March 2010

Afternoon at the Tokyo International Forum

By CJ • March 22, 2010

Afternoon at the Tokyo International Forum.

Gal’s nostalgic longing for old love inspires shameless self-abuse

By CJ • March 20, 2010

“I used to work in the office of a parcel delivery company, where there was this young, macho hunk,” writes the anonymous contributor to the February issue of Amour Urajijo, as introduced in the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun (Mar. 25).

Porn actresses pen salacious memoirs in chasing legacy of Ai Iijima

By Amy Takahashi • March 20, 2010

AV actresses release tell-all memoirs

Impecunious ‘Pinas tie knot to make naughty in Nippon

By Winnie Waniguchi • March 18, 2010

Writing in Shukan Kinyobi (Mar. 12), Takehide Mizutani notes that cases of fraudulent marriage have soared since March 2005, when Japan’s Ministry of Justice, in response to criticisms of Japan’s abetting human trafficking by the U.S. State Department, cracked down on admission of women from the Philippines.

Geisha prepares to bloom in Tokyo

By CJ • March 16, 2010

Not far from the banks of Tokyo’s Sumida River, below a towering expressway, is Sumida Ward’s sleepy district of Mukojima, the largest of Tokyo’s six remaining geisha quarters, or hanamachi (literally, “flower towns”). The area is home to roughly 120 of Japan’s iconic traditional entertainers, who, in the evenings, regale well-heeled guests.

Playing for Condombine: Wife discovers pachinko-style solitary rapture

By CJ • March 14, 2010

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

Scouts’ dishonor: Dirty Tokyo dozen nabbed for pimping

By Kazutaka Shimanaka • March 13, 2010

Last week Yasuhiro Fuseishi, a 36-year-old former actor, was arrested for arranging parties at which young women were encouraged to take up the world’s oldest profession.

Tokyo’s Kabukicho teeters on the brink

By Kenji Nakano • March 13, 2010

Once known as Asia’s top entertainment quarter, Shinjuku Ward’s red-light district of Kabukicho has seen a hallowing out at its core. Monthly magazine Takarajima (April) takes a look at the devastation wrought by police crackdowns and the ongoing recession.