Yamagata Education Board announced on October 17 that it had suspended a foreign assistant language teacher for six months for taking photos up girls’ skirts in Tokyo. The unnamed man in his thirties works at high schools in the prefecture. The teacher is accused of using his phone to take pics up women’s skirts on…

As we write this, Japan is heading to the polls in an election that might see the ruling LDP lose its majority in the House of Representatives. Of course, we’re less interested in the podgy faces of the LDP policos, most of whom should be off collecting their pensions by now instead of running the…

Here’s a case that ticks all the boxes about the current moral panic. A concafe (“concept cafe”) staffed by men in Kabukicho, Tokyo, is accused of exploiting vulnerable female customers. Concafes can be innocuous themed cafes but are often staffed only by men, making them essentially a kind of host club (similar to how girls’…

We already wrote about this story back in September but now the mainstream foreign media is starting to pick up the survey by the Japanese Association for Sex Education, which examines the rate of sex and other forms of intimacy among junior and senior high school students. Perhaps prompted by the publication of the full…

We are used to Japanese politicians, both male and female, having affairs with hostesses, party workers, foreign musicians, and even other lawmakers. But what about gravure idols? In a case that recalls Kensuke Miyazaki, who had advocated for fathers to take paternity leave but was caught having an affair with a gravure model while his…

Continuing a time-honored tradition of using up-and-coming celebrities for its models, the leading Japanese lingerie brand Peach John’s new choice of model is announcer Kasumi Mori. Mori has recently established herself as a model and general celebrity, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Minami Tanaka, who launched a new career as…

The revelation that the head of Japan’s third largest opposition party, Yuichiro Tamaki, has been having an affair with a former gravure model, Miyuki Koizumi, sparked a media frenzy at the start of this week. The tabloids have continued to pump out stories about the affair, much of which is just speculation. Of course, adulterous…

Oh no. One of those surveys has appeared. Despite our best efforts to celebrate the diverse and exciting sexual landscape in Japan, these perennial surveys reporting on sexlessness in the country get lots more attention and tarnish the reputation (probably made worse by our own regurgitation of them on these digital pages). Of course, decline…

Back in 2019, we lamented the (fortunately temporary) closure of Osaka’s red-light district Tobita Shinchi in a bid to stave off a crackdown by the authorities ahead of the G-20 summit. (Because the 2020 Olympics ended up being held in 2021 and with basically no visitors, the Tokyo Games ultimately did not involve as much…

The world is gripped by the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the arrest of prime suspect Luigi Mangione. People are trying to figure out his exact motives, with figures on both sides of the political spectrum hoping to claim him as a champion against corporate greed. The 26-year-old is highly intelligent and well…