• Thu. Jun 19th, 2025

Japan Subculture Research Center

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

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

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…

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?

The Hollywood Reporter: Japan's Entertainment World And The Yakuza

Even Hollywood is taking in interest in Japan's entertainment industry links to the mob. Meanwhile, police are now asking for an explanation of the underworld ties from Shimada’s powerful agency,…

Shimada Shinsuke, the Jay Leno of Japan retires after yakuza ties exposed.

Police sources say, " In our eyes, we have more respect for Hashimoto (the yakuza boss) than Shimada. At least Hashimoto doesn’t beat up women.”

Japanese TV Star Shimada Shinsuke retires before yakuza ties exposed

Popular comedian Shimada Shinsuke had extensive dealings with an organized crime boss and retired hastily before the details were written up in a weekly magazine.

Police raid Daikanyama club in Kanto Rengo-kai crackdown

Recreational drugs becoming a risky business in clubs

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