A “badger game” is a type of extortion scheme in which the victim, often a married man, is coerced into a compromising position and then subjected to some form of extortion, either for money or information. The Japanese word for this, “tsutsumotase,” is written with the characters for “bijin” (beautiful woman) and “kyoku” (affair).

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Aggrandize 1. To increase the scope of; extend. 2. To make greater in power, influence, stature, or reputation. 3. To make appear greater; exaggerate Example: Seriously, I think personal blogs are one of the most self-aggrandizing activities of our generation. More so than MySpace. With MySpace, you are at least not pretending that anyone cares [...]

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Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a week ago paid homage to Japan’s World War II dead at the Yasukuni Shrine, drawing South Korea’s and China’s condemnation, which was heightened by the date of his visit – the anniversary of Japan’s surrender. Despite repeated protests from Beijing and Seoul, Koizumi kept a promise to make a sixth [...]

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At around 7:38am this morning, there was a widespread blackout in Tokyo. This is all but normal in this city. Stopping all trains, and traffic lights, it was a shock that lasted over an hour. A blackout of this scale has not happened in Japan for 30 years, some 800,000 households were affected. The blackout [...]

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