2008 August | The Tokyo Reporter

Sightless hooker keeps old tradition alive

By Kazutaka Shimanaka • August 30, 2008

Japanese prostitutes once offered special services in Hong Kong harbor

Box office bust: ‘The Dark Knight’ dives in Japan

By CJ • August 28, 2008

TOKYO (TR) – Not even the Joker can manage a grin: Japanese audiences have been underwhelmed by Warner Bros.’ worldwide smash “The Dark Knight,” …

NHK to launch 24-hour English programming

By CJ • August 27, 2008

TOKYO – Public broadcaster NHK today announced the launch of Japan International Broadcasting Inc. (JIBtv), a company that will transmit 24-hour programming in …

‘Cosoa’ soap latest fad for keeping it clean

By Mieko Shimizu • August 27, 2008

The term asoko is a euphemism commonly used by Japanese females when referring to their you-know-whats. Written backwards in katakana, it becomes “cosoa,” which …

Site of notorious gangster playpen in Roppongi now vacant

By CJ • August 24, 2008

Site might remain fenced off and covered with dirt for some time

High brow trumps ‘High Touch’ in Roppongi

By CJ • August 20, 2008

One of Tokyo’s top nightlife areas is in the midst of a makeover

A new Bible for under-dignity

By Kazutaka Shimanaka • August 20, 2008

First it was “Kokka no Hinkaku” (Dignity of a Nation), the 2006 bestseller by Ochanomizu University mathematician Masahiro Fujiwara. Soon thereafter came “Josei no …

‘Anti-Emperor’ group to protest at Yasukuni Shrine

By CJ • August 14, 2008

TOKYO – The left-wing group Anti-Emperor Activities Network said this week that it will once again hold a protest march near the controversial Yasukuni …

Will Japan become a society of half-breeds?

By CJ • August 13, 2008

A rapid increase in the number of women in their 20s and 30s choosing foreign husbands may turn Japan into a land of half-breeds, or so says vernacular web news site J-cast.