The Race To Run Tokyo: Who’s going to be the next governor of the megapolis?
Will The Empress Continue To Reign? Probably.
Boy Idols And Dostoevsky Come Together in Bad Lands
Neri has a room in one of the labyrinthine apartments in the notorious Nishinari district of Osaka. This is where homeless and day laborers co-exist in precarious harmony and where…
What This Means (a short-story about love and marriage in Japan during the pandemic)
And then she would pretend to pout which was another cue for me to massage the back of her feet, and then we'd head off to the bedroom or just…
An Honest Portrait of a Japanese B*tch
Japanese women are angry. If you didn't already know this you probably shouldn't be reading a review of The Ripple because you won't be interested in a film about older,…
The Unbearable Pathos Of Poop (Okiku’s World film review)
oop is the main thing that remains in the mind after watching Okiku's World. Lots and lots of poop. Ninety-nine percent of the film was shot in black and white which…
Japan Goes Up in Smoke
I hail from a family of smokers. My parents, their siblings, my cousins, my grandparents. New Years’ family get-togethers were marked by cramped living rooms dense with smoke, full ashtrays…
Egoism and Love: Not mutually exclusive
Egoist. The title seemingly belies this love story. From the vantage point of today’s incessantly narcissistic and increasingly toxic dating/relationship culture, Egoist is the exact opposite of what it claims to be.…
Samurai play soccer and other fairy tales: Japan and the world cup
In the early naughts an older co-worker sidled up to me one afternoon in the company corridor and told me with a mix of swagger and sincerity that if I…
“A Man” Takes Imposter Syndrome To New Dimensions
Life seems to be going incredibly well for them until Daisuke is killed in an accident. At the one-year memorial, his estranged older brother turns up from Gunma prefecture, clear…