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Dear Gentle Reader,
All of us at Japan Subculture Research Center would like to thank you for your reading the articles posted here this last year, your contributions, and your comments. Here are some of the articles we thought were the most amusing, edifying, or just fun, grouped together in general order. We had some outstanding outside contributions which made for some excellent reading–and to those contributors thank you as well. Whether you’re interested in Japanese culture or pop-culture, Japan’s nuclear problems, or yakuza and the Japanese underworld—there’s something for everyone. Enjoy!
Just For Fun
The most read piece we posted last year. And the one we put the least amount of effort into.
Love: Japan style.
Hello Kitty is an international refugee?
The most painful article ever.
Let’s Convenience Store! The Musical: コンビニへ行こう！ : Japan Subculture Research Center
A great piece by Mr. Noah-sama, a contributor to the blog. The best of Japanese life.
Coffee & Cigarettes Together At Last : Speak Lark, Drink up : Japan Subculture Research Center
What could be better? Manju and Green Tea? I think not.
How are we feeling today? A little paranoid, perhaps. Maybe not.
The Fallout from 3/11 and Japan’s nuclear industry
The Buddha of Fukushima’s Forbidden Zone: A Photo Essay : Japan Subculture Research Center
A tribute to one man who will not go quietly.
We hope someone in the Japanese government is paying attention.
The Melting Sun: Japan’s Nuclear Follies : Japan Subculture Research Center
History not only repeats itself, sometimes it predicts the future. A long essay on Japan’s nuclear industry by Professor Jeff Kingston worth reading.
The protest movement is heard. The follow up is here on The Daily Beast. Nuclear Power Protests In Japan Are Finally Heard.
The Underworld and The Yakuza
The Last Yakuza: A Life In The Japanese Underworld coming in 2014 : Japan Subculture Research Center
I know–total self-promotion. What else do you think pays the costs of running this labor of love? Book sales, some donations, and whatever else I can scrounge up. All that aside, I’m hoping this will be a good read with a moral to the tale. All good stories have something to teach.
Those Southern Yakuza are pretty ornery!
When I wrote about this in 2011, it was a taboo. Not anymore. Sometimes even the bad guys do good things.
Yakuza Comix: An Illustrated Guide To The Front Company フロント企業図解 : Japan Subculture Research Center
Pictures and words
Yakuza Comix #2: The Buck Stops With The Boss : Japan Subculture Research Center
It’s not easy being a yakuza chief these days.
Live and learn. Sometimes we die and learn.
On Modern Slavery: Thoughts on Human Trafficking : Japan Subculture Research Center
Published posthumously. Michiel Brandt, rest in peace.
Little Mermaids & Little Fingers: An illustrated yakuza tale : Japan Subculture Research Center
Even Yakuza have kids and sometimes try to be good fathers.
Meet Japan’s Nuclear Mafia: Yakuza, deadbeats, and security risks welcome
Japanese Culture and Cultural Events from 2012
The beauty of April in Japan.
Graduation Day: Goodbye to 虐め (いじめ）？ : Japan Subculture Research Center
“Ijime” bullying is a part of the culture. Unfortunately.
Halloween in Japan–in the traditional sense.
Do we have to wait another 173 years? There are some great photos here.
Journalism In Japan (and the world)
Why we are reluctant to use the names of our sources in Japan–and for good reason.
Do you want to be an investigative journalist in Japan? You’ll need a good lawyer. Increasingly, litigation is used to shut up voices of dissent.
The Journo Blues: A Song Inspired By Arianna Huffington : Japan Subculture Research Center
The HuffPost and Google News have started to turn the business into a con game–the con being that “exposure” will get you a real job as a journalist. Better think twice on that. If journalism is your calling, you may need to have a second job.
Meet the Rupert Murdoch of Japan: Tsuneo Watanabe
Musings
Yes, Ray Bradbury was a novelist but sometimes people can say greater truths in fiction than they can in an essay. I was sad to see him go and this is my small essay on what I find inspiring in his best novel, as a journalist, and as a father.
I would like to nominate something but it not an article. Its the ads that started to appear on the site. One ad was for a free trial to marry a Chinese bride and the other was for designer handbags at 90% off( I assume knockoffs but I could be wrong). Talk about subculture.
Ouch! I know those ads are awful but I can’t figure out a better way to pay the costs of running the website. You are welcome to donate. Just hit the paypal button. I can’t pick the ads unfortunately.
Love it! Keep up the awesome work 😀