https://www.scmp.com/rss/521725/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Sam Beltran Sam Beltran Later this month, Indonesian cinema-goers will finally get to see what audiences in Berlin saw in February: Jokor Anwar’s Ghost in the Cell. The horror-comedy, which had its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, has been celebrated by influential trade magazine Variety for rising above mere “escapist entertainment” to channel societal anxieties about corruption and environmental destruction. Yet it is only the latest example of Southeast Asia’s creative moment... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3348980/southeast-asia-seeks-soft-power-outlast-us300-billion-buzz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3348980/southeast-asia-seeks-soft-power-outlast-us300-billion-buzz?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:16 +0000 Paul French Paul French You could be forgiven for thinking that the UK has gone samurai mad of late. Director Michihito Fujii’s Last Samurai Standing remains high up the Netflix UK chart, Penguin Books is enjoying a massive bestseller in Shotaro Ikenami’s multi-volume The Samurai Detectives, and the FX miniseries retelling of James Clavell’s Shogun (originally a 1975 novel) was a surprise hit and won various awards. The samurai-inspired Assassin’s Creed Shadows was the fastest-selling video game in Britain in 2025,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3345076/gripping-london-samurai-exhibition-explores-japans-warrior-class-and-cuts-through-myths?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3345076/gripping-london-samurai-exhibition-explores-japans-warrior-class-and-cuts-through-myths?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:15:07 +0000 Yulu Ao Yulu Ao Labubu toymaker Pop Mart plans to establish its European headquarters in London, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met the company’s founder during a high-profile China visit aimed at rebuilding Britain’s economic ties with the world’s second largest economy. That plan was revealed at a closed-door CEO round table on Friday during the UK-China Business Forum, where Starmer met a group of Chinese business leaders that included Pop Mart founder and CEO Wang Ning. “London stands at the heart of the... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3341948/labubu-toymaker-pop-mart-picks-london-european-headquarters-rolls-out-new-stores?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3341948/labubu-toymaker-pop-mart-picks-london-european-headquarters-rolls-out-new-stores?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:30:11 +0000 Lisa Lim Lisa Lim Japan and South Korea have been drumming up attention on the world stage – and not just with their recent Nara summit on security and economic cooperation, which included their leaders engaging in a drumstick diplomacy session of K-pop hits. They have also been in the news for Japanese and Korean words that were recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), highlighting the ever-increasing impact of these cultures on the English language. The new words included in OED’s latest update in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340137/senpai-bingsu-ramyeon-new-korean-and-japanese-words-oxford-english-dictionary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3340137/senpai-bingsu-ramyeon-new-korean-and-japanese-words-oxford-english-dictionary?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Jan 2026 08:15:08 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele For Sana Kok, anime has always been more than entertainment. The 28-year-old Malaysian still remembers the first series he caught on television as a child: the bright colours, larger-than-life characters and cinematic storytelling unlike anything else he had ever seen. By his teens, action-packed anime titles had become a fixture of his evenings. “Anime has some of the best storytelling out there,” said Kok, now a digital marketer who sees his childhood fascination reflected in a new wave of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3339415/soft-power-hard-cash-southeast-asias-billion-dollar-anime-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3339415/soft-power-hard-cash-southeast-asias-billion-dollar-anime-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2026 05:00:10 +0000 SCMP SCMP Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest stories about China’s soft power this year. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Labubu, soft power of a stealthy ‘ugly-cute’ sort, takes on America The Chinese-made dolls, a playful global megahit, give Beijing an opportunity to make inroads into deep US distrust. 2. ‘Huge shift’: why learning Mandarin is losing its appeal in the West Available figures suggest enthusiasm for learning Mandarin abroad is waning after... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3335844/labubu-blockbuster-films-was-2025-year-chinas-soft-power-went-mainstream?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3335844/labubu-blockbuster-films-was-2025-year-chinas-soft-power-went-mainstream?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Dec 2025 03:00:11 +0000 Emily Chan Emily Chan The renowned European electronic music festival, Tomorrowland, made its China debut in Shanghai on Saturday. Held for the first time indoors, the electronic dance music (EDM) festival drew thousands of ravers to the Hero Dome. Many say the EDM genre has become mainstream in China’s music scene. https://www.scmp.com/news/article/3333928/european-edm-festival-tomorrowland-makes-china-debut-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/3333928/european-edm-festival-tomorrowland-makes-china-debut-shanghai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Nov 2025 08:17:28 +0000 Lauren James Lauren James A stumble on a step, a Yorkshire-lilted “ohh noh”, and world-famous Jarvis Cocker clatters down the stairs from The Listening Room. The frontman of 1990s Britpop phenom Pulp is mostly OK, but will headline Clockenflap the following evening a little less snake-hipped than usual, after breaking two ribs in this innocent attempt at returning to ground level after shopping for records. Rob Deal, the owner of the Tsim Sha Tsui emporium where Cocker, then pushing 60, had been browsing before his 2023... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330450/how-did-jarvis-cockers-trip-hong-kong-record-shop-boost-vinyl-revival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/passions/article/3330450/how-did-jarvis-cockers-trip-hong-kong-record-shop-boost-vinyl-revival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 07:15:08 +0000 Gavin Yeung Gavin Yeung Each considered an era-defining icon in their own right, four of the world’s most recognisable cartoon characters will be assembling, Avengers-style, against Hong Kong’s iconic skyline from October 25 to November 1. Organised by Hong Kong-based creative agency AllRightsReserved, the Water Parade at Victoria Harbour brings together colossal, floating, inflatable sculptures of timeless Japanese robot cat Doraemon, Sesame Street’s Elmo as reimagined by American pop artist KAWS, the McDonald’s... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3329384/giant-labubu-doraemon-elmo-and-grimace-are-coming-hong-kongs-harbour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3329384/giant-labubu-doraemon-elmo-and-grimace-are-coming-hong-kongs-harbour?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa The Don Don Donki store in Causeway Bay is buzzing as always, and the Kuromi shelf is already picked clean. Joyce C stares at the empty space and sighs. Around her, shoppers scoop up other Sanrio items: Hello Kitty erasers, My Melody hair clips, Cinnamoroll stickers. “Whenever I go to Donki to buy Kuromi merch, it’s always sold out,” she says, half-exasperated, half-amused. The 22-year-old has been steadily building her Kuromi collection since she started working, but her attachment to the... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3319390/discreet-charm-sanrios-hello-kitty-unleashes-power-cute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3319390/discreet-charm-sanrios-hello-kitty-unleashes-power-cute?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2025 23:00:09 +0000