But after taking the Best Actress title at this year’s Sky PerfecTV! Adult Broadcasting Awards, this girl’s all grown up now. At the ceremony, held inside a hotel ballroom in Tokyo’s Shinagawa district on Valentine’s Day, the 22-year-old, representing channel Perfect Choice, said the achievement would not have been possible without fellow porn actress Rio, who won the same award in 2008.

“I made my debut three years ago on account of her,” said Naruse, attired in an aqua-blue dress and her face in tears while holding the wedge-shaped statue. “I remember seeing her on the stage. She was my inspiration. I am so very happy. I really want to thank my fans who supported me.”

The annual event, in its eighth year, is a mishmash of awards, whose winners were determined by online votes from fans, and short performances to showcase the top stars appearing on the approximately 10,000 programs broadcast last year on the more than 20 adult channels on the Sky PerfecTV! satellite network.

Nominees for the Best Actress award at the Sky PerfecTV! Adult Broadcasting Awards 2011 that took place on February 14 at a hotel ballroom in Tokyo's Shinagawa district.

Maki Hojo, winner of the Best Mature Actress award, thanked the audience for the many messages of encouragement she had received. “As an actress, if I can make people feel good mentally, I will continue to strive to make the best films I can,” said the 33-year-old, who typically takes housewife roles.

Kana Yume, 19, was easily the most emotional recipient. After taking the Best New Actress prize, she said she was determined not to cry, a vow that ended in failure very quickly. A member of the 800-strong crowd then offered encouragement: “Ganbare!”

“I made my debut in November and was nominated three months later,” she said. “Over that time I worked so hard, and now that I’ve received this award I want to express my thanks to my fans.”

Shiori Kamisaki took the Best Film award for her role in a feature within the ongoing “Goddess” collection by label Million. The 21-year-old became the first actress in over two years to get her start in the elite series.

“I had no knowledge of the AV world before the shooting started. I didn’t receive the script. I was told to just do it,” said Kamisaki, who followed through with aplomb — multiple times in fact, according to the cover of the DVD.

Though these proceedings may sound like fun and games, the business itself may be at a something of a crossroads. According to information from market research firm Teikoku Databank, former industry leader CA (also known as Outvision) has seen annual sales drop from 32.4 billion yen to less than half that figure between 2008 and 2011, with rival company Soft on Demand taking the top spot in spite of experiencing flat sales of around 15 billion over that same period.

Marinka Kiriya (front) performs before Reina Konishi and Azusa Kato at the Sky PerfecTV! Adult Broadcasting Awards 2011 that took place on February 14 at a hotel ballroom in Tokyo's Shinagawa district.

Kenchiro Suzuki, international sales manager at broadcaster Paradise TV, indicated that competition from the Internet is hurting sales. Further tapping into the international might be an option to boost revenue, he said, but Japanese laws requiring that genitalia be censored make productions more difficult to sell overseas. “We also need to adapt to the cultural sensitivities of the various countries around the world,” he said. “It’s not a simple situation.”

Another possibility is to replicate the strategy of label Alice Japan, which signed popular stripper and pin-up bombshell Minako Komukai. Her debut AV feature last year shipped 200,000 units — an astounding figure given that industry insiders consider sales of around 10,000 copies to represent hit status.

The February 21 edition of evening tabloid Yukan Fuji said that the business is being influenced by the “Minako Komukai effect,” in which labels are seeking big-name talent from other areas of entertainment to make AV appearances. The paper used a rumored offer of 100 million yen sent to conventional film actress Saki Takaoka, as first reported in tabloid Tokyo Sports (February 7) on page one, to support its claim.

Paradise TV for its part is experimenting with promoting the group Marshmallow 3D, an erotic pop combo that released its second single (“Marshmallow Fight”) in January. As a part of the ceremony’s conclusion, the trio, which collectively missed out in the Best New Actress balloting, hit the stage for a short musical performance. A skit featuring actresses Marinka Kiriya, Reina Konishi, and Azusa Kato rounded out the non-award performances.

Winners at the Sky PerfecTV! Adult Broadcasting Awards 2011 that took place on February 14 at a hotel ballroom in Tokyo's Shinagawa district.

But the real star of the night was Naruse, who also walked away with a media award sponsored by tabloid Nikkan Gendai. Also winning media prizes were Nozomi Hazuki (Yukan Fuji), Chika Eiro (Saizo), Tsukasa Aoi (Flash), and Satsuki Kirioka (Livedoor).

Naruse posted a photo of both trophies resting on her thighs later that night on her popular Twitter account. “I want all actresses to hold onto their dreams,” she wrote the next day. “Dreams come true, and I glad to have the proof!”

So do the fans. The actresses tossed rolled-up panties to the audience to close the festivities.

Note: This report originally appeared in the February 26 issue of the Japan Times.

TIFF chairman Tatsumi “Tom” Yoda said at a press conference at the Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo’s Minato Ward that this year’s installment of the fest, which runs between October 22 and 30, will utilize the slogan “Believe! The power of films” in an effort to support the victims of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan’s Tohoku region.

“We want to use the power of film to encourage the people in devastated area of Tohoku,” said Yoda.

To directly support the disaster-hit area, the TIFF Arigato Project will collect donations and send positive messages to the victims. A special screening will be held on October 25 in Sendai, whose coastal area suffered extensive damage due to the tsunami.

Kicking off the event in the “Special Screenings” section will be the swashbuckler “The Three Musketeers,” an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel by helmer Paul W.S. Anderson and “1911,” a historical war drama starring Jackie Chan. TIFF’s week-long run will feature over 200 films at theaters in the Roppongi entertainment district and other areas. The closer will be Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball,” a baseball pic in which Brad Pitt portrays Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane.

A total of 975 titles from 76 countries and regions were submitted to TIFF this year. Five world premieres will be included among the 15 entries in the main competition, including helmer Shuichi Okita’s drama “The Woodsman and the Rain,” and Du Jiayi’s “Kora,” a Chinese coming-of-age drama about a boy traveling to Tibet.

Heading the jury will be producer Edward Pressman. Chairman Yoda said that TIFF had only filled four of the five jury positions at this time, citing the ongoing nuclear crisis as a factor in the yet-to-be-named juror. “The impact of the nuclear problem is very big,” he said. “For the festival, it is required that members stay in Tokyo for 10 days, and that is quite a commitment under these conditions.”

The “Japanese Eyes” section will feature eight local pics, including “Monster Killer,” the story of an investigator and a mysterious woman by Takanori Tsujimoto, a helmer known for spilling copious amounts of blood in his features.

The “Natural TIFF” section includes the timely “Land of Oblivion,” Michale Boganim’s documentary shot in the Chernobyl area.

As previously reported, TIFF will pay tribute to legendary actress Kyoko Kagawa, who made her name alongside such helmers as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Yasujiro Ozu.

08:00: Osaka may be considered Japan’s second city in many ways but when it comes to urban sprawl it has just about as many flashing neon signs, packed trains, and towering skyscrapers as that found in Tokyo. For an idea of how things used to be, start your day by heading over to Osaka Castle, nearly an oasis of serenity in the center of this city of 2.6 million people. Around the grounds, paths wind beneath cherry trees, near the moats, and up to the imposing stone walls that surround the structure. Osaka Castle Museum includes displays that feature the history of castle, which was originally constructed by warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537-1598), elaborate samurai armor and helmets, and a top-floor observation deck. The area surrounding the compound also offers no shortage of vendors peddling grilled mochi (rice cakes) wrapped in nori (seaweed) and piping-hot red bean cakes.

10:00: A bit north, near Osaka Station, is the 173-meter-tall, twin-towered Umeda Sky Building provides views of the city from its Floating Garden Observatory. The access to this perch creates a setting similar to an episode from “The Jetsons,” requiring use of a quick-moving elevator and then a pair of glass-walled escalators that are suspended just below the circular observatory. From this platform, 360-degree panoramas unfold and include the castle you just left to the southeast.

12:00: For lunch, try the Umeda branch of the famous noodle chain Ippudo. As is the case with all Ippudo shops, this outlet (Tel: 06-6363-3777) offers Hakata-style ramen (tonkotsu), characterized by a heavy, pork-broth soup and slices of chashu (simmered pork). Since it is a popular location, be prepared to wait a few minutes in line — and order the “set” version that includes a side of gyoza if grilled dumplings are to your liking.

13:00: The Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street is a lively 2.6-kilometer roofed arcade, making it the longest in Japan. Start by taking a stroll through the gravel compound of Tenmangu Shrine, the focus of one of the country’s most boisterous festivals occurring each July 25. Then continue north and browse through the over 600 shops jammed with cutlery, confectioneries, used books, sundry goods, and stationery. For a break, stop in at Zuko (Tel: 06-6353-8506), a quaint café where the sharply dressed proprietor serves up handmade cakes to go with the coffee.

Takoyaki stand in Dotonbori

18:00: Moving south, the Den Den Town shopping area (www.denden-town.or.jp) is Osaka’s answer to Tokyo’s Akihabara district. The shops and boutiques here are frequented by subculture hobbyists interested in gadgets, comics, erotic anime DVDs, and electronics. Take note that the merchants are generally not opposed to haggling over prices. To get a feel for the eccentric vibe, hit up Café Doll, a “maid café” in which the female servers are attired in frilly dresses and numerous other fantasy-related costumes.

20:00: Within walking distance is the Dotonbori area, the city’s top entertainment district. The murky canal that splits the quarter will see drunken revelers take the plunge following big-name sporting events. For you, photos snapped in front of the large Glico sign, displaying the candy company’s runner mascot, should suffice. The area is known for its numerous outdoor stands serving takoyaki (battered and grilled octopus). But for a sit-down meal, the crab dishes at the main branch of Kani Doraku (Tel: 06-6211-8975) are also popular choices. Settle back from a seat that overlooks the water and order a course meal, which will include boiled crab, salad, and soup — your delicious reward for a job well done.

Note: This report originally appeared in CNN Traveller magazine in the March/April 2011 issue.

Yet this year’s fantasy “Underwater Love,” by veteran pink director Shinji Imaoka, is probably the first film within this fading genre to interweave song and dance sequences — as in a full-blown musical — into the narrative.

Following a press screening last week at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, the director admitted that such a unique approach, along with the other quirks in the film, which features a mythical kappa creature, as characterized by a tortoise shell and beak, in the male lead, will likely make it a bit challenging for filmgoers to embrace.

“I hope that audiences will perhaps find something charming about the film,” said Imaoka, “or that they will find something in a particular scene that they can enjoy.”

Co-written by Imaoka, the German-Japan co-production begins with Asuka (Masaki Sawa) and her soon-to-be husband planning their wedding while working together at a fish-processing factory. However, the arrival of Aoki (Yoshiro Umezawa), an old classmate of Asuka who following his death has come back to life as cucumber-chomping kappa, complicates their relationship and, perhaps more crucially, the action between the sheets.

The song-and-dance numbers that form segues to many of the scenes are performed to the music of French-German duo Stereo Total, whose contributions came about following a suggestion from co-producer Stephan Holl. The vocals are sung in non-native Japanese, a facet that was not initially requested by Imaoka.

“They were just supposed to provide the music that our own singers would put in their voices,” said Imaoka. “But we thought it would be interesting to use it in that way, and it kind of signifies to the audience that there’s a foreign influence in the project.”

Underwater Love promotional poster

Such a scandalous theme would have fit nicely within the legacy of the pink film genre, which dates back to the 1960s. These short films (usually running for 60 minutes) are made by small companies and differ from conventional porn flicks in that the story lines are generally more broadly developed. Satoru Kobayashi’s “Flesh Market” (Nikutai Ichiba), a tale of bondage and torture released in 1962, is widely considered to be the first pink film.

Despite its quick-and-dirty nature, the genre is not looked down upon by mainstream Japanese cinema. Aspiring directors, who are unable to break into one of the major studios, will often look to pink eiga for their start. “Time Escapade: 5 Seconds Before Climax” (1986) is included in the resume of director Yojiro Takita, who won a best foreign-language Oscar in 2009 for “Okuribito” (Departures).

International audiences, too, have historically shown an interest in pink productions. For its part, “Underwater Love” screened in April at the 23rd Tribeca Film Festival and last week at 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. It is scheduled to appear at festivals in Italy, Canada, and Korea over the next month.

Imaoka first started in the industry in 1990 as an assistant director at Kobayashi’s Shinshi Productions. “Waiting for the Comet” (1995) was his first feature. Sine then, the annual pink awards, presided over by Yoshiyuki Hayashida, founder of the pink-film publication PG have recognized five of his pink pics, including first-place winners “Lunch Box” (1999) and “Frog Song” (2005).

Yet the industry is at a crossroads. Despite the reopening of the Ueno Okura Theater in Tokyo’s Taito Ward last year, the emergence of home video over the last 30 years has caused audiences to dwindle. Whereas the Ueno area was once home to eight pink plexes four decades ago, today only the Okura remains.

Imaoka hopes that the pink genre will continue. “I think it is probably connected to the way of the world,” the director said. “If pink films are no longer necessary, then they will start to fade. But maybe there will be a day when pink films will be thought to be necessary again and there will be a resurgence. My take is that I will simply go with the flow.”

“Underwater Love” will be released domestically in October.

Known for his leadership, having been the head of the players’ union during a labor strike and a player-manager for two seasons late in his career, Furuta is now looking to take advantage of that image and set an example that he hopes will gather momentum.

The current focus of his efforts is the fundraising website Just Giving Japan. Started in Britain more than a decade ago, Just Giving launched here last March. “In Japan, there is no philanthropic culture,” explains Furuta, dressed in a striped blue shirt and beige jacket, during an interview at the end of last year in Tokyo’s Roppongi district. “In the West, there is a sense of giving. For Japan, it’s not a matter of Japanese people not wanting to give; rather, they have a hard time figuring out how to do it.”

For the former catcher and two-time league most valuable player, he is showing the way by pushing his 45-year-old body even more than he did when he was playing professionally. Last year, he raised funds by competing in triathlons in Honolulu and Los Angeles and last month he ran in the Tokyo Marathon.

For that race, Furuta was collecting donations for the Suginami Ward-based nonprofit organization Katariba, which provides high school kids with a healthy living and learning environment. “Kids having trouble in school or those contemplating suicide are those who I would like to help,” he says.

Through Furuta’s Just Giving message board, supporters and well-wishers pledge money or offer words of encouragement (“Give it your best!”). For the triathlon in Hawaii, he raised almost ¥900,000.

Few could argue that Furuta has given anything less than his all at every stage of his career. After being drafted from the industrial leagues by the Swallows in 1989 (following his silver medal win with Japan in the Seoul Olympics the year before), the Hyogo Prefecture native says he knew that donning a facemask and chest protector was his calling. “I wanted to play against the best,” he says. “So when that opportunity came up, I knew I had to take it.”

It wasn’t long before he showed his talent, winning the Central League batting title with a .340 average in his second season (1991) and being voted the league MVP two years later. He picked up the same award in 1997, when he batted .322 (to place third in the Central League) and led the Swallows to victory in the Japan Series, in which he was voted the series MVP.

After a subpar 1998 campaign, in which he batted .275, Furuta returned to form the following season, being named to his sixth “Best Nine” team and garnering his 10th Gold Glove.

Knee problems, however, gradually began to take their toll. Yet, he showed that he could still wield the stick in 2003, when he cracked 23 home runs, four of which came on consecutive at-bats on June 28. He upped that season total by one in 2004.

That year, though, was overshadowed by events away from the ballpark. As head of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association, Furuta led a two-day strike against the owners of the 12 NPB teams.

The dispute, the first of its kind in Japanese baseball history, concerned a proposal by the owners to merge the Pacific League’s Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix Blue Wave and consolidate the two leagues. “Shrinking the whole baseball market in order to protect business interests is very dangerous,” Furuta says. “If the whole pie is smaller, there is no room for growth.”

The strike ended when it was agreed that the two Pacific League outfits would combine but another team (the Rakuten Golden Eagles) would be added, while the leagues would remain separate. “It’s been a while since the strike,” he adds. “If you look back, the results have been great.”

Early in his career, Furuta played under the tutelage of skipper Katsuya Nomura, the former catcher and five-time Pacific League MVP who led the Swallows to three Japan Series titles. Nomura had been Japan’s last player-manager (for the Nankai Hawks in 1977), until Furuta did the same for the Swallows during the 2006 season, a time when the team was struggling.

“It had been a while since the fans of Japanese baseball had seen a player-manager,” he says. “The
Swallows’ fans wanted to see if such a change would transform the team, and I really wanted to meet
that expectation and the challenge.”

One of the first tests he faced concerned his relationship with the players. “When you are doing both,” he says of the two roles, “I realized that you can’t let emotion take over; you must also maintain rationality. This was important in deciding about whether to cut or bench a player.”

The Swallows finished 2006 with a 70-73-3 record and third in the league. Furuta retired from the game the following season.

Since leaving baseball, he has become something of a writer. His series of baseball guides under the Furuta’s Formula title includes 2009’s guide for catching, a look at calling signals from behind the dish, and “Batter’s Bible,” which was released last year and details hitting fundamentals.

Furuta says he wants to continue to promote the game that was his life for so many years and, as with Just Giving Japan, reach out to young people. “I simply want to continue engaging in activities that will boost interest in baseball,” he says.

Note: This article originally appeared in the March issue of iNTOUCH, the magazine of the Tokyo American Club.

During a political debate at Tokyo’s Hibiya Public Hall in October, a 17-year-old rightist, Otoya Yamaguchi, broke free from the assembled crowd, rushed the stage, and stabbed Asanuma with a small sword two times before being apprehended. He committed suicide three weeks later while being incarcerated in a detention cell.

Right-wing groups had strongly opposed Asanuma, who criticized the Liberal Democratic Party and the United States, proclaiming the latter to be the common enemy of the Japanese and Chinese peoples during a speech in Beijing one year before.

Since the assassination was telecast live on public broadcaster NHK, the incident received substantial attention. But more notably, just before Yamaguchi plunged his weapon into Asanuma for the second time, Mainichi Shimbun newspaper photographer Yasushi Nagao pointed his camera at the pair and clicked the shutter — the resulting image of which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.

Very rarely, if ever, are the perpetrators of political assassinations later celebrated in a public forum. Yet on two occasions at the end of last year that was the case for Yamaguchi.

In the very same hall where the gruesome killing took place, right-wing groups held a Shinto ceremony to commemorate the assassin on the 50-year anniversary of when he hung himself with a bedsheet.

Just before that final act, Yamaguchi famously opened a container of toothpaste and smeared the concrete wall of his cell with the message: “Seven lives for my country. His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, banzai!”

“It was a moment that marked a change in the course of Japanese history,” said Shohei Okada, director of the Otoya Yamaguchi Appreciation Society, at the Shinto event, held on November 4 and presided over by three priests.

The previous month, on October 12, various right-wing members, including Okada, gathered with a Japanese flag and memorial photos of Yamaguchi on the stage where 50 years before (to the very minute, 3:03 p.m.) the boy had made his run for Asanuma.

“Just like a swift wind, he went after the country’s enemy and delivered justice,” said the director. “For a human being to sacrifice one’s life at the age of 17 to save a country from crisis is something truly dignified.”

Note: The video above, a joint collaboration between The Tokyo Reporter and Uchujin-Adrian Storey www.uchujin.co.uk, summarizes both of the celebratory events and the initial incident.

It is around noon, and the caller says he is a policeman. “First, relax, and listen carefully,” he cautions. “Your husband has been in an accident which is now under investigation. He fell asleep at the wheel of his car.”

“He’s with me now,” the policeman continues, “and he’s not injured, but he caused quite a bit of damage to another car, one owned by a Mr. Ishii of Hiroshima.”

The officer then hands the phone to her husband. Some random, slurred speech and a garbled “sorry” is all that he can muster. He’s a frantic mess.

In shock, she drops the receiver to her side.

Her husband can’t take of this matter himself given the emotional state he is in, or so says the policeman. So after pulling herself together, she jots down Mr. Ishii’s contact information and calls him, whereby the total cost of the repairs is conveyed.

From the repair shop, Mr. Ishii explains, “Having the insurance company take care of it is not a possibility given that I need the car fixed immediately for my work.”

Now panicked herself, Mrs. A rushes off on her bicycle to make a bank transfer totaling nearly 2 million yen to Mr. Ishii’s post office account.

But, in the end, it was all just a scam. The scenario was merely a choreographed ruse preformed by a group of fraudsters playing various roles over the phone.

This type of swindle is termed “ore ore” sagi (“It’s me” fraud), a crime that targets the elderly, and with Japan being a cash society in which debt holds great shame, it is a problem that likely won’t be going away soon.

“They were so realistic,” she recalls of the fraudsters’ acting talent. “The person playing my husband really seemed to be crying.”

Instilling panic is a necessity. Mrs. A was told by the policeman that a trip to court would likely be necessary for her husband. As well, he said that if her husband’s condition didn’t improve soon he’d have to go to the hospital.

“In thinking back,” Mrs. A says now, “I can now see that much of the incident was implausible, but at the time I was willing to believe anything.”

For her, all critical thinking was lost. When the policeman read off his phone number, he did so in a manner that ignored the standard location of hyphens in a nine-digit number. She realizes now that by moving the first hyphen to after the fourth digit, instead of the second, as is typical, he was able to slightly conceal that the number was a standard “06″ prefix, obviously that of an Osaka landline, and not, as he said, “my car’s wireless number.” Also questionable was the policeman’s interest in money.

Tact is another matter. Mrs. A remembers the policeman rounding off the total amount she had to deposit from 1,982,620 to 1,982,000 yen, with him even proclaiming over the phone, “I’m a nice guy, right?”

Last year (2003) such scams in Japan were highly profitable. Police statistics showed that over 2.3 billion yen was squeezed from roughly 4,000 unsuspecting victims.

Success has bred popularity. The early part of last year only saw a handful of such cases. But by year’s end, the police were recording over 1,000 incidents each month.

The names, phone numbers, and other details (in Mrs. A’s situation, even her apartment building name) are often obtained through corporate data leaks of customer information. Mrs. A thinks the perpetrators received her information through a convenience store membership club.

The biggest such incident in Japan occurred earlier this month when Softbank Corp.’s Yahoo! BB Internet provider had information on 4.52 million subscribers stolen. This came soon after 2 million customers of Sanyo Shinpan Finance Co., a consumer finance firm, had their private information leaked.

Thus far, loan shark organizations tied to yakuza crime syndicates have been fingered as many of the perpetrators. While typically targeting senior citizens living alone – though not the case with the 40-year old Mrs. A – these impersonators have ranged from sons asking mothers for money for car repairs to women seeking funds from lovers for an abortion.

True, too, Japan attaches great dishonor to debt. Though Mrs. A maintains that her willingness to pay was instigated entirely by a want to help her husband, she says, “A person who will pay the money is seen as honest, strong, and responsible.”

However, all was not lost in the end. On the way to the bank that day, she paused, thinking that what was happening had to be a dream; it was all so unreal. So she decided to call her husband, who informed her that no accident had taken place. Relieved, yet shaken and in tears, she retold the story to a real police officer at a nearby station.

Since she didn’t pay any money in the end, the police are not going to investigate the case further. Later the would-be swindlers called back wondering about the transaction, but once she told them she had called her husband’s office, the line was cut.

Mrs. A remains upbeat, even scoffing at friends and relatives who have made jokes about her falling for a trick typically intended for older people.

“It was a terrible day,” she says, “but at least I didn’t pay the money. So if everyone wants to have a laugh at my expense, that’s fine.”

Update: The National Police Agency reported that in 2010 the number of ore ore sagi cases increased by 44.5% from the year before to 4,418.

Note: This article originally appeared in February 2004 on the Sake-Drenched Postcards Web page.

In an effort to raise awareness for this niche format, this weekend vinyl junkies will be asked to put their styluses aside and pick up pencils. Toyo Kasei, the owner of Japan’s last fully functioning pressing plant, will hold a proficiency exam dedicated solely to stacks of wax.

“The exam is designed to expose a new audience to the joy of vinyl records,” says Eiji Hirata, special assistant to the president. “We also would like those from older generations to revisit the experience of listening to them.”

The 100-question, multiple-choice exam will take place at Meiji University’s Surugadai campus in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on Sunday. Roughly 200 applicants will be asked to answer questions from two of seven music genres (including rock, jazz, pop and hip-hop) and also display competence in vinyl manufacturing and materials.

The questions will be prepared by experts in various fields. For example, representatives from King Records, the Tokyo-based label that has been releasing a wide range of music since its founding in 1931, will prepare the portion dedicated to classical music. But the test will emphasize the records themselves, not the music. “We are trying to ensure that questions will have a link to physical records,” explains Hirata. “We don’t want people to be taking a simple music test.”

As a primer, which Japanese artist designed the album jacket for Santana’s 1973 live “Lotus” LP? The spiritual-looking artwork might lead one to consider avant-garde purveyor Taro Okamoto, but well-versed test-takers will know that it was indeed graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo.

A perfect score of 100 will yield a Master ranking, and lesser marks above 50 will receive titles of Platinum, Gold and Silver. Nagaoka cartridge needles (valued at up to 50,000 yen), LP frames and trophies shaped like records will be given as prizes.

Tokyo is indeed the place to administer such an exam. Record shops are scattered throughout such hip neighborhoods as Koenji, Shimokitazawa and Shibuya, where stores specializing in everything from house to punk to collectable 7-inch singles can be found (see below).

Tatsuo Sunaga (dubbed “The Record Chief”) is the author of “I’ll Take That Record!” — a chronicle of a three-year vinyl-buying spree that includes reprints of album jackets and a shop guide. Sunaga, who is a club DJ and spins jazz up and down the country, says that the appeal of the format is the fuller experience compared to that of digital.

“I choose analog because vinyl is easier to handle when playing,” says Sunaga, “and I think the jacket art gives a feeling of completion. There are also rare tunes waiting to be discovered as they are not yet available on CD or by download.”

Toyo Kasei’s Hirata says that the perception among vinyl fans is that the needle making contact is a more natural sensation. “A CD is a medium used for carrying sound,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be in that specific form. On the other hand, a record itself delivers sound.”

But Hirata himself is not exactly old school; he unabashedly whips out his iPhone 4 to recall the exact name of the biggest-seller in Toyo Kasei’s history, “Oyogei! Taiyaki-kun,” the single by singer Masato Shimon that sold over 4 million copies following its release in late 1975.

Toyo Kasei began 16 years before. At the vinyl industry’s peak, recording companies relied on 10 factories. “Companies like Sony had their own manufacturing plants to produce their artists’ records,” explains Fuyumi Tamura, a representative from Toyo Kasei’s general affairs division. “At the same time, a few companies started to emerge without factories of their own. They would outsource to us. As well, the companies with factories sent us orders when they were at full capacity.”

Things changed drastically with the emergence of the CD in the 1980s. A decade later, Toyo Kasei owned the last vinyl pressing factory in Japan and Asia. “When CDs arrived,” Tamura continues, “companies closed their vinyl divisions and started coming to us (for pressing). So it is not as if there is no demand for vinyl.”

Last year, the Toyo Kasei’s multifloor factory in Yokohama’s Tsurumi Ward produced around 400,000 discs, a far cry from the industry’s peak of 70 million four decades ago. (The majority of the company’s revenue comes from its separate printing and electroplating businesses.)

In the vinyl pressing process, the first step is to cut the recorded audio signal onto a lacquer master. A stamping plate, essentially the basis for the vinyl copies, will then be created following various metallic plating steps.

Orders start at 100 copies and arrive from both indie bands and big music companies such as Avex, the J-pop label that ordered a picture disc version of Ayumi Hamasaki’s 2007 single “Talkin’ 2 Myself,” and Universal Music, which commissioned a reissue of “Zenyatta Mondatta” by The Police. In addition to Japan, the company has clients in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Europe.

Hirata openly admits that critics might deride the company for holding the exam to boost the bottom line, a point he understands. But the real motivation, he says, is a desire to preserve a culture.

“It is a difficult business climate,” he says. “We are at the stage where we can make enough profit to keep the business running, but I feel there is an added mission. If we leave the industry, it will disappear.”

A Tokyo vinyl guide:

Manhattan Records
With pounding beats that can be heard from the sidewalk, Manhattan is Shibuya’s source for the latest 12-inch hip-hop and R&B releases. In-store DJ events are common, and the adjacent outlet offers the genre’s requisite hats and jackets.
03-3477-7166
10-1 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku

Modern Music
The store that launched the legendary PSF noise label, this cramped space near Meidaimae Station offers rare Japanese psychedelic, krautrock, garage and free jazz LPs.
03-3322-4461
2-45-11 Matsubara, Setagaya-ku

Dub Store
This Shinjuku shop stocks new and used ska, roots, reggae and dancehall releases in LP and 7-inch formats — all in an effort to popularize music from Jamaica.
03-3364-5251
7-13-5 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku

Technique
Techno, break beats, dub step, drum n’ bass — it’s all here in this spacious second-floor Shibuya shop. Prices for used vinyl can start at 100 yen, and DJ stations allow for quick spins prior to purchase.
03-5458-4143
33-14 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku

Vinyl
The basement outlet of this three-branch operation in Shinjuku is like a vinyl warehouse, offering everything from shoegaze to ‘70s rock. Jammed with gems like The Cramps’ 7-inch release of “Garbageman” (¥20,790) and reissues (The Clash’s “London Calling”), collectors will feel right at home.
03-3365-0910
7-4-7 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku

Warszawa
Scaled down from its former Shibuya home, this second-floor shop in Shimokitazawa stocks LPs from obscure labels in a variety of genres, like Morr Music (electronic and indie) and Siltbreeze (drone).
03-3467-1997
2-33-11 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku

Disc Jam
Crammed with Technics turntables, Numark mixers, record bags and RCA cables, this is a DJ supply store, and 50-year-old owner Tsuyoshi Abe will happily discuss the intricacies of scratching, needle selection and vinyl’s heyday.
03-3770-6699
11-11 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku

Note: This article originally appeared in the October 8 issue of The Japan Times. The vinyl knowledge exam will be held at Meiji University’s Surugadai campus on Oct. 10. For more information, visit the site of the event or Tokyo Kasei

At the base of the steel structure, a signboard, complete with a stick-figure campaign character raising its fists in anger, announces that yakuza criminal gangs are prohibited from participating in the project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

In November, 2008, members of construction companies formed a committee designed to exclude gangster groups. A similar arrangement was conceived for the new incarnation of the Kabuki-za theater in Ginza, Chuo Ward, whose historic building closed this year.

“We have formed alliances with construction companies that are designed to shut off yakuza involvement in these projects,” says Hiroichi Katayama, superintendent of the Organized Crime Elimination division within the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

Like organized crime in other countries, yakuza gangs have traditionally been tightly intertwined with Japan’s construction corporations, but the industry might now be seeing criminal organizations as something other than a necessary evil.

“In the past, gangster groups would use these kinds of projects as an opportunity to raise funds through land deals,” explains Katayama, referring to the Tokyo Sky Tree and Kabuki-za sites.

The superintendent is describing jiage, the practice of forcibly removing tenants from existing structures so the site can be cleared and the land sold for development. Other means of gangster involvement include the settlement of land disputes and the recruitment of labor.

“Construction companies require labor forces,” says Minoru Yokoyama, professor of law at Kokugakuin University and a vice chair for next year’s International Society of Criminology conference in Kobe. “Subcontractors on projects will often broker deals with mediators, which will be gangster groups.”

Yet the industry, wracked by a declining domestic market over the past two decades, may have had enough of dealing with so-called ninkyo dantai, or chivalrous organizations, as yakuza gangs anointed themselves around the end of World War II.

“From an economic point of view, the costs are more,” says Yokoyama. “Then, the money obtained by yakuza gangs from these projects is funneled through underground networks and winds up being used to purchase things like drugs, which are then sold for a profit.”

Anti-gangster signboard on Tokyo Sky Tree construction site

In 2008, Yokohama-based real estate company Suruga Corporation utilized a front company of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest gang, to — in true jiage fashion — evict occupants of a building in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward purchased three years before. Members of the front company were taken into custody. That same year, a 47-year-old upper-level boss of Japan’s second largest gang, the Sumiyoshi-kai, was arrested for attempting to extort cash from the seven-company joint venture that completed construction of the Gran Tokyo North Tower at Tokyo Station in 2007. The contractors for the tower had formed a similar alliance to that now ongoing with the Tokyo Sky Tree and Kabuki-za projects.

This year the resistance has been met with conflict. In April, three shots were fired into the house of the parents of an employee at energy contractor Saibu Gas in Fukuoka City. Soon after, five more rounds were fired at the entrance of a firm affiliated with the contractor. It was widely reported that the firm had not succumbed to payment demands from the Kyushu-based Kudo-kai syndicate regarding the construction of a liquefied natural gas platform in Kitakyushu.

In a bold move, a non-payment regulation was enacted in April in Fukuoka Prefecture, the first of its kind in Japan. Citizens and companies, according to the legislation, are now held liable for contributions made to gangster activities. Penalties include a fine of up to 500,000 yen or one year in jail.

The National Police Agency has indicated that cutting off funds to gangs is the best way to eliminate their influence. The Agency has said that it would like other municipalities to institute similar measures.

The elimination of such groups from construction jobs, however, will be challenging given the long legacy. Gangster ties with construction are widely considered to date back to the third generation boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi, which boasts an estimated membership of 40,000. Appointed in 1946, Kazuo Taoka began to control construction and dockside labor in the gang’s base of Kobe and initiated expansion nationwide as Japan rebuilt itself following the devastation of World War II.

“Right now gangster activities are stable,” says Yokoyama. “They maintain their traditional ways. It will be very difficult to eradicate all activities immediately. It takes time.”

Note: This article originally appeared in the September 26 issue of The Japan Times.

…Ezekiel 33:11

KAWAGUCHI, SAITAMA (TR) – From the cracked exterior paint to the crumbling wood trim, the “snack” club June Bride appears to have the appropriately rundown look favored by just about every watering hole in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture. Impressions change, however, once one enters and sees the sketches of Jesus Christ taped to the silver wallpaper and the wooden cross propped against the back wall.

The proprietor is Tatsuya Shindo, and he is not a barman. From the age of 20, Shindo peddled stimulants in and around Tokyo for a gangster family under the nationwide Sumiyoshi-kai yakuza syndicate. When multiple jail stints followed thereafter, he decided to start offering something else entirely: the gospel.

“I know how bad I was and the bad things I had done,” says Shindo, 39, thin-framed and sporting a devilish bit of chin stubble. “At the same time, I know how much I was forgiven by God. So I wanted to engage myself in God’s work.”

Now the former gangster presides over the independent Friends of Sinners Jesus Christ Church inside this converted bar, where Shindo takes the pulpit and preaches to some of the Kanto region’s former troublemakers on the mend.

“They are seeking divine intervention,” says Shindo, a native of Kawaguchi. “They want God to help them with their problems.”

June Bride in Kawaguchi

The scant accommodations seem to make no difference to Shindo. A peek inside one of his services will likely reveal the minister standing, head bowed, arms outstretched and reaching towards the ceiling, not far from where a gaudy glass chandelier hangs. Followers sit beneath, listening intently, as he seeks guidance from above.

Such a scene would have been unbelievable two decades ago. With his parents separated, Shindo began using the stimulant drug crystal meth from the age of 17. Not long after, he joined a yakuza gang and began selling on the street. As a 28-year-old, he had become a full-fledged gang boss with credit card fraud and the collection of mikajimeryo — protection money due on the third day of each month — from sex clubs among his attributes.

But troubles mounted. First, he was addicted to crystal meth, using it three to four times a day. Further, when driving one of his gang’s vehicles while intoxicated with a female passenger inside, he got in a wreck. As a means of atonement, he trimmed the tip of his left pinkie. All told, he was arrested seven times, with three of those occasions leading to prison stays. Women began to give up on him, and his gang finally asked him to leave.

Tatsuya Shindo and the Bible

What could be considered a revelation, however, occurred following his arrest in May, 2001, when his BMW was searched in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district and found to have 130 grams of crystal meth. While behind bars (for the final time) in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, he read the Old Testament’s Ezekiel 33:11, in which the Lord does not wish death upon the wicked, but rather encourages reform.

“That is my driving force, my gasoline,” he says of the passage. “I don’t have to read the lines any longer; it is all inside me.”

Upon his release, Shindo began a correspondence with Suzuki. At the age of 33, he entered theological school Jesus To Japan in Tokyo’s Taito Ward, and two years later, when he founded Friends of Sinners Jesus Christ Church, he began meeting with and preaching to society’s dropouts.

Holding services in the snack was not easy in the beginning as Shindo was low on funds. Still he knew that if he performed the duties of God, he would receive all that would be necessary. “In the beginning, it was only me,” he remembers. “So I was preaching to the walls.” (It helped that June Bride is a snack his mother has owned since he was young.)

But he steadily found followers, and two books have followed: the biographical “You Can Always Start Over,” released in January, and April’s “The Mafia Minister’s Street Talk,” a compilation of lectures.

For decades, Japan’s criminal underworld operated largely in the wide open. Now, with this year’s scandal that followed revelations that gangsters assisted sumo wrestlers in betting on baseball games and some initial attempts to exclude them from industries where they have historically thrived, such as construction, society is increasingly showing less tolerance for organized crime.

Shindo wants to convey the message that there is another option available for criminals wanting to escape. “I wanted to show people that anyone can do this,” he says, though simultaneously admits that he very easily could have been killed by gangster forces not happy with his decision. “Especially, I wanted to show people with a similar background to me.”

Tatsuya Shindo seeks guidance

“Little by little, over the years, his correspondence with me caused my heart to change,” says Ishido, who today works at a wine bar and attends services regularly.

With Suzuki as his predecessor, Shindo believes that it is perfectly logical for gangsters seek a path towards Christ. The rigid, top-down structural hierarchy of criminal families is similar to a church, he says, “and in both cases, you have to listen to your boss.”

Shindo realizes, however, that there are some things that he cannot change. His trimmed left digit and the colorful tattoos of mythic creatures that crawl over his upper torso and biceps are both vivid reminders of his past.

He further acknowledges that there will be critics who may say that he is exploiting his background to gather attention to his current activities — a point that he finds understandable but also one he is ready to challenge.

“If I take a pool of 10 people and one or two people criticize me but another one or two stand by me,” he says, “then it is worth it.”

Note: Friends of Sinners Jesus Christ Church is on the Web here. Services on Saturdays begin at 7:00 p.m. and on Sundays at 2:30 p.m.