What do Clint, John and Hayao have in common? Tokyo International Film Festival Quiz#1

So maybe now you’re asking, who is Akira Kurosawa?

Ghosts in the Shell 2 (Innocence) Review and Second Opinion

Innocence focuses on the increasingly shrinking barrier between humans and technology, addressing the question of what it means to be alive, and pulls in a bit of political commentary as well. 「孤独に歩め。悪をなさず、求めるところは少なく。林の中の象のように」

Meet The Yakuza: The Yakuza Movie Book, more than just about movies.

“There are parallels, however, between Kitano’s dirty heroes and Takakura’s clean-cut ones: Both are contemptuous of death in the best samurai tradition and both define macho cool for their respective generations.”

Ghost in The Shell (攻殻機動隊): A classic film of Japanese sci-fi animation with universal themes

Will it ever be possible to emulate true humanity through technology?

Book: Black Passenger Yellow Cabs

Editor’s note: Mr. Bryan sent us JSRC the book a few months ago but as we were getting ready to post the review, 3/11 came upon us. It seemed like a very wrong time to publish it. Many people may find this book a little offensive, some may find it eye-opening. Amy Seaman, one of [...]

Book: Reimagining Japan: The Quest for a Future that Works

What is the future of Japan? Can the country get back on its feet? It’s a question that the world and the people of Japan are asking themselves. McKinsey & Company have edited a book that aims to answer this question. Reimagining Japan is a collection of eighty essays that aim to shed light on [...]

Film: Cold Fish (冷たい熱帯魚)

A film based on the Saitama Dog Lovers serial killings

Review: People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman

Jake has done an honest and intriguing review of journalist Richard Lloyd Parry’s People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman over at Literary Review. Partial transcript below. When the disappearance of Lucie Blackman made the news, I was covering it as a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper. By necessity rather [...]

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 can show their support with the free iPhone app, Ryu ga Gotoku for Twitter. Perhaps the main feature of Ryu ga Gotoku for Twitter is [...]

How The CIA Helped Put the Yakuza And The LDP In Power

I just finished re-reading Tim Weiner’s magnum opus, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA ,which is perhaps the best book ever written on the Central Intelligence Agency, and its general history of dismal failures. Operations in Japan turned out to be one of the Agency’s rare success stories. Chapter 12: “We Ran It [...]