Ichiro Ozawa: Paging Mr. Kato Kaelin, Mr. Kato Kaelin to Tokyo, please

(Cartoon by Politicomix, January 31, 2011)

Macaque in the street

(Cartoon by Politicomix, January 31, 2011)

Ichihashi’s stated celibacy while on the lam possibly exaggerated

Garnering a fair bit of attention in recent days has been the book written by Tatsuya Ichihashi, the accused murderer of Briton Lindsay Hawker. Naturally, Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 28) felt it necessary to verify his claims about his sex life while on the run.

In March of 2007, police arrived at Ichihashi’s apartment in Chiba Prefecture to investigate the disappearance of the 22-year-old Hawker. Ichihashi bolted from the scene and officers discovered Hawker buried in sand inside a bathtub on his balcony. The suspect was captured in November 2009. Read more

Abused wife finds safe shelter in the arms of friend’s beau

“The thing that pushed me over the edge was the night my abusive husband staggered home dead drunk and fell asleep out in the corridor. When he awoke the next morning, he bellowed at me, ‘You shouldn’t have let me sleep in a place like that!’”

On this tension-filled note begins a raunchy tale from the February issue of women’s soft porn magazine Ai no Taiken Special Deluxe, as introduced in Shukan Bunshun (Jan. 27).

“Looking for a place to flee, I called my close friend Ms. J., although I felt bad about doing so because she’d just started shacking up with her boyfriend.

“When I phoned her place, the boyfriend told me she was working the night shift, but since he would be around, he told me to come over. Read more

Tokyo motorcycle show

(Cartoon by Politicomix, January 30, 2011)

Proof of Tokyo ‘hooker pub’ proves elusive

Hai, irasshai! What would you like to eat, sir?

“So desu ne. . . How about bringing me a mug of draft beer, five sticks of yakitori, some edamame and, uh, a woman.”

“Kashikomarimashita. Comin’ right up.”

It’s unlikely the above conversation ever took place, but that doesn’t mean something along those lines never happened. Shukan Taishu (Feb. 7) reports that as one result of the intensified competition at izakaya (Japanese-style pubs), shops have been giving first priority to hiring young and cute waitresses.

“These days in Tokyo telephone booths and public toilets in parks and so on, you see handwritten advertising fliers pasted up. Their contents boggle the mind,” a “pink” industry reporter tells the magazine.

One such flyer, measuring about 10 centimeters square, read, “If you request a Chinese employee Ms. So-and-so, she can fix you up with a girl.” Read more

Cut-rate sex brings out Japan’s dirty old men by the dozens

The vortex of deflation hitting Japan’s sex industry continues to swirl downwards. Nikkan Gendai (Jan. 27) reports that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police recently pounced on two massage shops in Toshima Ward and arrested Kim Su-hong, its 43-year-old South Korean operator, and two associates on charges of operating a sex shop in an area where such business are prohibited.

Upon investigation, the authorities learned that Kim’s two shops, named Silk (絹) and Ogi Hompo (扇本舗), were servicing over 100 customers a day. What amazed them was the revenues raked in by the low-priced high-volume businesses, where customers from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. paid 4,000 yen for 30 minutes of ministrations. After 5:00 p.m. the price rose to 5,000 yen. Read more

A (very) brief history of kaiten zushi

(Cartoon by Politicomix, January 27, 2011)

Real yakuza bust: Expansion of anti-gang legislation may give unwanted results

Following a nationwide push, gangsters in Tokyo are preparing for pending legislation that will crack down upon their traditional rackets — a development that may provide citizens with more than they bargained for, reports weekly tabloid Spa! (Jan. 25).

“Dealing with organized crime is this year’s top priority for police forces in Japan,” said Takaharu Ando, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, at a press conference on January 6.

A special law to eliminate boryokudan groups, as yakuza criminal syndicates are referred, originated in the Kyushu region last year and quickly spread to 27 prefectures, including Hokkaido. It is expected that similar legislation will soon be enacted in all 47 prefectures of the country. Read more

Tradition at Meiji Shrine

(Cartoon by Politicomix, January 26, 2011)

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