Netflix is producing and shooting an original series set in Japan about a journalist who challenges authority, hoping to woo this nation still hooked on good old TV.
This image released on Sept. 7, 2020, by Netflix shows Takayuki Yamada, left, who stars in "The Naked Director," striking a pensive pose with co-star Misato Morita. The key challenge for Netflix in Japan lies with producing attractive original content, featuring directors, actors and writers out of Japan, not just licensing Japanese TV shows and movies.
The series was decided on long before it became clear earlier this month that Suga was destined to become prime minister. After five years in Japan, the video streaming service has 5 million subscribers, up from 3 million last year as the coronavirus pandemic has people looking for entertainment while they stay home. That’s still a fraction of the 193 million global paid members Netflix has, 73 million of them in the U.S. and Canada.
“Our hearts go out to Miss Kimura’s family at this terrible time. Given this tragedy, all production and the launch of any new episodes have been postponed indefinitely,” Netflix said in a statement. Netflix’s director of content acquisition, Kaata Sakamoto, has been with Netflix since its Japan launch five years ago. He said hardly anyone expressed interest in making content for Netflix at first.
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