• Sat. Apr 26th, 2025

Japan Subculture Research Center

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

Prostitution versus “Prostitution” in Japan (REPOSTING)

originally posted on December 18th, 2009 The Japanese law draws the line between legal and illegal sexual services by whether or not the ball makes it into the goal, so…

Toyoda Designs 100% Driverless Car: HARU2001. Self-determining vehicles are the future!

"Nissan, Honda, everybody is designing a self-driving car. We thought, ‘Hey, what if we take out the human component altogether?’ And that’s how we came up with the HARU2001,” Toyoda…

Freelance journalist vs “Nuclear Mafia”: the good guys win…for now

Minoru Tanaka’s story is the story of one man, one journalist. He was sued over one year and half ago for one story he wrote about a shadowy figure in…

Fucked Up Puppy? No, Fukuppy is just a mascot lost in translation. (He’s not from Fukushima either)

The text above Fukuppy, announces that he was born as a corporate character for Fukushima Industries. He introduces himself as "Fukuppy" and says the Japanese equivalent of pleased to meet…

3,300 participate in nuclear evacuation drill in Satsumasendai, 40,000 rally in Tokyo against nuclear power

Over the past weekend, the Japanese government conducted its first major nuclear disaster drill ever since the 3/11 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triple meltdowns. It was a two-day drill…

Born to run, doomed to stall. Sayonara Speed Tribes documents end of Japan’s motorcycle gangs

Sayonara Speed Tribes focuses on Hazuki Kazuhiro, the former leader of the Narushino Specter Gang. When the film starts, all we know is that he is currently a boxer and…

“Japan needs to put data in English”, says International Atomic Energy Agency

IAEA to work with Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on Fukushima nuclear disaster monitoring  After a meeting held in Tokyo with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),…

Haruki Murakami Wins The Nobel Prize For Literature!….in Japan. For a few minutes.

It was reported on the evening of October 10th that Japan’s much beloved novelist Haruki Murkami had won the Nobel Prize for Literature on October 10…but this turned out to…

Slight rise in birth defects in post-meltdown Japan; more study needed

Former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, when asked for his opinion on the current situation Monday (Japan time) said, “The Fukushima nuclear accident has released forces that no one…

Roppongi’s Golden Arches Crushed In The War Dance? McSayonara After 30 Years

Today, September 16th at 18:00 hours, the McDonald’s East Roppongi shop closed after 30 glorious years of serving the hungry masses. One of the reasons for the collapse is certainly…