In recent weeks, Stippy has been receiving much attention and many comments and questions based around our Tokyo Yakuza Wars and Prison in Japan articles. One of the questions we received was what is the difference between the Yakuza and the Right-Wing Nationalist groups? Are they different parts of the same organization, or are they [...]

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Shintaro Ishihara (石原慎太郎) after winning theTokyo Governor’s Election on SundayAfter eight years in the limelight as the governor of Tokyo it seems that 74 year old Shintaro Ishihara (石原慎太郎) has once again been successful in winning the hearts of the Tokyo tomin (都民, citizens). Despite the fact that 73% of Tokyo’s registered voting population [...]

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Grass. Simple green grass under my bare feet is something I really enjoy in the summer. In the park with the kids I have the occasional old person come up and say how healthy it is for the kids to be playing in bare feet, yet mine seem to be the only kids around who [...]

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We have explored on stippy how interesting it can be to call an ambulance in Japan, but have you ever had one of those crazy “only in Japan” experiences at the hospital?

Just the week before last I was hit with a mysterious sort of virus that had gone through our office. I battled through a [...]

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“Hagetaka” - New Japanese TV Drama SeriesThe current recovery in the Japanese economy has been a long time coming. For over a decade, Japan was watched from overseas, with foreign money waiting for the recovery, which had to come sometime. That time is now, and the takeover of Japanese companies by foreign firms and foreign [...]

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JAL to finally join OneWorld from Today, 1st April 2007Today, Japan Airlines officially becomes a member of the OneWorld alliance. Perhaps you remember the joy and expectation that you felt back on Oct 25, 2005 when JAL announced this for the first time (official release). Or if you haven’t been in Japan for [...]

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