The jury is in: Japan’s new jury system is a farce.
This news story slipped under my large nose in the last few days of earth-shaking quake related news. On March 30th (2011) the Tokyo High Court overturned the not-guilty verdict…
TEPCO executives under investigation for charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury. UPDATE（業務上過失致死傷容疑)
The Japanese police continue their investigation into TEPCO, the managing entity of the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor for charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury. TEPCO announced on April…
Eikaiwa Underworld: Lessons Taught, Lessons Learned
By Jason Gray Early 2004. When teaching conversational English, at least in Japan, fascinating students are a rarity. This isn’t necessarily because there aren’t interesting people who want to learn…
The Invisible Yakuza And Those That See Them
Maybe it seems like we glorify the yakuza on this website, and perhaps we do a little. But they are called 暴力団 (boryoku-dan –violent groups) by the police for a…
We take bullets very seriously. Even the fake ones. Part 1.
A few weeks ago, I had to go apologize to a yakuza boss. Always a scary thing, especially when you’re in the wrong. He had agreed to help out with…
Homes and hotels during the recession
The talented Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times published an article recently focusing on a group of Japanese people who have been forced out of their homes and into…
Thank You For The Kind Letters About TOKYO VICE (from Jake)
I’ve been heartened by a huge number of letters I’ve received in the last three weeks from people who read the book and were moved by it, inspired by it,…
Be Nice to the Yakuza, Or Else
Another amusing educational lesson by jake Adelstein for Publishing Perspectives, this time about the vital (literally) rules of being a yakuza reporter! So, you want to become a Gokudokisha 極道記者,…
The Strange World of Yakuza Fan Magazines
It figures that something like this would be coming, since he is such an avid collector of the things, but Jake has written a detailed rundown of magazines published by…
Ozawa's Angels — will they kick ass or pour tea?
A much-talked-about article with a slightly misleading headline about some lucky young ladies who were hand-picked by former DPJ president Ichiro Ozawa and ushered into seats of power. NAGOYA, Japan…