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Japan Subculture Research Center

A guide to the Japanese underworld, Japanese pop-culture, yakuza and everything dark under the sun.

Month: July 2011

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  • Book: Black Passenger Yellow Cabs

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…

The US Declares War On The Yakuza

President Obama cancels his yakuza fanzine subscription

Whoot! What? Wut! German Fashion finds a home in Tokyo

Japan Subculture Research Center is going through puberty and heading towards adulthood. After a long discussion with the Japan Subculture Research Center team, we’ve decided to expand the blog to…

Teaching an old dog (breed) new tricks

Japanese police force welcomes first-ever native Japanese police dog

Tokyo Court Upholds Ban on Use of Yamaguchi-gumi Kodo-kai front company office

The Tokyo District Court on the 21st of July (2011) rejected the legal pleas of the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi Kodokai (山口組弘道会)Komatsu-gumi and upheld a preliminary injunction against him which…

A tale of two kidneys: Sumiyoshi-kai head plays dealer in domestic organ trafficking case

Two kidneys, two doctors, two yakuza and one missing victim. Police are currently investigating the case of Toshinobu Horiuchi, a doctor who received a kidney transplant last July at Uwajima Tokushukai Hospital in…

"Hey kids, it's going to be really f**king hot tomorrow!" Japan Meteorological Agency institutes "Hot Weather Warning System"

The Japan Meteorological Agency, (JMA/気象庁) which is Japan’s weather bureau, began issuing “Extreme High Temperature Forecasts and Warnings”(高温注意情報) this week, starting on the 13th and posting in English from the…

Death by Pufferfish: A short story by Mayumi Shimose Poe

Jake’s note: In a departure from our usual hard-boiled news about Japan, we’re honored to be republishing a fascinating short story that illustrates many cultural aspects of Japanese society and…

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 &…

US report: human trafficking inside government’s foreign trainee program

Just two months after Japan got burned in the US State Department’s 2010 Human Rights Report, a new paper pins the country’s foreign trainee program as being almost as close…