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JASPO

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Playing for Condombine: Wife discovers pachinko-style solitary rapture

“One day my hubby, a big pachinko fan, said to me, ‘I heard something nice from a friend of mine who plays.’” Shukan... 

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Scouts’ dishonor: Dirty Tokyo dozen nabbed for pimping

Although the practice has been banned by local ordinances, aggressive “scouts” can still be found on the streets of Tokyo... 

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Tokyo’s Kabukicho teeters on the brink

Once known as Asia’s top entertainment quarter, Shinjuku Ward’s red-light district of Kabukicho has seen a hallowing out... 

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Raunchy couple revels in tete-a-tit competition at hot springs

“Work has been busy and it’s been hard to get together with my young boyfriend, a student,” writes the anonymous... 

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Crackdown on Tokyo fraud ring closes ‘encounter’ Internet sites

Law enforcement authorities from Tokyo and Miyagi Prefecture have shut down a major fraud ring involving online-dating sites designed... 

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Gasp! Zap!! Ah!!! AED-equipped sex shop in Osaka keeps geezers’ hearts ticking

Japan’s fuzoku sex businesses have not only been forced to confront the worst recession in decades; they must also contend with... 

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Blushing bride precedes wedding vows with 10 AV appearances

In his 16 years as a leading male performer in skin flicks, 41-year-old adult video (AV) performer Yutaka Chiba says he’s known... 

Japan News

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Tokyo Sky Tree: Room with a view

TOKYO (TR) – Tall, steel-framed television transmission towers are not generally thought of as being attractive neighbors.... 

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Michelin Tokyo guide turns to local inspectors, tops Paris for three-star awards

TOKYO (TR) – After France-based tire manufacturer Michelin targeted Tokyo with its famous culinary guide and three-star... 

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‘Tokyo Vice’ author was offered $500,000 to cut liver transplant scoop

TOKYO (TR) – The shocking revelation that Japanese yakuza gangsters received liver transplants in the U.S. over a four-year... 

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Lost gaijin: Damon and Naomi return to Japan

TOKYO (TR) – As the title “Lost Gaijin Tour 2009″ might imply, the folk-pop duo Damon and Naomi are aiming... 

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Tokyo film fest to emphasize eco theme, screen controversial ‘The Cove’

TOKYO (TR) – The 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival will continue its push for environmental awareness and screen... 

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Gundam director likens giant robot replica to Statue of Liberty

TOKYO (TR) – Yoshiyuki Tomino, the director of the popular robot anime television series “Mobile Suit Gundam”... 

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‘Giant Torayan’ on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo

TOKYO (TR) – “Giant Torayan,” sculptor Kenji Yanobe’s 7.2-meter-tall robot that emits flames from its mouth,... 

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Former IT entrepeneur calls Japanese judiciary a ‘hostage system’

TOKYO (TR) – Known for his fondness for t-shirts and shaking up Japan’s business world, Takafumi Horie, founder... 


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International Reports

Return to Tarawa

TARAWA, KIRIBATI (TR) – Sixty-six years ago, the Pacific island atoll of Tarawa was a World War II battlefield of billowing black... 

September 14, 2009 | Read the story »

King copra

MAJURO – The continually hot and dusty conditions found on the Marshall Islands’ capital of Majuro can be rough on the... 

December 23, 2008 | Read the story »

Slots of fun in Vanuatu

PORT VILA – There is a knock at the door. Allan Palmer raises his head and greets a middle-aged housewife as she steps inside... 

November 4, 2008 | Read the story »

Shanghai’s Bund traders

SHANGHAI – Not one tourist is spared. “Rolex?” questions a young, slender man in his thirties, tobacco-stained front... 

October 4, 2008 | Read the story »

Museum Tour: The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

PHNOM PENH – It is estimated that during the Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979) 1.7 million people lost their lives at the hands... 

October 4, 2008 | Read the story »

The Alotau Canoe Festival

ALOTAU – As John Kaniku tells it, the appropriate beginning to canoe construction is simple enough: you have to choose a tree... 

July 18, 2008 | Read the story »

The Bomana War Cemetery

PORT MORESBY (TR) – Local birds on spindly legs dash between the marble headstones set within the manicured green lawn of the... 

July 18, 2008 | Read the story »

Interviews

On the ‘Tokyo Vice’ beat with Jake Adelstein

TOKYO (TR) – The extortion, racketeering, prostitution and gambling rings associated with Japan’s yakuza criminal organizations... 

October 27, 2009 | Read the story »

Sounds of Kabukicho: White Rabbit Press takes you on an audio tour

There has been some buzz lately about Max Hodges and his new audio-guided walking tour through Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment... 

January 4, 2009 | Read the story »

Toshio Maeda: hentai pioneer

Toshio Maeda’s groundbreaking manga series “Urotsuki Doji” from 1986 firmly placed him in the history books as the... 

November 8, 2008 | Read the story »

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