Books on Japan

The Japanese language is rich with expressions and words that extol the virtues of corporal punishment aka taibatsu (体罰) but the penchant some older Japanese have for slapping their younger…

There was a brief time after the earthquake when Japan welcomed the yakuza and they welcomed the victims with whatever aid they could provide. As time passes most of them…

Japan, the Mother of World’s First Novel to Hosted its First International Literary Festival, this year.

For thousands of years, China and Japan have been neighboring countries. Former Japanese ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa, at a press conference held today, explained it is not possible for…

The message of "Strong In The Rain" in its tale of foreign and Japanese heroes and villains--and there are both, remains with the reader long after the book is done.…

“People’s clothing are the ‘social symbols’ which allows other people to understand whether he/she is a Buddhist monk, a Christian priest, a salary man, or a medical doctor. Therefore the…

Hello Kitty, yakuza working in the nuclear industry, coffee and cigarettes, 2012 was a year chock full of news. Here are some of our favorite stories we ran in 2012.

Chapter 12: "We Ran It In A Different Way" is a must for anyone interested in the shadow history of Japan. It details how in post-war Japan, the CIA, using…

Because of Japan's personal privacy protection laws, created by the LDP to discourage magazine reporters for writing about their scandals and organized crime ties, I'm limited in what I can…

Over the three years that I knew her, not once did I hear her complain about her own issues. Instead, she helped others with compassion and love. The numerous posts…