A Maudlin Merry X-mas From Jake, Sarah and Everyone At Japan Subculture Research Center

I wish I could be a little more cheerful around this time of year. I can remember a time when the Christmas season didn’t depress me much but it seems like decades ago.  Maybe if I was in Japan where Christmas is more festively celebrated by buying tubs of Kentucky Fried Chicken and young couples flock to love hotels to consummate their undying love for each in Hello Kitty! themed love hotel suites or in illuminated Jacuzzi baths or round beds shaking to festive tunes channelled... Read More

Fuzoku Friday: "Prostitution" vs Prostitution

The Japanese law draws the line between legal and illegal sexual services by whether or not the ball makes it into the goal, so to speak. And while some businesses, namely soaplands, manage to work their way around these rules, law enforcement chooses to “focus their efforts” on places that are plainly and evidently illegal. The first clip is from “The Zokufu 24 Hours,” a program on a local Chiba TV station. We find ex-pro wind surfer and host, Saito Ryotsu,... Read More

Local areas to beef up anti-organized crime legislature

There was news this week of four prefectures working on additional legislative measures to stop organized crime organizations from working their way into the operations and offices of legitimate businesses. In Ehime, it was reported by the Mainichi that on Dec. 15 the prefectural government started a project team for the creation of a prefecture ordinance to eliminate organized crime (県暴力団排除条例総合対策プロジェクト). The ordinance will reportedly be based... Read More

Fuzoku Friday: The Alibi

On an Internet message board, a concerned mother writes: Hello. My child has been attending kindergarten from March, and since then I’ve been working as a delivery health girl. I tell my husband, “I’m still looking for a job.. today I went to the employment office but still haven’t been able to find anything,” but in reality I’m doing good business every weekday from 10am-3pm. I want to tell the hubby that I’ve found a job, but am not... Read More

Police and government fighting back against junior idols?

A 10-year-old "junior idol" poses at a bookshop in Akihabara. Fans who buy a girl's DVD get tickets to events where they can meet idols and take photos. Photo by Sarah Noorbakhsh An article posted a few weeks ago but recently brought to my attention through Japan Probe: Tokyo Metro Police create dedicated anti-child porn unit A special Tokyo police unit to combat the spread of child pornography on the Internet will begin work Thursday. The unit will also operate... Read More

Eating sushi off a naked girl: yay or yuck?

The Japan Times featured an interesting article by Brett Bull about nyotaimori (女体盛り), the custom of feasting on food served atop a [mostly] naked woman. Googling for images for this entry, I’d reckon a guess that the practice is far more popular overseas than it is in Japan nowadays, with specialty services popping up stateside and the infamy of the practice amongst people all around the world. A colleague whose job it is to entertain people from overseas on tech... Read More

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, appalled by it, and/or who felt they were wiser for reading it. I’ve tried to answer every letter I’ve gotten. If I haven’t answered yours, my apologies. I also feel that I should say I am not a hero. I’ve also apparently broken most of the major rules of journalism that most journalists in... Read More