Kuchikomi
'Dependency syndrome' is all around us
Alcohol. Drugs. Sex. Gambling. Gaming. Working. Eating. Buying. Stealing. Anything we do is a potential addiction. Pain is as addictive as pleasure, hunger no less than satiety. In Japan, says Shukan Josei (Jan 28), 20 million people, one-sixth the population, are actually or potentially dangerously “dependent” on something – a… Read
New Toyosu fish market already sinking on its foundations
From around 5 a.m. on Jan 5, Tokyo's central fish market in Toyosu was the scene of the traditionally boisterous hatsuseri -- the first wholesale auction of the new year. That morning, 1,295 tuna were auctioned off, and a new record was set for the purchase of a 222-kilogram… Read
Neo-NEETS: Living on other people’s money
“Daishi-san,” 25, got fired from a part-time job four months ago. “That’s it,” he decided; “I’ll never work again.” He does okay, though. Ask him his profession and he has a ready answer: “I’m a new-generation NEET.” NEET stands for “not in education, employment or training.” Put bluntly, it means… Read
Will bootleg N Korean 'missile fuel' find its way to Japan?
Read the news about North Korea or watch the same on TV, and you're bound to see a stream of menacing threats from its rotund leader -- who feels increasingly provoked by international sanctions against his regime. The threats may involve nuclear weapons, or tests of some new type of… Read
Policies differ concerning retail staff wearing face masks to ward off colds
On the first day of business of the new year, many retail store doors swing open to admit crowds of eager customers in search of bargains and fukubukuro --special "lucky bags" of merchandise in which a fortunate few will hit the jackpot. Despite the upbeat seasonal mood, these activities take… Read
The hell of adult bullying
“Adult bullying is not going away. It is growing increasingly cruel,” says Tokyo Metropolitan University sociologist Shinji Miyadai in conversation with Spa! (Dec 24). Spa!’s subject is “adult bullying hell.” The magazine narrates episodes which the reader’s first instinct is to dismiss as exaggerated, if not made up altogether. Then… Read
Osaka police refine their techniques at nabbing pickpockets
Perhaps nowhere in December do throngs of commuters, shoppers and visitors hustle and bustle more that at Osaka's Umeda station, a sprawling rail terminus and shopper's mecca where private lines, subways and the JR converge. For this reason Umeda is also the just kind of place that attracts pickpockets. In… Read
One week down and out in a sleazy Shinjuku cyber cafe
Some girls want to break into the writing game so badly they're willing to take on some pretty grubby assignments. That's what the editor at Jitsuwa Bunka Taboo (February) had in mind when he assigned the 24-year-old woman, a Saitama native, to spend a week at a certain cyber cafe… Read
Things look bleak for Japan: Rising layoffs, AI taking jobs, crumbling infrastructure
Japan Inc is stalled and its engine trouble may be irreparable, Shukan Gendai (Dec 7-14) fears. No one wants bad news now. It’s a happy season: ring out the old, ring in the new. And bonuses are up this year – way up, in fact; very near a peak level… Read
Is rugby in Japan on a roll after WorldCup, or will the 'rugby bubble' deflate?
Was all that excitement just an illusion? That's what Nikken Gendai (Dec 10) is asking, in reference to the Rugby World Cup. This year's event marked the first time that Japan, as host nation, made it as far as the final eight. Then in the quarterfinals, the national team was… Read
