Latest news with #KenKobayashi
Nikkei Asia
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Nikkei Asia
Women power China's $1bn romance gaming market
Mobile game Love and Deepspace generated nearly $400 million in revenue in 2024, thanks to its realistic 3D graphics and a growing fan of predominantly female gamers. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi and screenshot from Love and Deepspace website) WATARU SUZUKI SHANGHAI -- A Chinese mobile game featuring a female hunter character who balances protecting the world from invaders with romantic interactions has become an instant hit since its release in January 2024, prompting developers to double down on the 8 billion yuan ($1 billion) female-oriented gaming industry. Thanks to its realistic 3D graphics and a growing fan base, Love and Deepspace generated nearly $400 million in revenue in 2024, according to data provider Sensor Tower, for its creator, Shanghai-based Papergames. The company has begun exporting the game overseas by hiring prominent voice actors in markets including Japan.
Nikkei Asia
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
Immigration becomes election issue in Japan amid tough economy
An employee from Nepal works at a factory in Osaka. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) YURIKA YONEDA TOKYO -- Immigration to Japan has emerged as a key political issue ahead of Sunday's upper house of parliament election, after a surge in the number of visitors and residents from overseas in recent years. The "Japanese first" advocacy of Sanseito, a right-leaning party formed in 2020 that aims to win 10 or more seats compared with the current two it holds in the chamber, is generating considerable buzz amid the campaign.
Nikkei Asia
02-07-2025
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Indian developers' premium shift puts homes out of reach for many
Between 2022 and 2024, the supply of new houses costing less than 5 million rupees fell 94% in Mumbai, while projects worth 5 million to 10 million rupees declined 56%. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) SOUMYAJIT SAHA MUMBAI -- A move by Indian developers into premium homes has contributed to a near halving of the supply of new homes that cost less than 5 million rupees ($58,000) over the last two years, deepening India's urban housing crisis by pushing properties out of the reach of even its burgeoning ranks of salaried workers. The supply of such properties fell 43% between 2022 and 2024 in India's 13 biggest urban areas, according to data from real estate analytics specialist PropEquity shared with Nikkei Asia, as builders moved toward upscale offerings with bigger margins. Supply of new properties that cost between 5 million and 10 million rupees fell 29% over the same period.
Nikkei Asia
02-07-2025
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Prabowo's efficiency drive takes toll on Jakarta starred hotels
Five-star hotels in central Jakarta: Civil servants are discouraged from holding meetings and seminars at hotels, hitting their occupancy rates and revenues. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) JOSEPH RACHMAN JAKARTA -- Hotels in the Indonesian capital are taking a hit from President Prabowo Subianto's efficiency drive, losing a big chunk of their regular customers as civil servants are denied one of their job perks: free hotel stays. Jakarta hotels have long relied not on leisure tourism, but on meetings, incentives, conferences and events, known in the industry as MICE. Among their key customers are civil servants from ministries and other state institutions, who for many years have held events at hotels.
Nikkei Asia
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Nikkei Asia
Real grief, fake images: How AI hijacked Air India crash coverage
Within hours of the crash of Air India Flight 171, there was a flood of fake, AI-generated content playing on the grief of families of those who died. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Ken Kobayashi) VIREN NAIDU MUMBAI -- Rajasthan-based teacher Kuldeep Bhatt's grief over the loss of his cousin, Komi Vyas, in the Air India 171 crash in mid-June was interrupted in a uniquely modern way -- by an artificial intelligence-generated video depicting her cremation, overlaid with a sophisticated montage and grim music. "We hadn't even identified Komi's body. However, the AI video, stitched together using the selfie Komi had sent us aboard the fateful flight, went viral," Bhatt told Nikkei Asia. Within days of the crash, manipulated visuals based on the selfie had hijacked the family's collective mourning and WhatsApp chats.
