Hikikomori

Ogino Ginko is known as the "first woman to practice Westernised medicine" in Japan. The number of hurdles she had to cross in order to get there was immense. 140 years later, attitudes towards women in medicine have not advanced as far as one would have hoped... Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page , and she is also the co-host of our horror movie review podcast t...

Masayoshi Son is a tremendously wealthy man, and the founder of megacorp SoftBank. He's also the creator of the SoftBank Vision Fund, the largest venture capital fund in the world. Despite being responsible for the investment of over $100 billion dollars to "improve the world", the Vision Fund has made countless unfathomable decisions... such as a $47 billion dollar investment in WeWork. Today's g...

Often described as a Renaissance Man, Itoi has been influential in several walks of life, from ad copy to manga, from lyrics to computer games. Let's explore the life of this unlikely  cultural hero. Today's guest is my good friend Ben Stonick! You can find him on Twitter @benstonick ! For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episo...

In 1982, Kazuko Fukuda committed a heinous crime. She spent the next 15 years on the run.  Today's guest is Jessy, my co-host from Final Fanservice! You can find her on Twitter @jusifers , and her podcast Naruto Reviewto @NarutoReviewto ! For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episode! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod...

Content Warning: It's brutal. Domestic abuse, torture, rape, murder We conclude our explorations into the heinous crimes of Futoshi Matsunaga, with the elimination of the Ogata family and on-going torture of those around him. It's real fucking bad, guys. Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard , and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page . For...

Content Warning: It's brutal. Domestic abuse, torture, rape, murder Futoshi Matsunaga was a conman, romancing, deceiving and defrauding women out of huge sums of money. This would be terrible enough if it weren't for his penchant of using electric shocks as torture, and the horrifying series of murders he orchestrated. Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard , and al...

Yuko Chino was the cult leader who used her belief system, Chino-Shoho, to gather followers together, with the stated goal of scientific research that would help save the world from disasters. This pseudo-scientific commune, called the Pana-Wave Laboratory, made headlines in 2003 when it attempted to avert the end of the world by kidnapping an artic seal. Today's guest is Jessy, my co-host from Fi...

Content Warning - Discussions of Child Sexual Abuse.   Johnny Kitagawa is Japan's most successful music producer of all time, having represented artists for over 50 years. His company, Johnny & Associates, are notorious for bullying, blackmail, control and monopolies. There have also been more troubling accusations about Kitagawa since the early 90s... Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find he...

Content Warning - Prolonged Peril in an Aircraft On the 12th October 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 was on route from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to Osaka International. After catastrophic decompression in the aft bulkhead, the pilots wrestled for 32 minutes to keep the plane in the air. What resulted was the worst loss of life from a single-plane crash in world history. Today's guest is Hugo! You ca...

We return to the storied history of the Shinsengumi, covering their rise in fame, power, influence and... indiscriminate murder. Today's guest is Carly Shields! You can find her via her Twitter page , or listen to the excellent Greetings Adventurers podcast for which she helps produce! For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast on Instagram where I'll be posting photos relevant to this episo...

Socialist politician Inejirō Asanuma was active at some of the most volatile times in Japanese history, having to thread the dangerous political weaves of both Imperial Japan and reconstruction after the end of WWII. His death was one of the most infamous events of the 20th Century, and has been strangely influential even in modern times... Today's guest is Keegan! You can find him on his Twitter...

Gen'yōsha, or the Black Ocean Society, was a clandestine far-right organisation created in response to the Meiji Restoration. Disaffected samurai decided that, to make Japan great again, it had to force the Imperial Army to invade Korea, and then China. It did this by essentially being the CIA decades before the CIA were a thing. Today's guest is Mollie! You can find her on Twitter @MollieMM9 , an...

Content Warning: Medical Stuff The Tokaimura Nuclear Powerplant has provided energy to Japan's power grid since the 60s. It wasn't until the 90s, however, that it suffered two notable nuclear incidents, the second of which led to one of the most prolonged and painful deaths of modern times. Today's guest is Josh. You can find him on Twitter @josketh , and he co-hosts the podcast Naruto Reviewto ....

"Nekonomics" once referred to the unexpectedly dramatic increase in revenue that businesses could earn simply by having a pet cat as a mascot. Today it has evolved into something more widespread in Japanese society - the enormous and rapidly-growing market of felines and feline accessories. Today's guest is Michael, aka HumanFilthXVX. You can find them via their Twitter page , and can watch them p...

The Constitution of Japan was brought into effect two years after the end of World War II. The most well-known and controversial part of the Japanese constitution is Article 9, forbidding Japan from keeping a standing army or entering into war. Here is how Japan has broken its own laws repeatedly since 1952. Today's guest is Jonah Gregory! You can find him on Twitter @aREALjonah , and all of his w...

Content Warning - Murder, Suicide In 2004, Okubo elementary school in Sasebo was the site of a horrific event, a murder that made headlines around the world... and was subsequently picked up by the worst net denizens around to create a meme.  Today's guest is Kym Stonick! You can find them on Twitter @kymcattys , and all of their wonderful content can be found on their bio. You can also find me on...

In the waning days of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a squad of highly-trained and dangerous samurai was formed in an effort to keep rowdy ronin and political agitators in check. This is the story of how the Shinsengumi was born, and in particular one of the two original commanders, the psychopath that was Serizawa Kamo.  Today's guest is Carly Shields! You can find her via her Twitter page , or listen t...

We continue following the career of Akimoto as he ascends to one of the most successful music producers in Asia. Following the launch of AKB48, it seems that a formula for idol super-groups has finally been hit upon, so it's time for franchising! And, you know, horrifically draconian and abusive behaviour rules for all of the women. Today's guest is Sarah Tompkins! You can find her via Twitter acc...

Yasushi Akimoto is one of the most successful pop producers in Asia, having a string of successful musical acts that includes the phenomenon that is AKB48. Throughout his career, however, he has faced allegations of antiquated and misogynist attitudes towards women, which can be seen most obviously in his role as a lyricist... Today's guest is Sarah Tompkins! You can find her via Twitter account,...

We return to discuss the end of Carlos Ghosn's illustrious career as one of the most powerful corporate heads in the world. As he was considering full retirement, Ghosn was arrested at Narita Airport, and Japanese police charged him with vague financial crimes. What happened next is something out of a spy thriller novel. Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page , and s...

Carlos Ghosn was for quite some time one of the most powerful and influence people in the global automotive industry. His success at Nissan came at the cost of tens of thousands of jobs, brutal cost-cutting measures and the alienation of Japanese workers from a Japanese company. Today we look at this asshole's rise to power.  Today's guest is Hannah Lane! You can find her via her Instagram page ,...

Shugendō is a religion practiced in Japan since as early as the 7th century, and involves severe asceticism as a form of worship and spiritual development. While most of this involves mountain climbing, some of the more enterprising monks in the past 1000 years have taken to the attempt to preserve their physical form my mummifying themselves while they are still alive.  Today's guest is Tony Srim...

We continue our exploration of Hideaki Anno's life and career, looking at his mind-state during Evangelion, the crash of his mental health afterwards, and the return to creating some of the most successful and influential Japanese art of the last 25 years. Today's guest is Kym Stonick! You can find her on Twitter @kymcattys , and all of her wonderful content can be found on her bio. You can also f...

Hideaki Anno is one of the most well-known and successful Japanese directors, whose influence on the anime industry since the 80s has been far-reaching and consequential. Today we look at his early career, before the launch of the phenomenon that was Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Today's guest is Kym Stonick! You can find her on Twitter @kymcattys , and all of her wonderful content can be found on her...

On the last day of the year 2000, the 31st December, Japan awoke to one of the most horrific murder scenes in modern times. What made the family annihilation truly terrifying is that it has never been solved. Today's guest is Nika Howard! You can find her on Twitter @nika_howard , and all of her wonderful content can be found on her Linktree Page . For more content follow me on @hikikomoripodcast...