• Tue. Apr 29th, 2025

Japan Subculture Research Center

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

Contemporary Culture

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  • Japan's First Food Bank: Applying Japanese Efficiency to the Problem of Hunger

Japan's First Food Bank: Applying Japanese Efficiency to the Problem of Hunger

the non-profit organization that pioneered a whole new field in Japan

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?

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.”

The New Sex-Ed: Yakuza Awareness Classes

“Unprotected contact with organized crime can be bad for your life. Just say no.”

Police raid Daikanyama club in Kanto Rengo-kai crackdown

Recreational drugs becoming a risky business in clubs

Going through the motions in The Great Happiness Space

Director Jake Clennell gives the deets on what exactly the film was about

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…

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