Kaori Shoji

Yoshioka completely lives for her job, to the point of excluding everything else from her life. It turns out that her father (also a journalist) had killed himself over an…

By Kaori Shoji  I am at the reception counter of Muji Hotel – the much touted and long awaited hotel produced by Muji, Japan’s popular minimalist clothing and household products…

by Kaori Shoji Note: Theories abound as to how mahjong originated in China. Some say the inventor was Confucius who played it, was hooked and ultimately abandoned it because of…

Pierre Taki may not be so lucky. Compared to kakuseizai, cocaine constitutes a serious offense and it's much more difficult to buy in Japan. Taki has never cultivated a squeaky…

The PR for Family Mart stated that ultimately, the company leaves the choice to stock porn up to the individual outlet owners. "Some of our outlets don't carry magazines at…

Weekly SPA, a magazine famed for insisting that sex and money are the only things worth striving for, came out with a story in late December about which colleges had…

"I want you to think about all the mistakes you've made in your life up to this point," the Samurai tells his bleeding victim. "You have plenty of time for…

Hayakawa imagines a near future in which the government launches the titular program: people over 75 are offered a quick and painless euthanising. In 美しい国, the story revolves around an…

For the privileged residents in Minami Aoyama, it's hard to admit that unhappiness and tragedy exists, and harder still to have to live with a problematic institution in their own…

he book reveals in a deeply observant way how ultimately, Japan and Japanese women refused to be messed around with, particularly by a foreigner. And in the end, Houchen's wife…