representing various countries and cities — including Los Angeles, London and Tokyo — compete for the attention of “Ms. Universe.” Suzuki’s “Goethe wa Subete o Itta” is about an expert who discovers an unknown quote by the influential German writer, which leads him on a journey to authenticate it amid a colleague’s scandal involving accusations of plagiarism. Source link