Japan’s Prisons Are a Haven for Elderly Women
“Prison is an oasis for me—a place for relaxation and comfort. I don’t have freedom here, but I have nothing to worry about, either. There are many people to talk…
Japan’s youngest female mayor takes on its oldest all-male sport
One of the most interesting parts of this story is how the city where this woman is mayor and cities where other women are mayors in Japan have higher birth…
A Japanese medical university lowered women’s test scores because it was a “necessary evil”
It’s always a meritocracy until a man doesn’t get the job.Instead the system is rigged for mediocrity …Japanese media reports said today (Aug. 2) that the university had since 2011…
The history of Hello Kitty
Right alongside Mickey Mouse and Snoopy sits Hello Kitty, one of the most recognizable characters worldwide. Sanrio’s biggest star has won over fans of every age since her 1974 debut,…
EU and Japan sign trade deal covering a third of the world’s economy
The agreement covers 600 million people and almost a third of the global economy. It's also a major endorsement of a global trading system that is under increasing threat from…
North Korea, Part One: The Peaceful Peninsula
This year, we’re doing a long-form series on North Korea. We’ll get into the history, culture, and ideology of the isolated, totalitarian country. In order to get proper context, we’re…
Japan’s “Suicide Forest” Victims Deserve More Respect
Japan's Aokigahara Forest has an undue reputation in the Western imagination as a place not necessarily of tragedy, but of allure.
Amusing manga of The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux, Marc Bolan, Hanoi Rocks & more from the 80s
Written in Japanese, most (if not all) are likely by the the rather prolific manga artist Atsuko Shima—but she wasn’t the only artist that created the cartoons that featured popular…
Fargo, Snap #611 – To The Brink
Documentarian Paul Berczeller examines the case of Takako Konishi, who died in a frozen forest on the North Dakota/Minnesota border looking for the fictional treasure from the Coen Brother’s film…