Contemporary Culture

AUM leader in charge of “Science Technology” and conduit to organized crime, Hideo Murai, is stabbed to death by a Yamaguchi-gumi members in front of the group’s headquarters, while reporters…

On another level, "The Trial" shows up the very Kafka-esqueness of Japan's judicial system - the long, grueling process of scrutiny between arrest and indictment, and how, once indictment kicks…

Shiori Ito is a brave journalist who has taken on Japan's rape culture and has pursued justice in her own case. The BBC released a documentary "Japan's Secret Shame" about…

Japan Subculture Research Center was founded in 2007 to expose the hidden side of Japan – its underground economy, its transient and strange trends, its robust sex trade, wacky politics,…

限界に挑む会社として継続的な経済成長を達成し、グローバルリーチを支えるための構造を整備するオニツカタイガー。世界征服する日は近い。This past year Onitsuka Tiger celebrated the 50th anniversary of the original Mexico 66, arguably the flagship and best-selling shoe from the storied Japanese brand — The company touts it…

Astonishingly, before taking up her duties for the Third Reich, Pomsel had worked in a Jewish insurance company in Berlin while having a side gig in the afternoons working for…

Japan is a country where saving face is paramount—even if that means covering it with snake venom, bee toxin, horse oil, or snail slime. One company in Japan has been…

The titular family in "Shoplifters" give a new slant to the term "living in squalor." Their house looks more like a bizarre crime scene than an actual dwelling for normal…

In terms of celebrity status, sumo wrestlers are on par with kabuki actors, also entrenched in anti-woman tradition. In spite of this (or maybe because of it) there's never a…

"I think being able to speak English will change a Japanese person in the most unexpected ways," she said. "The Japanese language is just not conducive to self-expression, whereas English…