I recently received an e-mail from a PR manager at Thomas Reuters about contractors in Fukushima exploiting workers involved in the decontamination of the areas around Tepco’s crippled nuclear reactor. Workers here are coerced into working for low wages for contractors six-times removed from Tepco, the utility responsible for the cleanup, some of which have […]
A 60-year-old Maori woman was denied entrance to a public bath house in northern Japan because of her traditional tā moko facial tattoo. Japanese bath houses, known as onsen, typically bar anyone with tattoos to keep away yakuza gangsters, many of whom sport full-body tats. Erana Ta Haeata Brewerton had been attending an academic meeting […]
The idea of being a yakuza (Japanese mobster) is attractive to many men. Belonging to a secret society, making ludicrous amounts of money, having your every whim catered to, controlling others through intimidation, not worrying about diplomacy when dealing with outsiders is oddly appealing to our baser instincts. However, the reality isn’t quite so glamorous. […]