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Japan Subculture Research Center

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

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  • Year of The Dragon Begins With Earthquake But Godzilla Remains Dormant

Year of The Dragon Begins With Earthquake But Godzilla Remains Dormant

Major earthquake fails to waken Godzilla from his slumbers. Prime Minister assures Japanese populace Godzilla not technically a dragon.

RIP 2011. Happy New Year 2012

Sayonara 2011. Welcome 2012!

Put a little love (injection) into your heart and your vocabulary!

"love injections" "echoes" "loach"--it was a strange year for japanese buzzwords

Hafu – The Film

Coming in 2012

Has Japan's largest newspaper, the Yomiuri, been co-opted into a personal weapon of the Chairman?

Is Chairman Watanabe, "the Rupert Murdoch of Japan", willing to use the Yomiuri Newspaper as a tool in his personal vendettas?

Mitsuko Delivers: random acts of kindness and some laughs

by Amy Seaman Just from reading a brief one-sentence summary about Yuya Ishii’s newest film, Mitsuko Delivers, it’s clear that this isn’t just another PARCO-sponsored, corny Japanese love story with…

What do Clint, John and Hayao have in common? Tokyo International Film Festival Quiz#1

So maybe now you're asking, who is Akira Kurosawa?

Japan-related blogs now have a homebase!

Your most favoritest Japanese underworld guide and yakuza blog, Japan Subculture Research Center (<— us!) has recently been listed on the brand-new Japan Blog Directory! The Directory is only 2…

Japan's First Food Bank: Applying Japanese Efficiency to the Problem of Hunger

the non-profit organization that pioneered a whole new field in Japan

Meet The Yakuza: The Yakuza Movie Book, more than just about movies.

"There are parallels, however, between Kitano's dirty heroes and Takakura's clean-cut ones: Both are contemptuous of death in the best samurai tradition and both define macho cool for their respective…