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The Best Way to Kill Bambi: An Interview with One of Japan’s Few Gun Owners

The Best Way to Kill Bambi: An Interview with One of Japan’s Few Gun Owners

In Japan it is a crime to own a gun; simple as that! …Okay, not quite. It’s not an easy task, but with proper training and a hard-earned permit, it is possible to become a legal gun owner in Japan. Down in Kumamoto Prefecture, we managed to share a word with one such gun owner. This 68-year-old man has had his own hunting rifle for quite a long time, but didn’t have many chances to go out shooting when busy with his full-time job and the daily grind. Now that he’s old and retired, he’s putting his gun permit to good use and making the most out of his remaining years. You won’t want to miss our full interview with this rare breed of gun-toting Japanese huntsman. Read More

From D-Cup T-Shirts to Nostril Power Outlets — the Creative Clowning of Takayuki Fukuzawa

From D-Cup T-Shirts to Nostril Power Outlets — the Creative Clowning of Takayuki Fukuzawa

Quirky Japanese designer Takayuki Fukuzawa is on a mission to make people smile.

A graduate of Tokyo’s Nihon University, Fukuzawa started designing his own unique brand of “humourous art and design” products not long after entering full-time employment as a home designer. After bringing smiles to exhibition attendees’ faces and realising that he might be on to something, he quickly established his own company, ekoD Works (pronounced “eco doh”), and hasn’t looked back since.

Japan’s Excite News sat down with Fukuzawa to pick his brains about his unusual product line-up, the meaning behind the company name and the runaway success of his mercilessly cheeky “Wild Idea Mapping red Bra T-shirt”.

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Making it in the Japanese Videogame Industry: Exclusive Interview with Developer and Author James Kay

Making it in the Japanese Videogame Industry: Exclusive Interview with Developer and Author James Kay

Dutch-British game developer James Kay found his way into the videogame industry after studying Audiovisual design at the Willem de Kooning Academy and moving to London to work at Intelligent Games and Criterion Software. He relocated to Japan in 2001 and, after picking up a wealth of experience at companies including Taito, Genki and Marvelous Entertainment, went on to co-found Score Studios, a company that has received critical acclaim and is fast becoming a big name in the industry.

Detailing the many hurdles that foreigners working in the Japanese videogame industry face, James’ book Japanmanship: the ultimate guide to working in videogame development in Japan may well prove to be an invaluable resource for those thinking of making the move to the spiritual home of videogames.

With the book coming off the presses just last December, RocketNews24 headed to Score Studios in Tokyo’s Yoyogi to meet with James and talk about his book, life in the videogame industry and which Nintendo Princess he’d rather rescue.

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“What Happens to Japanese Porn Stars After They Retire?” Inside the Mind of an Adult Video Model

“What Happens to Japanese Porn Stars After They Retire?” Inside the Mind of an Adult Video Model

Perhaps the reason that so much fuss is made over the Japanese sex industry is that, in almost every other aspect of its society and culture, Japan is considered to be such an immensely safe, polite and altogether nice place to be.

The country whose tourists are often reputed to be among the most polite and agreeable, and where your lost mobile phone or wallet usually finds its way back to you, Japan would not be anyone’s first guess when asked “Which country has a booming, recession-defying porn industry?”

Be that as it may, the Japanese AV (adult video) industry, whose revenue comprised more than 20% of worldwide sales according to a 2006 survey, continues to grow every year. And with that growth comes an increasing number of young women who aspire to work in the industry, as reported here on RocketNews24 just a couple of weeks ago.

But with so many girls taking a shot at being AV stars and entering into this seemingly glamorous but equally shady profession, how do they go about their daily lives unnoticed? And what becomes of AV stars who leave the industry?

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