Jake Adelstein has been an investigative journalist in Japan since 1993, writing in Japanese and English. He authored Tokyo Vice (now an HBO series), The Last Yakuza (2023), and Tokyo Noir (2024). He co-hosted the award-winning podcast The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods. A recognized expert on Japan's organized crime, he's reported for The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, Tempura, and VICE. He is also a low-ranking Zen Buddhist priest, trying hard to be kinder and occasionally exorcising hungry ghosts. Adelstein frequently appears as a commentator on Japanese crime and culture, working as a writer and consultant.
"Journalist Adelstein parlays decades of reporting on Japanese
organized crime into a propulsive history of the yakuza. Drawing on
interviews with both his yakuza and Japanese law enforcement
contacts, he examines how yakuza groups obtained power ... He's
especially good at tracing the yakuza's political influence in
Japan, explaining how they bribed and blackmailed legislators into
opposing bills that would have curbed their influence.
Painstakingly reported and paced like a thriller, this is a must
read for anyone interested in organized crime."
--Publishers Weekly "Adelstein tells Saigo's story with a relish
for its comic aspects [and] an understated feeling for its pathos
... one comes away from The Last Yakuza finding its subject not
just sympathetic, but even lovable."
--The Telegraph "[T]his is great reading for anyone interested in
the history and fading lifestyle of Japan's unique brand of
mobsters. It's a sweeping narrative of the yakuza on both a macro
and personal level, helping the reader understand the whats, whos,
and, most importantly, whys of organized crime in Japan ... The
days of the old world of Japanese organized crime are winding down,
but The Last Yakuza proves how much there is to learn from the
stories of Japan's shadowy, fading underworld."
--Noah Oskow, Unseen Japan 'The Last Yakuza might be a work of
nonfiction, but it reads more like a thriller ... [A] gripping
read.'
--Irish News
Praise for Tokyo Vice: "Tokyo Vice is about Japanese subculture.
Adelstein instructs us in the vagaries of Japanese journalism and
provides a gamy, colourful tour of the morally flexible areas of
Japan, particularly in Tokyo. He also shows how Japanese police
work and interact with journalists. Adelstein shares juicy, salty,
and occasionally funny anecdotes, but many are frightening ...
Adelstein doesn't lack for self-confidence ... but beneath the
bravado are a big heart and a relentless drive for justice."
--Carlo Wolff, The Boston Globe Praise for Tokyo Vice:
"[Adelstein's] juicy and vividly detailed account of investigations
into the shadowy side of Japan shows him to be more enterprising,
determined, and crazy than most ... Adelstein builds his stories
with as much surprise and grit as any Al Pacino or Mark Wahlberg
movie, blurring the lines between the cops, the crooks, and even
the journalists ... Tokyo Vice is often so snappy and quotable that
it sounds as if it were a treatment for a Scorsese movie set in
Queens ... [E]ven as he is getting slapped around by thugs and
placed under police protection, Adelstein never loses his gift for
crisp storytelling and an unexpectedly earnest eagerness to try to
rescue the damned."
--Pico Iyer, Time Praise for Tokyo Vice: "In this dark, often
humoros journey through the underworld of Tokyo, Jake Adelstein
captures exactly what it means to be a gaijin and a reporter.
Whether he is hunting for tips in Kabukicho or pressing yakuza for
information, it is an adventure only he could write. For anyone
interested in Japan or journalism, this is a must read."
--Robert Whiting, author of Tokyo Underworld Praise for Tokyo Vice:
"A gripping and absorbing read. Very few foreigners ever come close
to discovering what's really going on in Japan's closed society.
Adelstein chases two major stories that pull him into a vortex of
destruction, threatening his friendships, his marriage, and even
his life. As he battles with profound issues concerning truth and
trust, Tokyo Vice approaches a heart-pounding denouement. This is a
terrifying, deeply moral story which you cannot put down, and
Adelstein, if occasionally reckless, is an extremely courageous
man."
--Misha Glenny, author of McMafia: a journey through the global
criminal underworld Praise for Tokyo Vice: "Vivid, insightful, and
totally revealing of the decadent, seedy, and sexual parts of
Japanese society, Tokyo Vice is ripping fun."
--Karl Taro Greenfeld, author of Speed Tribes: days and nights with
Japan's next generation
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