I recently stumbled across a site called The Japan File, which "is an
English-language information service which makes Japan more
comprehensible to the rest of the world."

	http://www.kto.co.jp/index.html

It appears to be connected Kansai Time Out, "a monthly English-language
news-and-listings magazine circulated throughout west Japan." (Kansai is
the western region, including Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto.)

	http://www.kto.co.jp/kto.html

While the File is by no means comprehensive, it seems to cover a moderate
number of topics that would be of interest to some fanfic writes in a basic
and authoritative fashion.  Items that caught my eye included:

Under Japanese Culture:

Six main periods of interest in Japanese Garden design
Tale of the 47 Samurai
lots of stuff on Sumo

Under Living in Japan:

Pet Care in Japan
several items on the Kobe Quake

Under Social Issues:

Hostessing 
Koreans in Kansai
Homeless people 
Japanese Prisons
sexual abuse (under Womens Lifeline)
Japanese Education System (critical, by a teacher of 20 years)

and Right Wingers

which led to what looks like a fascinating site on Yakuza:

	http://www.ccnet.com/%7Esuntzu75/yakuza.htm

And under Arts, an item on books on Intercultural Marriage, with this gem:
"[...] the Japanese even have a saying that the worst life involves a
Japanese home, an English cook, and an American wife."

					- Harold