Hikikomori

Vincent Kenny
  • 4.6 (9)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Sit back and enjoy a weird and shocking story from Japan, both from recent and far history, as researched and told by Vincent.

  1. 11/22/2025

    Messages From Water

    Masaru Emoto, for most of his life, was an ordinary middle-manager for a newspaper. Then one day he stepped out of the shadows to announce that he had discovered a new fundamental force in the universe - emotional water memory. Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Skeptical Inquirer - https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/a-grain-of-truth-recreating-dr-emotos-rice-experiment/ Medium blog by James Donner - https://medium.com/@jamesbonner_63058/masaru-emoto-our-spiritual-enlightenment-e6999cf45fde Guardian article on What the Bleep Do We Know? - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/may/16/g2.science Good Therapy - positive intentions - https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/mindfulness-matters-dr-emoto-studies-reveal-power-of-positive-emotion-012914 The Wellness Enterprise - https://thewellnessenterprise.com/emoto/ The Irish Times - https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/the-pseudoscience-of-creating-beautiful-or-ugly-water-1.574583 Neurologica article on Emoto - https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/the-pseudoscience-of-masaru-emoto/ Rational Wiki - https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto Hado World - https://hado.com/ihm/ Google Patents - Automated computerized magnetic resonance detector and analyzer The website for Masaru Emoto The website for the Emoto Peace Project Wikipedia - Masaru Emoto The Cut - That's Not How Physical Reality Works, Gwyneth

    1h 15m

  2. 10/27/2025

    Minamata Disease (Part 2)

    We continue covering the environmental disaster that resulted in Minamata Disease, how those responsible knowingly continued to harm all living things around them with mercury, and the legacy that the dozens of mass poisonings by corporations left on Japan 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 that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Ministry of the Environment - Minamata Disease Minamata, by W Eugene Smith and Aileen M Smith National Institute of Minamata Disease - What We Have Learned from the Experience of Minamata Disease Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo, by Nick Kapur (2018) The Lancet - Japan remembers Minamata, by J McCurry PubMed - Minamata disease: methylmercury poisoning in Japan caused by environmental pollution, by M Harada Kumamoto Prefectural Government - Minamata Disease for Beginners Wikipedia - Four Big Pollution Diseases Wikipedia - Itai-Itai Disease Wikipedia - Minamata Disease Wikipedia - Niigata Minamata Disease

    52 min

  3. 10/04/2025

    Minamata Disease (Part 1)

    We start a 2-parter on what might be the most terrifying man-made environmental disaster in Japanese history, namely the purposeful, prolonged and secret dumping of toxic waste into coastal waters by multiple Japanese chemical companies, some of which are still around and thriving. 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 that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Ministry of the Environment - Minamata Disease Minamata, by W Eugene Smith and Aileen M Smith National Institute of Minamata Disease - What We Have Learned from the Experience of Minamata Disease Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo, by Nick Kapur (2018) The Lancet - Japan remembers Minamata, by J McCurry PubMed - Minamata disease: methylmercury poisoning in Japan caused by environmental pollution, by M Harada Kumamoto Prefectural Government - Minamata Disease for Beginners Wikipedia - Four Big Pollution Diseases Wikipedia - Itai-Itai Disease Wikipedia - Minamata Disease Wikipedia - Niigata Minamata Disease

    57 min

  4. 09/12/2025

    The US and Okinawa (Part 2)

    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 that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Ryukyu Shimpo - Editorial: Sixty years after Miyamori Elementary School plane crash, the dangerous conditions have not changed New York Times - 3 Dead Marines and a Secret of Wartime Okinawa Guardian - US air force Osprey crash wreckage and remains of five crew found off Japan Wikipedia - Protests of US military presence in Okinawa The Interpreter - Okinawa's vocal anti-US military base movement Associated Press - Japan's top court orders Okinawa to allow a divisive government plan to build US military runways

    1h 40m
  5. The US and Okinawa (Part 1)

    08/22/2025

    The US and Okinawa (Part 1)

    The continued US military presence in Okinawa has long been a complex and thorny issue, particularly for the locals who frequently suffer the consequences of their occupation in 1945 never quite ending. We look at the moments over the past 80 years that have proven pivotal to the anti-base movement in Okinawa. 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 that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Ryukyu Shimpo - Editorial: Sixty years after Miyamori Elementary School plane crash, the dangerous conditions have not changed New York Times - 3 Dead Marines and a Secret of Wartime Okinawa Guardian - US air force Osprey crash wreckage and remains of five crew found off Japan Wikipedia - Protests of US military presence in Okinawa The Interpreter - Okinawa's vocal anti-US military base movement Associated Press - Japan's top court orders Okinawa to allow a divisive government plan to build US military runways

    58 min
  6. Host Clubs

    08/02/2025

    Host Clubs

    Following from the high-profile case of Mai Watanabe, aka Itadaki-Joshi, we look at the reason why she conned millions of yen - to support her favourite host. 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 that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Japan Times - How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt Asahi Shimbun - Host-addicted 'sugar baby' gets 9-year prison term for fraud Asahi Shimbun - 'Host crazy' women fall into debt hell through pay-later system Mainichi Shimbun - Japan host clubs' shady dealings that can lead women to prostitution must stop Japan Times - How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt Guardian - 'Host clubs' in Tokyo force women into sex work to pay off huge debts South China Morning Post - From 'princess' to prostitute: how Japan's host clubs are driving young women into debt and sex work Japan Times (Jake Adelstein) - Host clubs: a hotbed of human trafficking News on Japan - Tokyo tax office scandal: Three female employees busted working in nightclubs Kyodo News - Ex-Kabukicho host club worker allegedly forced customer into prostitution Tokyo Reporter - Tokyo cops bust Korean hostess club frequented by celebs on immigration charges Nil Nilgiree (YouTube) - The Dark Reality of Japanese Host Clubs The Week - Why Japan is clamping down on host clubs The Economist - The controversial cult of the host club in Japan Japan Times - Japan's police crack down on host clubs Wikipedia - Host and hostess clubs Host x Host Institute for Asian Studies - Selling Intimacy under Post-Industrial Capitalism: An Ethnography of Japanese Host Clubs

    1h 20m

  7. 07/15/2025

    Papa-Katsu and Itadaki Joshi

    Today we look at the evolution of "compensated dating" into its modern form, "Papa-Katsu", where women seek out sugar daddies as a form of sex work. We also consider the con-artist Mai Watanabe, known more widely as Itadaki Joshi, who made headlines across the world for her merciless acts of fraud. 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 that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Japan Times - 'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam Asahi Shimbun - Host-addicted 'sugar baby' gets 9-year prison term for fraud Business Insider - Japanese "sugar baby" gets 9 years for scamming men out of 155 million yen Fortune - Japanese 'sugar baby' sent to prison for swindling men out of $1 million and selling a guide on how to do it: 'She took advantage of feelings for her' Unseen Japan - "Sugar Baby Riri" – and Her Host – Face Jail Time for Fraud Japan Today - Foreign women catching on to 'papa-katsu' as a means of economic survival YouTube - Japanalysis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSDGv2DvJXg  YouTube - Why Why Japan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93VdR2Q6MIE

    59 min

  8. 02/08/2025

    The Sagamihara Stabbings (Part 2)

    Content Warning: Mass Murder It's rough. 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 that we do together, Not Another Film podcast. Check my new album, Ruined Numbers, for sale on Bandcamp! It's an album of acoustic arrangements of Final Fantasy music. You can also stream the album on Spotify or YouTube Music. Enjoy! You can also find me on Twitter @sequencepod, or you can listen to my other podcasts Final Fanservice and Not Another Film on any big podcast app. Sources: Sankei News - The suspect in the attack, Uematsu, was prejudiced against people with disabilities Sankei News - Residents rescue tied up staff members and cut cable ties with scissors to prevent further damage News PostSever - Suspect Uematsu, who apprenticed to a tattoo artist, was excommunicated after talking about killing everyone Mainichi Shimbun - Sagamihara murder - Victim's sister: "I can't reveal the name" Mainichi Shimbun - 3 arrested for alleged habitual abuse of disabled Osaka Pref. care home resident who died Nikkan Gendai - "I admire strong people" An acquaintance talks about the suspect who murdered 45 people in Sagamihara Tokyo Shimbun -  Testimonies of the Sagamihara Massacre Incident: The bright central presence "Sato-kun" Aljazeera - Ex-employee stabs 19 people to death in Japan care home Kyodo News - Japan care home requires sterilization of mentally disabled couples BBC News - Tokyo Paralympics: The lowdown on being disabled in Japan Asahi Shimbun - U.N. committee urges Japan to revise laws for disabled people WION - Japan's disabled lawmakers fight to end the invisibility of people with disabilities Tokyo Weekender - Why is Japan Still Biased Against People with Disabilities? Science Direct - Disability policies in Japan and Sweden: A comparative perspective TokyoDev - Living with a disability in Japan Tofugu - Hidden No More: What Happens When The Intellectually Disabled Join Japanese Society Japan Times - 90% in Japan feel discrimination against disabled exists, survey finds Life Where I'm From X - Living in Japan with a Physical Disability Wikipedia - Sagamihara Stabbings

    57 min
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4.6
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Sit back and enjoy a weird and shocking story from Japan, both from recent and far history, as researched and told by Vincent.

Information

  • Creator
    Vincent Kenny
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    110
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Vincent Kenny 2024
  • Show Website
    Hikikomori