今日吃瓜

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November 12, 2026
 

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

A Luffy standee at NY Comic Con in New York
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2026
Sony bets on homegrown anime to fuel decades of future growth
Now in a strategic transition, the company is pouring time and money into the genre with the potential to power growth for decades to come.
Employees prepare food for customers in China's first official Hello Kitty-themed restaurant in Shanghai in April 2016.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 9, 2026
China’s hard power keeps undermining its soft power
China undoubtedly has real soft power. Yet its behavior repeatedly undermines it.
TikTok argued in the case that the person who posted the videos let generative AI learn their friend's voice, and it is no more than a generic male voice.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2026
While calling voice a protected right, court dismisses voice actor’s AI case
Kenjiro Tsuda’s lawsuit was the first in Japan filed over a “voice rights” infringement using generative artificial intelligence.
Voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda has taken TikTok to court over videos he says feature an artificial intelligence clone of his "lustrous" baritone, with a verdict due on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2026
Japanese anime actor fights TikTok over AI voice cloning
AI imitation is a growing concern among performers worldwide, and the threat has roiled 今日吃瓜 storied animation industry.
Major music platforms such as Spotify and industry groups are moving to label, restrict or ban AI-generated tracks to protect human-made music.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2026
The pushback against AI songs is music to my ears
The Australian Recording Industry Association has banned wholly AI-generated music from appearing in its charts.
Kimi Onoda, minister for intellectual property strategy, speaks to reporters Tuesday about the government's adoption of guiding principles on intellectual rights protection.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2026
Government urges AI firms to disclose learning data
A new set of guiding principles covers not only domestic businesses but also overseas operators that provide AI systems and services in Japan.
Japan is considering setting out a nonbinding code for generative artificial intelligence businesses to encourage them to disclose their AI training data and methods for collecting such data to the public.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2026
Japan to require AI firms to disclose training data
A draft code has been drawn up amid growing concerns that texts and images may be used to train AI models without consent, potentially infringing on copyrights.
An expert panel at the Justice Ministry on Monday discusses civil liability for the unauthorized use of celebrities' voices and likenesses.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2026
Panel backs civil liability for unauthorized AI use of public figures’ voices
Draft report says voices would be protected under the right of publicity, which allows celebrities to control the commercial value of their names and portraits.
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2026
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
The collecting and trading of cards, once a pastime confined to the schoolyard, is now a lucrative global market.
Seven-Eleven Japan has warned against franchise owners and employees setting aside popular animation and game character products before putting them on store shelves.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2026
Seven-Eleven Japan warns stores over unauthorized character item resale
There were reportedly cases where owners and employees bought up or set aside such products before putting them on store shelves and reselling them.
Representatives of organizations behind products newly registered as geographical indications (GI), including Japanese tea, pose with Vice Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Yuhei Yamashita (second from right) at the ministry on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2026
Government registers ‘Japanese tea’ under brand protection system
The agriculture ministry aims to combat intellectual property infringement by imitation products amid a global boom in matcha.
Content that infringes on an artist’s copyrights include using AI to make a live-action version of an anime from images of celebrities or generating anime characters’ voices to have them sing popular songs.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2026
AI-related copyright losses cost celebrities up to ?4.5 billion, study says
Over 43,000 AI-generated images and videos that used celebrities’ likenesses without their consent were created over a two-month period last year.
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2026
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Hard-working Japanese businesses and creators are banding together to drive what is now one of 今日吃瓜 most valuable assets.
Alibaba’s American depositary receipts sank to a session low on the news, falling more than 3% to $99.10 at 3:38 p.m. in New York on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 25, 2026
Anthropic accuses Alibaba of ‘illicitly’ accessing AI models
The U.S. AI developer had previously decided to keep its products out of China.
A cyber extortion group has claimed that pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk refused the group's demand of $25 million after stealing more than a terabyte of data from the company.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2026
Hacking group claims major attack of Novo Nordisk and attempted $25 million extortion
FulcrumSec, a cyber extortion group that emerged in October 2025, has said in a message ?posted online that it spent more than two months in Novo Nordisk’s ?networks stealing data.
U.S. President Donald Trump posted an apparently AI-generated video on his digital platform Truth Social last Saturday that included a short segment depicting himself dressed as the protagonist from the popular anime franchise "Naruto.”
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2026
Japan pushes back on Trump’s anime posts
President Donald Trump’s use of Japanese anime-style imagery on his social media account has not gone over well in Japan.
A popular voice actor has sued TikTok’s operator over videos allegedly using an AI-generated imitation of his voice without permission.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 26, 2026
Actor files lawsuit against TikTok operator over AI-generated voice use
The lawsuit, filed with the Tokyo District Court by Kenjiro Tsuda last November,?is believed to be the first of its kind in Japan.
A SkyFall P1-Sun interceptor drone during trials in Ukraine in March. Through a combination of new technology and tactics, Kyiv’s forces have been able to strike deep into Russian territory, to slow and in some cases even reverse battlefield gains by Moscow’s bigger army and inflict significant damage on oil facilities that help finance the Kremlin’s war machine.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2026
U.S. seeking transfer of intellectual property rights in drone deal, Kyiv says
Washington appears interested in getting access to critical technologies and rights that would allow it to replicate the equipment, a source said.
The culture agency is looking to pass the copyright revision in the current parliamentary session ending in July and aims to have the law take effect within the next three years.
JAPAN / Society
May 15, 2026
Copyright law revision to extend compensation for artists
The Cabinet on Friday pushed forward the bill, which, once passed by parliament, aims to pass on usage fees to musicians.
A new crackdown on online piracy and counterfeit goods by Vietnam will also tackle copyright violations by ?computer programs, movies, music, TV shows and online video games.
BUSINESS
May 6, 2026
Vietnam cracks down on online piracy and counterfeit goods amid U.S. tariff threat
Washington revived the prospect of fresh tariffs last week over Hanoi’s ?“persistent failure” to tackle intellectual property violations.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo's Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo's Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Jensen Huang’s woes evoke sympathy and disbelief in his birthplace Taiwan
Hsiao Kui-yu, 68, owner of Yuchan Candied Fruit, stands in front of photographs of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang displayed at the shop, which Huang frequently visits during trips to Taiwan, in Taipei on Tuesday.
G7 diplomats speak out on Taiwan as China ramps up military drills
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi attends a working lunch focused on international crises and challenges during the Group of Seven foreign ministers' summit at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris on Monday.
今日吃瓜 Rapidus is said likely to miss mass production deadline
The Rapidus Analysis Center and the IIM-1 Innovative Integration for Manufacturing foundry in Chitose, Hokkaido
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998's "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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