My Itinerant Era

Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Drag…

Take a journey through the history of Japanese role-pla…

The Emotional Genius of Ryuichi Sakamoto

The late Japanese musician scored not only films but also the exquisite highs and distressing lows of life.

Osamu Dazai

Shūji Tsushima , known by his pen name Osamu Dazai , was a Japanese novelist and author. A number of his most popular works, such as The Setting Sun and No Longer Human, are considered modern classics.

Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture

Society cannot recover from such an epic scale of devastation - the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and three days later on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 - but may, instead, manifest trauma as a perpetual genetic scar—ontological chasm which moves as a consumptive demon ripping up through the generations as a peripatetic wound, egregious disfigurement banished from conscious thought, inflating to cartoon benignity in a pantomime of humanity, sutured gash badly sewn and always reopening, futile replacement of scarred mortality for the immaculate technology of machines, and finally as the wholesale abandonment of frail humanity for alternative existential states.

Yojimbo (1961)

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro…

Samurai city - Works in Progress Magazine

For three hundred years, Japan enjoyed enviable stability and peace. All it took was locking up its warlike samurai elite in the world’s least efficient city.

Hayao Miyazaki and optimistic nihilism

Yesterday, I found the post i think we're obsessed with aesthetic on the Discovery Feed. It featured quite a few nice quotes. My favourite was this one: <...

‘The devil’s child’: the rise and fall of the only female yakuza

The long read: Mako Nishimura fought her way into the Japanese underworld, but drug addiction and the slow demise of organised crime gangs almost destroyed her

25 Best Psychological Anime that'll Make You Think Deep - MyAnimeGo

In the vast and diverse world of anime, there is a genre that delves into the intricate workings of the human mind, offering captivating stories that leave viewers pondering long after the final episode. Psychological anime explores the depths of emotions, thoughts, and motivations through complex characters and mind-bending narratives. These thought-provoking shows challenge conventional […]

Mojaland

Four pieces on Bluesky and the Atmosphere, from Japan.

Anime’s growing commoditization could lead to a future where the medium itself no longer matters, Japanese critic warns - AUTOMATON WEST

A famous Japanese critic discusses whether the evolutionary path of anime ends with its full transformation into a commodity.

The Sword of Doom (1966)

Ryunosuke, a gifted swordsman plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule, has no moral code and kills without remorse. It’s a way of life that leads to madness.

Samurai Unicorn

An action horror game with retro-graphics, set in the sprawling megacity of Sydney3.

This 1986 Japanese adventure game showing up on Steam in 2026 guarantees it makes my GOTY list—you've really got to play it

Relics doesn't belong in a museum: it belongs on your PC.

Kwaidan (1964)

Taking its title from an archaic Japanese word meaning "ghost story," this anthology adapts four folk tales. A penniless samurai marries for money with tragic results. A man stranded in a blizzard is…