: Masters like Akira Kurosawa and Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki established Japan’s reputation for profound, visual storytelling.
Perhaps the most visible facet of Japanese entertainment is the manga and anime industry. What began as local comic books has evolved into a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon.
While mainstream entertainment is polished, Japan has a thriving underground that the industry uses as a farm system. (from Ryo Fukui to Soil & "Pimp" Sessions) is revered globally because it combines Be-bop complexity with enka (traditional Japanese ballad) emotional scales.