Nikkatsu's history dates back as early as 1912 when 4 companies merged to form Nippon Katsudo Shashin Corporation, the first film conglomerate in the region to produce, distribute and exhibit theatrical films. In 1952 Chofu Studio was built in Tokyo as the largest modern film studio in the Asia Pacific Region at the time; the studio even had a permanent set of Ginza city. It quickly became the cornerstone of the company's Golden Era, together with its string of attractive stars who were then all exclusive to Nikkatsu; the legendary superstar Yujiro Ishihara, handsome young actors under the "Nikkatsu New Face" banner including Akira Kobayashi and Joe Shishido; actresses such as Sayuri Yoshinaga and Ruriko Asaoka; and directors Seijun Suzuki and Shohei Imamura. Nikkatsu flourished as the leading studio in Japan, enjoying box office mega-hits with its action films starring Ishihara ("Crazed Fruit"), teenage love stories starring Yoshinaga ("Cupola, Where the Furnaces Grow"), and "Branded to Kill" starring Joe Shishido, works with a continuing international appeal to this day - the films were so successful that Ishihara and Yoshinaga are still regarded as icons of the Showa period.
When cinema attendance began to drop, Japanese studios slashed their annual film production. Nikkatsu, however, took a unique turn in 1971 when it launched the "Nikkatsu Roman Porn" brand, namely films for the adult audience. As one director recalls, "I had total creative freedom, as long as I kept some nudity in the film", the brand enabled Nikkatsu to be the only major studio in Japan at the time to continue producing films and hire young film makers. Thus, Nikkatsu soon became the hub for upcoming innovative talents, and many of the directors who were given this rare opportunity, later became dominant film makers in Japan; amongst them are Oscar winner Youjiro Takita ("Departure"), multi-time Japanese Academy winners Masayuki Suo ("Shall We Dance?"), Yoshimitsu Morita, Youichi Sai, Shinji Soumai, and many more. The brand continued until 1988 and many films from that time joined our proud classics library.
In 2005, Naoki Sato was appointed President of the company. Originally a producer himself, Nikkatsu's recent array of titles under his leadership includes cutting-edge genre films by Sion Sono and Takashi Miike, and dramatical masterpieces. They have been highly acclaimed, including numerous Japanese Academy winners and nominees such as "Rebirth", "Cold Fish" and "The Devil's Path".
Today, Nikkatsu's diverse business activities include operation of the production studio, overseas film acquisition, distribution, a cable TV channel (Channel NECO) and a Film Course at Josai International University. It is also a member of the Yomiuri-Nippon TV group, the leading media conglomerate in Japan.
In today's fast evolving market, Nikkatsu has a focus on international activities - in 2014, the company established Kantana Japan, a JV with a Thai production group - and seeks to work more closely with partners outside the industry and around the globe.
Adenocarcinoma of the lung
Lung adenocarcinoma is one kind of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Technicians tell lung adenocarcinoma from other cancers by looking at cells under a microscope. Lung adenocarcinoma starts in glandular cells, which make for example mucus. Lung adenocarcinoma usually grows in smaller airways, such as alveoli, the pockets at the ends of the lung. Lung adenocarcinoma is usually located more along the outer edges of the lungs. Lung adenocarcinoma tends to grow more slowly than other lung cancers.
Flers, Somme
Flers is a commune. It is in Hauts-de-France in the Somme department in north France.
Flers-sur-Noye
Flers-sur-Noye is a commune. It is in Hauts-de-France in the Somme department in north France.
Flesselles
Flesselles is a commune. It is in Hauts-de-France in the Somme department in north France.
World's Largest Entertainment McDonald's
The World's Largest Entertainment McDonald's, also known as Epic McD, is a McDonald's restaurant that opened in 1976 in Orlando, Florida. It is the biggest McDonald's in the world by square footage because its floor area is . There are much more menus and options there than normal McDonald's restaurants. A McDonald's in Kaohsiung, Taiwan is thought to be taller.
There is the normal McDonald's menu. There are also more than 50 items, including brick oven pizza, Belgian waffles, customized pasta dishes, omelets, other items on the "Gourmet Bistro" menu and other items on an expanded dessert menu, including ice cream.
The World's Largest Entertainment McDonald's is three stories tall and has a 22-foot-tall PlayPlace, more than 100 arcade games and a waving 30-foot-tall image of Ronald McDonald at the entrance. The restaurant was opened in 1976 and was closed for renovation in 2015 and opened again. It was built again and opened in 2016. The restaurant has a "Create Your Own" menu and never closes.
Planned obsolescence
Planned obsolescence (also called built-in obsolescence or premature obsolescence) is an idea in economics and product design. Planned obsolescence is when someone makes a product so that it will wear out after only a short time. It will either stop working, work much worse than before, or be unfashionable. This way, the person who bought the product must buy a new one sooner than if the old product had lasted a long time. This is often called ""shortening the replacement cycle.""
Planned obsolescence works when company selling the product has few or no other companies making the same product, because the consumer has few choices. Before choosing this strategy, the producer has to make sure that the consumer will likely buy from them again and not from someone else. Usually, there is information asymmetry: the producer knows how long the product was designed to last, and the consumer does not. However, when many companies make the same product, they compete. Then product lifespans often increase. In the 1960s and 1970s, the first Japanese cars were sold in America. Because they had longer lifespans than the American car models, American car manufacturers were forced to build cars that lasted longer.
In 1924, the American market for cars became saturated. That meant that almost everyone who could buy a car had already bought one. In order to still sell about the same number of cars, Alfred P. Sloan Jr. who worked at General Motors suggested that new cars should look different every year. This way, at least some car owners would buy a new car every year. This idea was not new. It had already been tried with bicycles, but people say it was Sloan's idea. Sloan often used the words "dynamic obsolescence", but people who did not like the idea called it "planned obsolescence".
This plan changed many things in the automobile industry, product design field and eventually the whole American economy. Smaller companies could not afford to re-style their car models every year. Henry Ford did not like the idea either. Ford was an engineer, and he liked simplicity, economies of scale, and strong design. In 1931, GM sold more cars than Ford and became the strongest company making cars. Changing the design every year meant GM had to use a body-on-frame structure rather than the lighter unibody design used by most European automakers because unibody is harder to change.