Edible soap? Yakuza Arrested For Claiming Sex-Shop Payment Was For Dining

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Organized Crime Control Division General Affair Division (警視庁組織犯罪対策総務課） arrested three members of the Inagawa-kai, Japan’s third largest organized crime  group, on April 27th for computer fraud (電子計算機使用詐欺). According to police sources, the three gangsters were operating a sex shop establishment, called “soap-lands”  in Japan, and in October of 2010 processed a payment for 22,800... Read More

No-No-Hair Summer: Time To Trim The Fur in Japan

It’s summer time. Time for a haircut and time for Ya-Man to launch it’s summer defoliation campaign, No-No-Hair,  because lords knows there is nothing more unsightly than a man or woman with body hair. Or maybe everyone is  considered sexier if they look prepubescent in parts of Japan. “The No-No Hair” hair removal device has sold over 2,500,000 units since we first wrote about it in 2010. “It doesn’t pluck, it’s doesn’t shave,... Read More

Children in Limbo: The Cruelty Of Single Parent Custody In Japan. In Japan, what happens to children after their parents divorce?

“There is no winner or loser, but the victims are always the children*,” said filmmaker David Hearn commenting on his recent documentary, From the Shadows, a work in progress. After divorce, Japan’s family court grants the custody to one parent only. It is the rule of the “single parent,” or the single custody. In cases where a child is born to a couple, where one parent is a Japanese national, that child can be taken away by that Japanese parent–without the consent... Read More

Woodford Plants A Time Bomb At Olympus Shareholders Meeting

TOKYO ― Last Friday’s extraordinary shareholding meeting for Olympus, which is under investigation for $1.7 billion of fraudulent accounting, lasting just under three hours, was punctuated with angry shouting, protests, a motion to fire the chairman of the meeting, and one surprise. Michael Woodford, the former CEO of Olympus who blew the whistle on falsified accounting at the Japan’s optical equipment maker, stated he might seek to invalidate the shareholder... Read More

Yakuza Terminology: Updated With Weasels and Monsters

We’ve updated the yakuza terminology section here and there. If you’re interested in the Japanese underworld and anti-social forces, have a read. Brush up on the Japanese you shouldn’t know. By the way, if someone knows how to play itachi-gokko the correct way (like young kids used to play it), please teach me how. It sounds sort of fun. itachi (鼬・いたち）: a weasel, but in the yakuza world also slang for a very good police detective. いたちごっこ(itachgokko)... Read More

Failure to Launch: More Observations On DPRK Missile Debacle

North Korea failed to launch their missile yesterday (April 12th US time/April 13th Japan time) as noted in our previous post.  The UN Security Council is meeting today in New York, to discuss the implications of the launch. Japan will be pushing for a strict condemnation, and possibly more sanctions. It is expected that the United Nations will probably issue a resolution against North Korea for this launch. The main question will be whether the UN will issue new sanctions against... Read More

North Korea Launches Something Surprising: The Truth?

North Korea failed to launch it’s missile (no, really it was a satellite) today but in light of how the foreign media was allowed to cover the event, and North Korea’s quick admission of failure, it may be possible that this was the launch of a new and more transparent hermit kingdom. Does the missile launch actually signal the beginning of a more open DPRK? North Korea Expert Professor Shigemura weighs in on the meaning of the missile that just wasn’t good enough. The... Read More

Sakura Time 2012: A photo journey of Tokyo’s awesome cherry blossom viewing

The cherry blossom (桜・sakura) has always been the symbol of ephemeral beauty in the Japanese culture, and very often associated with the bushi and samurai, among whom it was said that life was short and beautiful, like a cherry flower. The Canal Cafe part of the Tokyo Suijyo Club ( Iidabashi station subway exit B3) will let you rent rowboats and enjoy the sakura along the river. Skip the lunch and go straight to the boats. It is thought that the custom of hanami (花見) aka... Read More

The $1,000 Pineapple. Japanese Police Offer Rewards For Hand Grenades

The Fukuoka Prefecture Police have become the first in Japan to offer cash rewards to anyone who reports finding a hand grenade, called “pineapples” in yakuza slang. A long-running gang war in the prefecture has raised public fear in the area, and the handy hand-grenade has increasingly become the weapon of choice amongst rival gang members. As Japan has put into place increasingly harsher laws regulating the actions of the Japanese mafia, aka the yakuza, forcing... Read More

“The US and Japan: Most Important Relationship In The Pacific Region”, says Senator Webb.

Senator Jim Webb spoke about the presence of the US military in Japan on April 5th, at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan, in Tokyo (Chiyoda-ku) and affirmed the importance of US-Japan relationships. Senator Webb, a former journalist, a novelist, and Democrat, said that the relationship between Japan and the US is “the most important relationship in this part of the world,” in terms of keeping stability in a region, that over a century “has become very volatile, when... Read More