“I Love You, Ken Takakura”
The criminalization of sodomy that came in with a Western-style legal code in 1872 was repealed eight years later
One Hundred Million Pop Song People
Seazer / Caesar was a futenzoku (Japanese hippie) who dropped out of art-school and joined Terayama’s avant garde theatre troupe in 1969
Planet Rugby Sends the World a Message
The arrogant hegemon who everyone fears and secretly hopes will slip up is New Zealand, which has a total population of 4.5 million.
Farewell to the Ark
The book has lent its name to a fine, cask-aged barley shochu, apparently much appreciated by Japan’s Crown Prince.
Memories of Silk and Straw
Infanticide and the sale of daughters into prostitution were necessary evils
Joey in Japan
Joey “Pepe” Smith is a great raconteur with a boatload of fascinating stories, some of which may even be true.
Tokyo Dystopia
Half-naked girls brawling on a bed of satin, champagne bottles spurting foam into eager upturned mouths..
Who are the Brain Police?
Despite a 7 year investigation involving 170,000 police and list of 110,000 suspects, the crime remains unsolved to this day.
I Don’t Know War
Terayama liked to tell people his own father was executed as a war criminal. The truth was more mundane.
Tomorrow’s Joe
The Japanese Red Army militants who hi-jacked a JAL plane to Pyongyang in 1970 claimed “we are Tomorrow’s Joe.” The survivors remain in Pyongyang today and are now on Twitter.