Doglegs disabled pro-wrestling: The fight club that wants you to stare

The members of Doglegs, the self-described “superhandicapped” pro wrestling league, aren’t looking for your pity, however. They want you to watch, wide-eyed, and feel the power, the ability, and the fire hidden inside their unusual frames.

The Incomplete Transsexual—a photo essay from Sanya

Tokyo, by Dan Ryan It was a little like the scenario in that Kinks song “Lola”, but only in passing. I met her in a little place called Seoul Bar, which is in a rundown section of northeast Tokyo called Sanya. At first I thought her was a him, and she sounded like a man [...]

Japan Lax Nuclear Security Could Make It The Land Of The Melting Sun

Japan has more than 50 gigantic nuclear “pressure cookers” ripe for exploitation by terrorists. In Japan, getting access to a nuclear power plant is very simple: fill out a job application.

The Phantoms of Narita Airport: The Forgotten Warriors In Fading Green Fields

“It is much more than stress. Can you see the working conditions of these farmers? Can you see the iron fences surrounding their land? Is this human? Our combat is about the protection of our basic human rights to live and work and so much more.”
Koji Kitahara, 91, Secretary General and Leader of the League Against the Construction of Narita Airport.

Sayonara Speed Tribes (暴走族サヨナラ） opens April 12. Run & catch it!

Japan’s infamous ‘Speed Tribes’ – kamikaze styled biker gangs- have, for decades, delighted would-be rebels and terrorized the general public. Idolized in the underground, demonized by the mass media and hunted by the police, their numbers continue to dwindle into extinction. As an OB (Old Bro) Hazuki is tasked with passing on a dying tradition, but more importantly he must search out a new road or become extinct himself.

Cutting Subsidies to Chongryun`s Schools Punishes Zainichi Koreans Not Pyongyang

  Nicholas A. R. Fraser Why is Japan punishing zainichi Korean schools for North Korea`s bad behaviour? In December of last year newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed Hakubun Shimomura, the incoming Minister of MEXT, (Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) to announce publicly a proposal to revise the Free High School Tuition policy [...]

Scenes from a Tokyo Skid Row Clinic

With obvious fondness, Sister Rita goes on to say that despite their backgrounds and personal secrets, “These men have a purity of heart and are very charming. There is no guile in these men.” She sums things up by saying when men come to the clinic off of Sanya’s streets and ask for help “No questions are asked. We’re a family.”

Yakuza Comix 3: The complicated world of Japanese suicide, which is sometimes homicide

Japan has a fascination with death and suicide. But sometimes suicide here isn’t simply motivated by “honor” nor is it actually suicide.

JSRC Meets J-Horror Movie Maestro & Discusses 3/11, Fear, Death, Living On

After 3.11, Hideo Nakata, Japanese horror film director famous for “Ring” made a non-fiction documentary movie called Living in the Wake of 3.11, collecting testimonies from various people and victims of the March 11th tsunami disaster in Tohoku.

Corporal Punishment Getting Punished in Japan; Don’t throw pens at the kids!

The Japanese language is rich with expressions and words that extol the virtues of corporal punishment aka taibatsu (体罰) but the penchant some older Japanese have for slapping their younger counterparts has resulted in damages to Japan’s public image and its Olympic bid. In schools, in companies, and especially in the world of professional sports—taibatsu is becoming a problem too big to smack down.