Jake Adelstein's Blog, page 95

Things you never wanted to know about the yakuza, but the Japanese just had to ask

Ever have a nagging question about the yakuza you hoped to have answered but didn't know where to ask? Know that you're not alone–even Japanese people themselves find the group slightly mysterious and arguably intriguing despite, or perhaps because of, their fearsome role in society. But where to go to get those questions answered? The Internet, of course! Here is an amusing selection of those small curiosities and their replies from some armchair anthropologists.

A question posted to Japan's ...

Japan author sues police over ban on 'yakuza' publications

Now that April Fool's Day is finished (at least here in Japan), we can actually post some real news! Related to the article last week about convenience stores in Fukuoka agreeing to take yakuza fan publications off their shelves, one man in the industry has now taken action against the move, calling it censorship and complaining that it hurts his income:

Japan author sues police over ban on 'yakuza' publications

TOKYO: A Japanese author and son of a Yakuza gangster on Thursday filed a lawsuit ...

Japanese Government Outlaws (Yakuza) Organized Crime Groups; Bans Possession of Child Pornography With Passage Of Criminal Conspiracy Laws

April 1st 2010 (Tokyo, Japan)

The National Police Agency announced today an immediate ban on designated organized crime groups and their activities in conjunction with the establishment of Japan's version of the RICO act, the criminal conspiracy laws/kyobozai（共謀罪).  The Criminal Conspiracy Laws were passed in an extraordinary session of the Diet, where the newly ruling Democratic Party of Japan showed amazing and surprising leadership after a series of incidents in which organized crime...

Fukuoka convenience stores to remove yakuza mags

Fukuoka prefectural police requested March 25 that convenience stores in the prefecture no longer stock yakuza fan magazines. Four chains have already begun removing the products from their racks, while two more say they will do so beginning next month.The stores include Lawson, Family Mart, Mini Stop, Popular, Daily Yamazaki and Circle K Sankus.

According to police, a crime prevention group requested in December 2009 that convenience stores and book stores stop carrying the publications...

Cabaret worker's union hold first protest

Just translated this story for Japan Today:

March 27 – Tokyo's "Kyabakura Union"–a labor union formed by and for cabaret girls–held their first protest Friday night in Shinjuku's infamous Kabukicho district.

Around 150 members marched through the streets followed by a truck with giant speakers that pumped out music into the neighborhood, shouting things such as "Pay us right!" Some participated in the 80-minute protest wearing full cabaret dress.

Both men and women in the industry are...

Fuzoku Friday: The Great Happiness Space

Not a new film but a unique one to be sure, The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief is a 2006 documentary by UK director Jake Clennell that delves into the very visible yet mysterious world of the host club. The Wikipedia entry on host clubs gives a fairly good summary of the business we see in the movie–women paying exorbitant amounts of money to have guys fawn over them–but a trip into The Great Happiness Space puts the industry's underbelly on display for all to see.

Using...

From "Ore Ore" to "Ore wa Yakuza da"–bank scammers adapting to the times

Scammers are adopting new techniques to swindle unsuspecting victims in bank transaction fraud in Osaka Prefecture, according to this article in Sankei News, claiming to be yakuza in order to get small businesses to deposit large amounts of money into their accounts.

Previously, transaction fraud was done by scammers pretending to be a relative of the victim–usually an elderly person. Known commonly as an  "Ore Ore" scam, a scammer would call the unsuspecting victim, claiming he was a...

A little more of all you every wanted to know of…

Lisa Katayama of Tokyo Mango has whipped up a fantastic two-part interview with Jake for Boing Boing.

In part one ("Meet Jake Adelstein, a Jewish reporter who thinks like a Japanese gangster) we get taken through the general Q&A run, but with a little added flavor here and there. Part two ("The politics of yakuza") answers all those nitty gritty yakuza questions that have been nagging at you, like "Do yakuza come from broken families?" and "Do yakuza kill random people?"

Check out parts one

The Otaku Sex Industry: sometimes, the real thing is better?

by Benjamin Boas (writing for Japan Subculture Research Center)

Taku Hachiro is probably the most unlikely sex symbol in the world. A talento known for his personification of the ultimate otaku stereotype, this Shizuoka native's long stringy hair, portly figure and gopher-like posture might make him better suited for the back corner of a video arcade than ads for the sex industry. But for over a year he has been promoting deai [hook-up:] sites in manga magazines. In today's poor economy...

The darkest month of the year

A blue light installed on the end of a JR train platform as a suicide deterrent. JR theorizes...