FigureAsia Artists 100 2025
Asia Leaders
Lee Jun-ho Turned Idol Discipline Into Actor Longevity
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Lee Jun-ho, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance and music, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Shirin Neshat Still Makes Exile Look Back
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Shirin Neshat, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art and film, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Gege Akutami Turned Anxiety Into a Global Manga Language
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Gege Akutami, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of manga, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Shiori Ito Reclaimed the Camera
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Shiori Ito, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of documentary filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Ahn Hyo-seop Crossed From Drama Star to Animated Hero
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Ahn Hyo-seop, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of voice and screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
BTS Proved That a Hiatus Can Expand a Cultural Institution
A FigureAsia long-form profile of BTS, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Lim Sang-choon Made Ordinary Endurance Feel Epic
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Lim Sang-choon, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of television writing, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Xin Zhilei’s Venice Moment Was Built on Controlled Fire
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Xin Zhilei, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
IVE Made Confidence Its Most Exportable Product
A FigureAsia long-form profile of IVE, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Became an Institution
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Yayoi Kusama, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Banu Mushtaq’s Stories Redrew the Map of Indian Literature
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Banu Mushtaq, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Why Demon Slayer’s Quiet Author Keeps Winning at Global Scale
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Koyoharu Gotouge, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of manga and storytelling, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Ma Dong-seok Built a Star Persona With Industrial Discipline
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Ma Dong-seok, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance and production, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Lee Byung-hun Played Power at the Edge of Collapse
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Lee Byung-hun, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Sepideh Farsi Kept the Camera Running Across a Closed Border
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Sepideh Farsi, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of documentary filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Creepy Nuts Made a Tongue Twister Travel the World
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Creepy Nuts, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music duo, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Bong Joon-ho Bet Big on a Disposable Man
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Bong Joon-ho, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Neeraj Ghaywan Returned to Cannes With a Story India Could Not Contain
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Neeraj Ghaywan, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Lisa’s Second Act Was Never Going to Stay Inside Music
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Lisa, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Cao Fei Saw the Virtual City Coming
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Cao Fei, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art and moving image, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Katseye Is Building a Global Group Without a Home Market
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Katseye, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Park Bo-gum’s Gentleness Became a Form of Strength
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Park Bo-gum, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Cai Shangjun Put Moral Compromise Under the Sun
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Cai Shangjun, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Ocean Vuong Writes About Work After the American Dream Runs Out
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Ocean Vuong, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Janhvi Kapoor Stepped Away From Safety
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Janhvi Kapoor, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Hossein Molayemi Found Hope in the Shadow of War
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Hossein Molayemi, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of animation filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Yim Si-wan Learned How to Make Stillness Dangerous
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Yim Si-wan, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Do Ho Suh Made Home Portable
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Do Ho Suh, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Liu Jiakun Makes Architecture From Memory, Ruin And Everyday Life
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Liu Jiakun, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of architecture, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
XG Refused to Choose One Pop Market
A FigureAsia long-form profile of XG, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Kiyoshi Kurosawa Can Make Any Room Feel Unsafe
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Tetsuya Nomura’s Characters Outlived the Hardware
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Tetsuya Nomura, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of game direction and character design, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
BINI Turned Local Pop Into a National Business Story
A FigureAsia long-form profile of BINI, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Bright Vachirawit’s Cross-Border Appeal Is a Business Model
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Bright Vachirawit, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance and music, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Bi Gan Made Time Itself the Spectacle
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Bi Gan, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Hwang Sok-yong’s Korea Is Bigger Than Any Border
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Hwang Sok-yong, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Haruo Sotozaki Made the Anime Screen Feel Monumental
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Haruo Sotozaki, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of animation direction, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
SB19 Built the Infrastructure Before the Breakthrough
A FigureAsia long-form profile of SB19, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Park Eun-bin Made Reinvention Look Methodical
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Park Eun-bin, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Jin Built a Solo Show Around Warmth Instead of Spectacle
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Jin, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
The Songwriter Behind KPop Demon Hunters’ Breakout Sound
A FigureAsia long-form profile of EJAE, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and songwriting, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Katie Kitamura Turned an Audition Into a Moral Trap
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Katie Kitamura, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
NIKI Wrote the Asian Diaspora Without Exoticizing It
A FigureAsia long-form profile of NIKI, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Basel Adra Put a Village at the Center of the World’s Attention
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Basel Adra, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of documentary filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Takashi Murakami Learned to Survive the Market He Helped Create
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Takashi Murakami, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Tatsuya Yoshihara Gave Chainsaw Man Its Most Cinematic Detour
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Tatsuya Yoshihara, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of animation direction, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
aespa Made the Future Feel Personal
A FigureAsia long-form profile of aespa, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Ado Built a Global Career Without Giving Away the Face
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Ado, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Lee Jung-jae Made Survival Look Like Moral Exhaustion
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Lee Jung-jae, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Stray Kids Took Self-Production to Stadium Scale
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Stray Kids, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Nigo Turned Taste Into an Operating System
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Nigo, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of fashion design and music culture, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Tatsuki Fujimoto Writes Like the Internet Feels
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Tatsuki Fujimoto, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of manga, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Jennie’s Ruby Test
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Jennie, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
G-Dragon Returned as K-Pop’s Unfinished Argument
A FigureAsia long-form profile of G-Dragon, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and fashion, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
A Useful Ghost Made Thai Politics Strange Enough to See Again
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
YOASOBI Turned Fiction Into a Hitmaking Engine
A FigureAsia long-form profile of YOASOBI, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music duo, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Rosé Found a Pop Language Bigger Than Fandom
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Rose, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Chiharu Shiota Gives Absence a Physical Weight
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Chiharu Shiota, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Rei Ami’s Voice Broke the Screen
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Rei Ami, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
IU Carried a Korean Century in One Performance
A FigureAsia long-form profile of IU, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Shirin Sohani Drew Grief Without Making It Small
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Shirin Sohani, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of animation filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Deepa Bhasthi Gave Kannada Fiction a Passport Without Sanding Off Its Voice
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Deepa Bhasthi, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literary translation, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Mieko Kawakami Keeps Asking Who Gets to Own a Woman’s Life
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Mieko Kawakami, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Fujii Kaze’s Soft Power Travels Without Translation
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Fujii Kaze, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
SEVENTEEN’s Precision Is Really a Management Story
A FigureAsia long-form profile of SEVENTEEN, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Yukinobu Tatsu Made the Weirdness the Point
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Yukinobu Tatsu, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of manga, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Hasan Hadi Found a Revolution in a Baghdad Cake Shop
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Hasan Hadi, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Park Chan-wook’s Darkest Joke Is About Having No Other Choice
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Park Chan-wook, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Cherien Dabis Turned Family Memory Into Palestinian Epic
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Cherien Dabis, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Kim Won-seok Directed Memory Like an Inheritance
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Kim Won-seok, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of television direction, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Jisoo’s Solo Year Tested the Power of Quiet Reinvention
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Jisoo, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
J-Hope Turned the Stage Into a Study of Motion
A FigureAsia long-form profile of J-Hope, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
LE SSERAFIM Learned to Perform Through the Backlash
A FigureAsia long-form profile of LE SSERAFIM, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Ne Zha 2 Changed the Scale of Chinese Animation
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Jiaozi, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of animation filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Kaveh Akbar Put Faith on Trial
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Kaveh Akbar, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
The Long Game Behind Squid Game’s Final Turn
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Hwang Dong-hyuk, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of television writing and direction, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Son Ye-jin Chose Emotional Risk Over Easy Familiarity
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Son Ye-jin, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Eiichiro Oda Still Runs the World’s Longest Creative Marathon
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Eiichiro Oda, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of manga, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Ishaan Khatter’s Most Important Role Refused the Star System
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Ishaan Khatter, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Haegue Yang Lets Objects Carry the Politics
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Haegue Yang, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Frieren’s Writer Found Drama in What Happens After Victory
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Kanehito Yamada, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of manga and storytelling, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Lee Bul Built the Future From Ruins
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Lee Bul, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of contemporary art, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Vishal Jethwa Let Restraint Do the Hardest Work
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Vishal Jethwa, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Han Kang’s Nobel Afterlife Changed the Business of Translation
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Han Kang, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
BLACKPINK’s Return Became a Test of Global Pop Scarcity
A FigureAsia long-form profile of BLACKPINK, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
R.F. Kuang Sent Academia To Hell
A FigureAsia long-form profile of R.F. Kuang, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Audrey Nuna Turned the Animated Idol Into a Real Pop Persona
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Audrey Nuna, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
A.R. Rahman’s Quiet Revolution Keeps Rewriting the Sound of India
A FigureAsia long-form profile of A.R. Rahman, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music composition, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Yuya Tokuda Made Monster Hunting Feel New Again
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Yuya Tokuda, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of game direction, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Liu Cixin Became a Franchise Without Becoming a Brand Mascot
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Liu Cixin, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature and screen adaptation, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Hidetaka Miyazaki Expanded a World Players Thought They Knew
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Hidetaka Miyazaki, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of game direction, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Diljit Dosanjh Took Punjabi Pop Where the Industry Said It Couldn’t Go
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Diljit Dosanjh, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music and screen performance, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Hamdan Ballal And the Cost of Bearing Witness
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Hamdan Ballal, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of documentary filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Ema Ryan Yamazaki Made a Japanese Classroom a Global Question
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Ema Ryan Yamazaki, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of documentary filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
BABYMONSTER Grew Up in Public at Global Speed
A FigureAsia long-form profile of BABYMONSTER, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of music group, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Arden Cho Gave Rumi More Than a Voice
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Arden Cho, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of voice performance and music, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Hideo Kojima Still Thinks Games Can Carry the Weight of Cinema
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Hideo Kojima, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of game direction, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Jafar Panahi Turned Confinement Into Cannes’s Most Uncomfortable Triumph
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Jafar Panahi, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of filmmaking, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
Yang Shuang-zi Made Taiwan’s Colonial Past Intimate
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Yang Shuang-zi, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of literature, international reach and creative control.
Asia Leaders
How Maggie Kang Built 2025’s Most Unlikely Global Pop Franchise
A FigureAsia long-form profile of Maggie Kang, examining how the 2025 work changed the terms of animation filmmaking, international reach and creative control.