Japanese TV Star Shimada Shinsuke retires before yakuza ties exposed
Popular comedian Shimada Shinsuke had extensive dealings with an organized crime boss and retired hastily before the details were written up in a weekly magazine.
Whoot! What? Wut! German Fashion finds a home in Tokyo
Japan Subculture Research Center is going through puberty and heading towards adulthood. After a long discussion with the Japan Subculture Research Center team, we’ve decided to expand the blog to…
Death by Pufferfish: A short story by Mayumi Shimose Poe
Jake’s note: In a departure from our usual hard-boiled news about Japan, we’re honored to be republishing a fascinating short story that illustrates many cultural aspects of Japanese society and…
Moe Yamaguchi's high-rolling husband arrested for running illegal hostess club
Actress and talento Moe Yamaguchi was “really stunned” when she learned her husband, web entrepreneur Shigeo Ozeki, has been illegally running a posh hostess club without a license. Ozeki and…
Mind your f**ks and s**ts: Localizing Yakuza 1 龍が如く翻訳物語
By Demian ‘Ryu Ichinose’ Smith Ryu ga Gotoku, or Yakuza, as it was unfortunately titled for international distribution, was the first major localization project I was assigned to as a…
Yakuza: Of the End to be released June 9 with special commemorative sticker
For those of you who don’t follow the Ryu ga Gotoku: Of the End Twitter feed through their nifty application we previously reviewed, it was announced today that the game’s…
The manga that predicted nuclear meltdown
There’s been a number of postponements and cancellations in the Japanese entertainment world since the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake. Many are out of a sense of respect, some are due…
Ryu ga Gotoku for Twitter
Release of the much-awaited next instalment in the Yakuza series, Yakuza: Of the End (龍が如く Of the End) may have been postponed because of the Tohoku earthquake, but impatient fans…
English Conversation (Eikaiwa) a con game? Engrish lessons from Yakuza 3
The critically acclaimed game, Yakuza 3 (龍が如く３) had a lot cut out of the American version. One of the more interesting scenarios scrubbed was the lead character, ex-yakuza boss, Kiryu’s…
How to speak dramatic death and destruction: yakuza lingo
Film buffs and Japanophiles delight: The Japan Times ran a great article by film reviewer Mark Schilling about lines in various yakuza flicks, using some solid classics like the Jingi…