October 2009

TIFF opens, Hatoyama attends ceremony

By CJ • October 19, 2009

For the opener of the 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival on Saturday night an estimated 7,000 film fans gathered at Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills complex to catch glimpses of such biz luminaries as Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana striding along the ceremonial “green carpet” fabricated from recycled plastic bottles — a symbol of the fest’s ecological theme.

DPJ’s nighttime dalliances deemed dubious

By Amy Takahashi • October 16, 2009

Following last month’s revelations in the Mainichi Shimbun that offices of Democratic Party of Japan members spent large sums in adult entertainment clubs, weekly tabloid Flash (Oct. 20) reports on whether the establishments were suitable meeting locations, as was later claimed by the politicians.

Colleague’s act of kindness leads wife astray

By Mieko Shimizu • October 16, 2009

Women’s soft porn mag Ai no Taiken Special Deluxe doesn’t mince words. It has crammed 50 — count ‘em, 50 — first-hand accounts of its readers’ lurid escapades into its October issue, and Shukan Bunshun (Oct. 22) has selected what may be the spiciest of the lot.

Gardener garners prolific proceeds by retailing wealthy wives

By Kazutaka Shimanaka • October 10, 2009

In 1988, the high-class Mrs. Club opened for business in Tokyo’s Akasaka district. This was a social club that entitled paying members to have sex with married women residing in Denenchofu — the capital’s most affluent residential area.

Witness to wild ride left her to her own devices

By Mieko Shimizu • October 9, 2009

“When I was a student, a splendid male upper classman and younger female schoolmate and I went into a love hotel together,” the female contributor relates, in the October issue of the women’s erotic fantasy magazine “Amour,” as reported in Shukan Bunshun (Oct. 15).

Creative new commerce keeps Kabukicho hopping

By Kazutaka Shimanaka • October 7, 2009

“First it was Koma Stadium, which shut its doors last New Year’s Eve,” a local mutters. “Now it’s the Kabukicho McDonald’s outlet, which closed on Aug. 31. I think the place went under because it became a hangout for bar hostesses waiting for the trains to start running and homeless people, who just sat there nursing a cup of coffee.”

DPJ’s deeds of decadence still lag LDP legacy

By Amy Takahashi • October 5, 2009

Following an article in the Mainichi Shimbun (Sep. 30) that detailed expense claims for adult entertainment by the offices of Democratic Party of Japan members, evening tabloid Nikkan Gendai (Oct. 2) finds that the DPJ has a lot of catching up to do in becoming Japan’s premier perv party.

Panda poop propels Japanese university to Ig Nobel Prize

By CJ • October 2, 2009

In a series of published papers, the university’s Fumiaki Taguchi, Song Guofu, and Zhang Guanglei demonstrated that kitchen refuse can be reduced by more than 90% in mass if aided by bacteria extracted from the feces of giant pandas.

Body hair fetish shop forced to raise arms in surrender

By Kazutaka Shimanaka • October 1, 2009

Kaoru Kuroki was inspiration for Japan’s first armpit hair club