Sasurai Tokiwo
AI does the research. Humans decide what is strange.
Editor and operator of B-Side Earth. Former Japanese subculture magazine writer and industrial machinery designer, now working mainly in writing, video shooting, and editing.
From Engineering to Writing and Video
I studied electrical and electronic engineering at an institute of technology in Japan and then spent roughly 18 years designing industrial machinery. It was work built around mechanisms, control systems, failure modes, and the practical realities of the factory floor.
At the same time, I had also been involved in writing for Japanese otaku and subculture magazines. Today I work independently in writing and video production.
Engineering and journalism may sound unrelated, but to me they share the same habit: taking something apart until you understand why it works—or why it failed.
The Questions That Catch My Attention
I am often less interested in the biggest headline than in the strange detail beside it.
Why did police apply that particular charge? Why did a company design a system that way? Why did people call that government office about something completely unrelated? How did a train manage to hit the same train twice?
B-Side Earth starts with those questions and follows them into local laws, public records, official statements, technical background, and differences between news reports.
A View from Japan
This site looks at the world from Japan. I do not pretend that the editor is culturally neutral or that every story is being viewed exactly as a local reader would see it.
Something that looks unusual in Japan may be ordinary somewhere else. The opposite can also happen: a small local story may reveal a legal or cultural difference that is surprisingly interesting to a Japanese reader.
The goal is not to reduce that difference to “foreign countries are weird.” The interesting part is finding out why the same event looks different from different places.
How I Use AI
Generative AI and machine translation are useful tools for cross-language research. I use them to locate material, compare reports, organize legal or technical questions, and identify details that need further checking.
AI output is not treated as verified fact. Dates, figures, laws, names, charges, court outcomes, and other important claims are checked against external sources whenever possible.
The final editorial choices—what the story is really about, what deserves emphasis, what should be cut, and where humor crosses a line—remain human decisions.
Sister Site
I also operate the Japanese site “AI ni Kakareba, Konna Mondai.”, which covers AI, science, cars, society, and practical PC/Web topics.
B-Side Earth is the more internationally focused project, concentrating on unusual incidents, social systems, law, business, technology, transport, animals, and the stranger details of everyday life around the world.
Contact
For corrections, source tips, rights issues, interview requests, or editorial inquiries, please use the Contact page.