Japan Subculture Research Center

Reuters’ Isabel Reynolds gets up close and personal with Jake Adelstein about the sotry behind Tokyo Vice. In his English-language memoir, “Tokyo Vice,” which will be published in the United…

Here they come, hopefully one in a long line of reviews! “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan” (Pantheon Books, 352 pages, $26), by Jake Adelstein:…

A look at why the yakuza hitting the books is a sure-fire sign that the economy is hitting rock bottom, by Bloomberg’s William Pesek, with added flavor from Jake Adelstein.…

A much-talked-about article with a slightly misleading headline about some lucky young ladies who were hand-picked by former DPJ president Ichiro Ozawa and ushered into seats of power. NAGOYA, Japan…

If you don’t already know, between 200o-2004, several of Japan’s crime bosses, including the notorious Goto Tadamasa, received liver transplants at UCLA.  Goto Tadamasa, one of Japan’s most brutal dons…

The publication of the magazine Koakuma Ageha in 2005 sent a shock-wave through Japanese society: when did cabaret-club hostesses become socially accepted to the degree that they have their own…

Unlike speed （覚醒剤）it's not a crime to use it, only to possess it

Tabuchi-san wrote an interesting piece about the resurgent popularity of hostess jobs in Japan in the New York Times last week. I contributed a commentary to the debate blog about…

When a yakuza sees a hearse (霊柩車/reikyusha) coming towards him in traffic, he’ll often put down the cell-phone which he has semi-permanently attached to his ear, and hides his thumb…