How to speak dramatic death and destruction: yakuza lingo
Film buffs and Japanophiles delight: The Japan Times ran a great article by film reviewer Mark Schilling about lines in various yakuza flicks, using some solid classics like the Jingi…
Event: Yakuza fiction vs fact at the New York Japan Society
For those in the New York area, Jake Adelstein will be appearing at the Japan Society’s event, “Yakuza in Popular Media & Real Life: Cracks & Chasms”, on March 10…
Pervy police inspector wrangles kiss out of fellow officer
A Hyogo officer had aggravated assault filed against him after he forced a subordinate female officer to kiss him in their police car while on patrol. Hyogo police officials apologised…
In Tokyo, Komatsu-gumi head arrested for extortion; Yamaguchi Kodo-kai Nearing Decimation
Police arrested the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi Kodo-kai-affiliated Komatsu-gumi on January 29 under suspicion of attempted blackmail after he reportedly tried to extort money out of a company executive. Police…
Two arrested in Sumida-ku child porn bust
Police found a cache of over 3,600 uncensored DVDs, including some containing child pornography, at a Sumida-ku apartment on January 12 after discovering the operation from fliers posted on the…
Underage Japanese girls learning to sell themselves online
The plague of child porn has in recent years been facilitated by the spread Internet, writes the Yomiuri in an article sourcing our favorite Polaris Project pundit, Shihoko Fujiwara. “One…
Angry man strips naked on Shinkansen
A Yamagata man was arrested Jan 18 for public obscenity after he stripped nude inside a Tohoku Shinkansen while stopped at JR Morioka Stn. The 32-year-old man told police he got undressed…
Tokyo LGBT community and supporters protest Ishihara’s homophobic comments
By Mizue Watanabe★ Tokyo’s LGBT community and its supporters held a lecture event January 14 to address the homophobic statements made in early December by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara. The…
Civically active yakuza discovered to be working for national census
It has been revealed that a member of the Kyushu-based Kudo-kai was appointed as a representative to help carry out the 2010 national census after being recommended by the city…
SDF flasher foiled at fast food drive-thru
A Saitama-based Self Defense Force human resources manager was arrested on charges of public indecency December 28 after he reportedly brought his own “mystery meat” to a McDonalds drive-thru in…