Musings

“I know your name.” I shuddered while reading the first line of this email on my mobile, I remember dropping it on my bed in disbelief. This wasn’t the usual…

“We don’t need Parliamentarians who ignore human rights” (人権無視する議員はいらない) “Mio Sugita, resign now” （杉田水脈は今すぐ辞めろ） “Silence is death” ˆ(沈黙は死） These were just some of the statements protesters were chanting in unity,…

"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…

What I leave out is this: I don't want children. I'm fine with being a Japanese Wife but I would never want to be a Japanese Mother. I think about…

“Fingertalk” a cafe run by the deaf in Indonesia has become a successful philanthropic business in Indonesia. It owes its success to the experience and determination of Dissa Syakina Ahdanisa,…

  So you’ve just arrived in Japan and you’re experiencing culture shock. Will you ever acclimate? If you want to understand Japanese life, try playing “The Game of Life.” It’s…

I'm always happy to engage people in English conversation in Japan--hey, I was an English conversation instructor and sometimes still enjoy teaching some of my favorite students! I also take…

Roppongi is the white male's extra-territorial sanctuary as well as metaphorical catacomb, where pleasure draws a last gasp before crumpling into a heap of old bones. The white man's loop…

The Global Gender Gap report published last year noted that Mr. Abe and the LDP's pledge to bridge the gender divide resulted in actually widening the gulf, with Nippon sliding…

Japan Subculture Research Center is proud to present a series of short stories, by our resident book reviewer and social commentator, Kaori Shoji, on the often tragically mismatched marriages of…