No article on Japanese entertainment is complete without the nightlife, which exists in a legal and moral gray area. The "Mizu Shobai" (water trade) includes (where women pour drinks and listen to salarymen) and host clubs (where impeccably dressed men flatter female clients for expensive champagne).
Characters like Mario, Sonic, and Pokémon became universally recognized cultural icons.
The Japanese entertainment industry is not a monolith. It is a brutal meritocracy where you can be a virtual pink-haired shark singing covers of Stay With Me to 100,000 live viewers one minute, and a 70-year-old Kabuki actor performing a lion dance the next.