Book: Black Passenger Yellow Cabs
Editor’s note: Mr. Bryan sent us JSRC the book a few months ago but as we were getting ready to post the review, 3/11 came upon us. It seemed like…
The US Declares War On The Yakuza
President Obama cancels his yakuza fanzine subscription
Whoot! What? Wut! German Fashion finds a home in Tokyo
Japan Subculture Research Center is going through puberty and heading towards adulthood. After a long discussion with the Japan Subculture Research Center team, we’ve decided to expand the blog to…
Teaching an old dog (breed) new tricks
Japanese police force welcomes first-ever native Japanese police dog
Tokyo Court Upholds Ban on Use of Yamaguchi-gumi Kodo-kai front company office
The Tokyo District Court on the 21st of July (2011) rejected the legal pleas of the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi Kodokai （山口組弘道会）Komatsu-gumi and upheld a preliminary injunction against him which…
A tale of two kidneys: Sumiyoshi-kai head plays dealer in domestic organ trafficking case
Two kidneys, two doctors, two yakuza and one missing victim. Police are currently investigating the case of Toshinobu Horiuchi, a doctor who received a kidney transplant last July at Uwajima Tokushukai Hospital in…
"Hey kids, it's going to be really f**king hot tomorrow!" Japan Meteorological Agency institutes "Hot Weather Warning System"
The Japan Meteorological Agency, (JMA/気象庁) which is Japan’s weather bureau, began issuing “Extreme High Temperature Forecasts and Warnings”(高温注意情報) this week, starting on the 13th and posting in English from the…
Death by Pufferfish: A short story by Mayumi Shimose Poe
Jake’s note: In a departure from our usual hard-boiled news about Japan, we’re honored to be republishing a fascinating short story that illustrates many cultural aspects of Japanese society and…
Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future that Works
What is the future of Japan? Can the country get back on its feet? It’s a question that the world and the people of Japan are asking themselves. McKinsey &…
US report: human trafficking inside government’s foreign trainee program
Just two months after Japan got burned in the US State Department’s 2010 Human Rights Report, a new paper pins the country’s foreign trainee program as being almost as close…