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Japan, Mother of the World’s First Novel Hosts Its First International Literary Festival

Japan, the Mother of World’s First Novel to Hosted its First International Literary Festival, this year.

Japan & China: a couple that can’t get divorced, says former Ambassador

For thousands of years, China and Japan have been neighboring countries. Former Japanese ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa, at a press conference held today, explained it is not possible for…

“Strong In The Rain” shines among books on Japan’s 3/11

The message of "Strong In The Rain" in its tale of foreign and Japanese heroes and villains--and there are both, remains with the reader long after the book is done.…

Japanese Tattoo Master: “The carving is one’s personal symbol..”

“People’s clothing are the ‘social symbols’ which allows other people to understand whether he/she is a Buddhist monk, a Christian priest, a salary man, or a medical doctor. Therefore the…

The Best Articles About Japan 2012 (on our blog) :D

Hello Kitty, yakuza working in the nuclear industry, coffee and cigarettes, 2012 was a year chock full of news. Here are some of our favorite stories we ran in 2012.

How The CIA Helped The Yakuza & The LDP Get Power & Promote Nuclear Power

Chapter 12: "We Ran It In A Different Way" is a must for anyone interested in the shadow history of Japan. It details how in post-war Japan, the CIA, using…

Notes On The Yakuza Lobby: How The Underworld Asserts Itself In The Political Sphere

Because of Japan's personal privacy protection laws, created by the LDP to discourage magazine reporters for writing about their scandals and organized crime ties, I'm limited in what I can…

Graduations and Goodbyes.

Over the three years that I knew her, not once did I hear her complain about her own issues. Instead, she helped others with compassion and love. The numerous posts…

The Town of Living Buddha Statues (仏像のまち) High School, Buddhist Iconography, Magic &Teen Love

It's the story of Sorato, a high school student who's deceased father was a sculptor of Buddhist images (仏師/busshi)and seems to have passed his unusual talent on to poor Sorato-kun.…

It’s Not Easy Being a Yakuza Boss (Part 1)

These days the price of a standard civilian hit-job can run as high as $2 million. That’s not the price to get the job done―that’s the price if one of…