• Wed. Dec 18th, 2024

Japan Subculture Research Center

A guide to the Japanese underworld, Japanese pop-culture, yakuza and everything dark under the sun.

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Japanese Spies, Hollywood Stars and Pearl Harbor

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,…

カルト、腐敗、失敗、そして崩壊。選挙で有権者が懲りない自民党を拒絶。

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。

Election Update: Japan’s Ruling Party Looks Likely to Lose Majority and finds out karma is a bitch.

As the ballots trickle in from Japan’s general election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) —which is infamously neither liberal nor democratic–is having the kind of night you wouldn’t wish…

The elections in Japan 101 : regime change or LDP 🎉 party

Imagine Japan as a stage and the LDP as the lead actor, playing the same role since 1955, almost like a Broadway star who refuses to age out of their…

The Real-Life Kamurochō: A Yakuza History Lesson with Tokyo Noir’s Jake Adelstein

The Real-Life Kamurochō: A Yakuza History Lesson with Tokyo Vice’s Jake Adelstein We explore Tokyo’s Kabukicho, the inspiration behind the central setting of the series formerly known as Yakuza. (originally…

How a sumo tournament led to the downfall of the yakuza

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…

Tokyo Vice Vice-O-Pedia: Nuclear workers (原発作業員)

The Japanese underworld thrives beneath the surface, weaving a subterranean society that infiltrates every corner of Japanese life. The Yakuza, Japan’s infamous mafia, proudly upholds age-old structures and rituals tracing…

Tokyo Vice Vice-O-Pedia: Why Do Yakuza Chop Off Their Fingers or The Art of ENKOZUME (エンコ詰め)

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.…

The Evaporated: 神隠し(かみかくし)Gone with the Gods –On Air now

People have a habit of vanishing in Japan---even hundreds of years ago, it happened often enough that myths were created to explain these sudden disappearances. 神隠し (kamikakushi)--to be hidden by…

Creators behind The Walking Dead launch Japanese content division

Skybound Japan's inaugural project, in collaboration with Fuji TV, is Heart Attack, an electrifying sci-fi television series based on the Skybound original graphic novel series by Shawn Kittelsen (Injustice 2,…