Japanese TV is a unique ecosystem. Unlike the US model of scripted prestige series, Japan’s airwaves are dominated by:
Japan is one of the few nations with a truly distinctive cinematic language. Japanese TV is a unique ecosystem
The 1950s and 60s saw the rise of Toho Studios and Akira Kurosawa. Films like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo were re-cut into Westerns ( The Magnificent Seven ) and Spaghetti Westerns ( A Fistful of Dollars ). This was the first wave of soft power. However, the true explosion came in the 1980s with the economic bubble, where disposable income fueled the rise of manga weeklies (Shonen Jump) and home consoles (Nintendo’s Famicom). Japanese TV is a unique ecosystem