Japan Subculture Research Center

UPDATE: The Nigerian Government dropped the charges against Tigran circa October 23rd and he is now home.

I was writing to a former intern at Japan Subculture Research Center, Fresca, and asked her to send me her thesis to read—just as she mailed me. I think I…

Will The Empress Continue To Reign? Probably.

The yakuza, Japan’s infamous organised crime syndicates, have gone into a death spiral in recent years and Jake Adelstein says it is partly due to an incident at a sumo…

It's been 46 years since Takumi Yokota last saw his sister Megumi. Their family was just like any other, until Megumi became one of the many Japanese hostages held captive…

Ever spotted something odd about someone’s hands nearby? Everything seems ordinary until you notice it: one finger joint missing, maybe a whole finger, maybe several. lt leaves a noticeable gap.…

Tigran Gambaryan's career is anchored by one constant: an unwavering dedication to justice He put child pornographers and crypto-criminals out of business. Now he's being held hostage in Nigeria, a…

In Ichigatsuno Koeni Yorokobiwo Kizame (International title: Voice), a young woman named Reiko (Atsuko Maeda) professes to her boyfriend-for-hire that she had been sexually abused as a child. Reiko had been six years…

The documentary Black Box Diaries has taken the world by storm. It is the story of journalist Shiori Ito, who directed the film. In 2015, the young journalist was raped…

This article was originally posted on tokyopaladin.substack.com. Subscribe for exclusive posts, right to your inbox. Tokyo – The system takes care of its own.  A former member of Japan’s House…

‘Teki’ means enemy.  The 77-year old protagonist Gisuke Watanabe in Teki Cometh (Japanese title: Teki) can’t quite figure out the exact identity of that enemy but he’s aware it’s coming to destroy him.…

By Tori H. Tale In the December 19th edition of Josei Seven, it was reported that 90 million yen was paid by Nakai Masahiro in a settlement awarded to a…

by Robert Whiting I read with sadness of the passing of Tsuneo Watnabe, the long time shogun of the Yomiuri group, which publishes the Yomiuri Shinbun–(editor note: and also owns…

Japan is the second largest market for publishing books in the world — a fact that probably comes as no surprise to people living in Japan who only need to…

By Ronald Drabkin It’s been a long and unexpected journey—from the moment I discovered my father had been a spy, to seeing my nonfiction book, Rutland, Omae wa Dare Da,…

"Performing..." is also a funny, melancholic and classic Japanese love story. Classic because within the traditional Japanese relationship, a man and woman only realize the depth of their love for…

故安倍晋三元首相の罪悪: 使途不明金、失敗した経済政策、そして旧統一教会との関係が彼の党を追い詰めた。

In a not-so-surprising twist that has Japan’s ruling party licking its wounds, the 2024 lower house election results show the ruling coalition crumbling to pieces. After decades of near-uninterrupted dominance…