Japan is often described as a one-party, conservative state – and yet, for over a decade, a highly popular socialist led the government of Tokyo. Meet Governor Minobe.
Stereotypes of Japan as a land of vague meaning and blunted expression are just straight up Orientalism that obscure a complex reality.
A writer and former adult star claps back at men who keep soft-pedaling actor Kagawa Teruyuki’s sexual harassment of a Ginza hostess.
The more we learn about the ongoing Kagawa Teruyuki scandal, the worse it gets. Some recent commentary translated for our Patreon subscribers.
Many are calling Japan “open for travel” in the wake of the government’s new announcements. But is it really?
A massive earthquake struck northern Japan, damaging the famed statue of Date Masamune in Sendai. But Date – and Sendai – are nothing if not resilient.
There’s no word quite like “yabai” in Japanese – an extremely popular slang term that can mean anything from “awful” to “risky” to “excellent, dude!” Yet the prevalence of “yabai” has some worried.
In 1873, the newly-minted Meiji government banned the age-old practice of kataki-uchi: blood revenge. Seven years later, the son of a murdered samurai would take his vengeance nonetheless.
In western Fukushima Prefecture, an odd salient of territory extends, wedged between Niigata and Yamagata Prefectures. So why is it there?
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