Shosukabu.com Inc. announced that it will co-host a reading group on Satoshi Ishido’s book The True Face of the “Disliked”: Japan’s Tricksters together with the Nerima Political Research Association and the Civil Division 8 Monitoring Committee. Published by Shincho Shinsho in November 2024, the book follows figures such as Toru Tamagawa, Akihiro Nishino, GaaSyy, Hirofumi Yoshimura, and Taro Yamamoto, and asks why people cannot look away from public figures who attract both praise and criticism. A major feature of the book is that it does not simply dismiss its subjects as controversy-driven celebrities. Instead, it depicts the structure by which Japanese society is drawn to “simple and strong words” and childish extremes. In addition to chapters on individual figures, the table of contents includes a chapter on the former Unification Church and frameworks such as “to resist childish extremes” and “to avoid losing thoughtfulness,” making the book a study of Japan’s contemporary media environment, social division, and anti-authoritarianism. The book is also significant as a conventional profile-based reportage work written by an author with experience in both newspapers and online media, based on repeated interviews with the subjects and people around them. While discussing each “disliked” figure, it also highlights the weaknesses of Japan’s public discourse and the soil in which populism grows. The reading group will discuss what a “disliked person” is, the role played by tricksters, the interaction between media and public opinion, the politics of conservatism, anti-power sentiment and exposure, and what is needed in order not to lose thoughtfulness. The organizers aim to provide a useful place for learning and dialogue for people interested in Japanese politics, media, populism, and division in contemporary society. Book URL: https://x.gd/AdTl4 Author profile: Satoshi Ishido was born in Tokyo in 1984. After graduating from the College of Law at Ritsumeikan Univers