Right-winger gives controversial ‘Yasukuni’ stamp of approval
By • May 12, 2008
Leader of right-wing group Issui-kai applauds documentary by Chinese director Li Ying
May 2008
Fest nix yak pix
By • May 12, 2008
In days past, a film festival held within rough-and-tumble Kabukicho might be assumed to feature a sampling of the work from gangster-flick director Seijun Suzuki (“Tokyo Drifter,” “Branded to Kill”), or perhaps “Yojimbo,” the Akira Kurosawa classic where a samurai arrives in a village run by two groups of gambling mobsters.
Evolving anime films follow new inspirations
By • May 9, 2008
Most remarkable elements might be the strong personalities embodied in the female characters
The improvized world of Shibusashirazu
By • May 9, 2008
Go-go dancers in sparkling cocktail dresses and fishnets enter from the sides to join the band’s master of ceremonies, Shinichi Watabe, as he attempts to provide a semblance of order to the carnival atmosphere by parading around in his colorful happi coat and hachimaki (headband). Off to the stage’s edges, butoh performers then up the insanity to the nth degree, slinking their powder-white bodies atop isolated platforms from where they twist their almost naked frames and crinkle their faces. Certainly there is no other group like Shibusashirazu.
A publisher in the shadows
By • May 9, 2008
Kimura operates his business – printing magazines that cater to Japan’s sexual services and hostessing industries – by feel. Ask him how many publications he has and the 51-year-old will begin ticking them off on his fingers before losing track and giving up. Inquire what the advertising rate is for a single page and he will proudly admit that he has no idea.
Right-wingers in Kudanshita
By • May 8, 2008
The above scene is as the events unfolded just prior to this year’s pacifist demonstration in Kudanshita on August 15, the anniversary of the conclusion of World War II. The protest highlights the one day of the year where downtown Tokyo could nearly be confused for Pakistan or Tibet during times of political unrest; it literally turns into a riot zone as right- and left-wing groups oppose one another.
Government subsidy stripped from ‘naked news’ program
By • May 8, 2008
The 5-minute ‘Nude Sign Language News’ program began in 2004
Tokyo Digital News: Bikinis hit the air
By • May 8, 2008
There’s an old saying that goes: You can take the man out of sleaze but you can’t take the sleaze out of the man. Or something like that. As the founder of sordid satellite network Paradise TV seven years ago, Michiyuki Matsunaga has since moved on to Tokyo Digital News, a slightly less provocative broadcasting station that transmits stories via the Internet and mobile phones in which the announcers are young girls clad in bikinis.
Tokyo Midtown to transform hedonistic ‘High Touch’ haven
By • May 8, 2008
As any good street tout will tell you, high foot-traffic is the key to success. Sure, he might toss out his chest, flash his best smile and smoothly sell you an explanation for the apparent contradiction between the shapely, high-class ladies he promises and the remarkably low entry price to his establishment, but even a true charmer will not be effective talking to a sidewalk of empty concrete.
