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Japan Subculture Research Center

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

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“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…

My Brushes With the Yakuza – Reflections of Life in Akasaka, Tokyo

My first encounter with the ‘yakuza’ or the crooks and gangsters of Japan’s underworld, happened when I was 14 years old, on my way home from cram school. It was…

Lambda Is On The Lam In Japan

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are over but they may leave a lasting legacy in Japan: the deadly COVID19 Lambda variant; it first arrived on July 20th, when a woman in…

Was an African musician fired from the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony because he didn’t look Japanese?

So ashamed. I feel good that I'm no longer performing at the Tokyo Olympic Opening Ceremony...Though I’ve been contributing to the Japanese music industry since 1995...They completely violate the Olympic…

Tokyo 2020 Olympics Haunted By The Holocaust

Ah, I didn't know about this skit. This is no good. It's like if you did a sketch where the joke was the atomic bombings of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, or…

The People of Tokyo Hate The Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Why do they protest?

Yesterday, June 23rd, marked one month before the opening of the “cursed” Tokyo 2020 Olympics and hundreds of residents marked the occasion by holding a protest in front of the…

Japan’s Death Wish Resurges Like A Plague

Suicides in Japan are like wildfires in California: tragic, inevitable and seemingly unsolvable. According to the National Police Agency, 1805 people killed themselves in September and suicides amongst women were…

Reflect on Racism, Diversity & Inclusion in Japan this Wednesday! (10am Japan time/Tuesday 6pm to 8pm USA/PST)

Super Smash Hoes Podcast, hosted by Erika X and Fahreen Budhwani, and Yukari Peerless working with other NGOs have invited a group of experts and Japan hands to discuss issues…

Singing The Terrace House Blues In Japan

The truth is that at this point, the nation needs many more Hana Kimuras–brave enough to express anger and negative feelings without fear of being punished for it. Hopefully, we…

Unemployed in the Pandemic: First-Hand Accounts from Hello Work

by Farrah Hasnain The COVID-19 outbreak has hit Japan hard as of late. Classrooms remain empty after spring break, restaurants begin to provide take-out, and factories stall upcoming projects. The…