Netflix's taboo-busting 'Naked Director' upends Japan TV industry

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Actor Takayuki Yamada plays porn director Toru Muranishi in Netflix's megahit series "The Naked Director." © Netflix

HIDEKI SHINOHARA and KAORU YAMADA, Nikkei staff writers

TOKYO -- Netflix, the streaming service that has shaken up Hollywood, has unleashed its brand of big-budget disruption in Japan's TV industry.

The sea change began last August, when Netflix released an original Japanese series that captured a global audience, "The Naked Director." Based on the true story of the rise and fall of porn director Toru Muranishi, the offbeat and often explicit tale is available in more than 190 countries and cracked the top 10 shows in South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

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