CNN ‘MADE IN JAPAN’ EXPLORES JAPAN’S INNOVATION AND CREATION
Will Ripley joins a mascot class in Tama, Japan
A 30-minute special airing on March 30 at 1130 and 1730 HKT
“Japan Inc”, is a title so distinctively representative of the character of the country. Through a special 30-minute program, ‘Made In Japan’, CNN International’s Tokyo correspondent Will Ripley takes a look at how Japan is innovating and creating for tomorrow, and the evolving reality of what it means to be Made In Japan.
Highlights of the 30-minute special include:
Technology and Innovation
CNN takes a look at how Japan is testing the boundaries of the relationship between humans and technology. CNN’s Will Ripley travels to Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories in Kyoto to learn about Dr. Ishiguro’s experiments with humanoid technology. He also visits the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, MJI Robotics, and takes a tour of the world’s first hotel run mostly by robots in Nagasaki.
Entertainment
CNN also looks at the global soft power and the business of characters that are ‘Made In Japan’. Starting locally, Will Ripley visits a mascot factory and joins a mascot class to discover the influence and prevalence of mascots in the country. Then he takes a look at Polygon Pictures Inc. that creates animations for Japan and internationally for Disney, Netflix, and Lucasfilms. CNN learns about the creative process behind these characters and why anime represents a huge opportunity for growth in Japan.
Fashion
The ‘Made In Japan’ label is known for carrying quality craftsmanship. But it is also a reflection of Japanese society and culture. So where does the label stand today? In a conversation with fashion veteran Tiffany Godoy, CNN looks at the evolution of Japanese fashion and how designers are bringing smart design to the runway. CNN also goes into the studio with designer Kunihik Morinaga and explores how he is mixing fashion and technology through the brand Anrealage. It’s an inside look at how the industry is being redefined and carving a new place on the global fashion stage.
Airtimes (Hong Kong/ Singapore/ Beijing/ Taipei/ Manila/ Kuala Lumpur):
Wednesday March 30 at 1730 HKT
Thursday March 31 at 0030 HKT
Saturday April 2 at 1230 & 2030 HKT
Sunday April 3 at 0830 HKT
– Ends-
About CNN International
CNN’s portfolio of news and information services is available in seven different languages across all major TV, digital and mobile platforms reaching more than 400 million households around the globe, including over 69 million across the Asia Pacific region. CNN International is the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America and recently expanded its U.S. presence with its launch on CNNgo. CNN Digital is a leading network for online news, mobile news and social media. Over the years CNN has won multiple prestigious awards around the world for its journalism. CNN has 42 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource. CNN International is part of Turner, a Time Warner company.
Press Contacts:
Penelope Heath/ Ingrid Hsu
Tel: +852 3128 3538/ +852 3128 3568
PREVIEW: Global Lessons on Guns – A Fareed Zakaria Special
Global Lessons on Guns – A Fareed Zakaria GPS Special debuts TONIGHT Sunday, Dec. 8, at 7:00pm ET
Tonight, CNN's Fareed Zakaria takes viewers to Colombia, Switzerland, Japan, Israel, and Australia for policy lessons from other mass gun murders, and suicide prevention – which may work in the U.S..
Here in a video preview to the special, Gen. (ret.) Peter Chiarelli discusses the U.S. Army’s efforts to reduce suicides by firearms. Gen. Chiarelli cautions:
“I would be very, very careful in not underestimating the impact of 13 years of war, on an all-volunteer force. I think we were seeing, in those [high] suicide numbers, some of the effect of high stress and trauma,” Gen. Chiarelli says in the documentary, recalling his service as the number two ranking officer assigned to suicide prevention. “This is an area that we, in fact, have to attack.”
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Exclusive: CNN looks inside the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant
CNN was granted exclusive access to the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan to see how the cleanup operation is going. CNN's Anna Coren (@amcoren) went deep inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant – the closest a journalist has been allowed to the recovery work.
Inside Fukushima: Decommissioning Tepco's stricken nuclear reactorKyung Lah visits Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant
CNN's Kyung Lah has rare access to the Fukushima nuclear plant, nearly a year after it was severely damaged by an earthquake and tsunami. CNN is the only U.S. network to have access to the plant.
For more on CNN's 'Rebuilding Japan' go here.
Tsunami-hit city fights back
Six months after the tsunami, one devastated Japanese city pledges to revive itself. CNN's Tokyo-based correspondent Kyung Lah (@kyunglahcnn) reports.
CNN.com sets global records for Japan coverage
Traffic:
CNN.com served 67 million global page views on Sat., March 12th, making it the highest weekend day (Sat. or Sun.) in CNN.com’s history.
- CNN.com averaged 75 million page views per day, an increase of 66% over last March, from Friday, March 11-Sun., March 20.
- In March, CNN.com has averaged 60 million page views per day, a double-digit increase over Feb. by 25% and over March 2010 by 34%.
- This Just In, which chronicled the updates in Japan as they happened served an average of 1.1 million page views per day through March 27, 2011, a 27% gain over February and a 213% gain over last year.
- For the first 10 days of CNN’s Japan coverage, there were 1,291 submissions to the ‘Earthquake in Japan spurs tsunami’ topic on iReport, of which 270 were vetted for use on CNN.
(Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst. March to date is 3/1-3/27, 2011)
No time to grieve
CNN's Kyung Lah reports from Rikuzentakata, Japan – one of the hardest hit towns in the tsunami zone – where families hold impromptu funerals for loved ones.
Note: This story is intense and may not be suitable for some viewers.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta appears on Reliable Sources from Tokyo, Japan
"The message seemed to be that, look, there’s nothing to see here, folks. Just keep moving along."
- CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Japanese authorities' initial dealings with the media
Sony CEO speaks with CNN's Fareed Zakaria about Japan's recovery
CNN's Fareed Zakaria spoke with Sony Corporation of America president/CEO Sir Howard Stringer about how Japan's culture will speed it's recovery from the devastating crises of earthquakes, tsunami, and radiation it has faced since March 11. This interview aired on Sunday, March 20, within CNN's on-going live coverage of events in Japan and Libya.
CNN's FAREED ZAKARIA GPS airs Sundays at 10:00am and 1:00pm on CNN/U.S. and 8:00am on CNN International. All times Eastern.
Energy Secretary Chu on State of the Union
Secretary Chu on whether the worst is over in Japan's nuclear crisis:
"We believe so, but I don’t want to make a blanket statement."
Transcript of Secretary Chu on State of the Union with Candy Crowley
CNN.com's THIS JUST IN blog: Japan quake live blog
@CNNPR on Twitter
