Jake Adelstein was a reporter for the Yomiuri Shinbun, Japan’s largest newspaper, from 1993 to 2005. From 2006 to 2007 he was the chief investigator for a U.S. State Department-sponsored study of human trafficking in Japan. Considered one of the foremost experts on organized crime in Japan, he works as a writer and consultant in Japan and the United States. He is also the public relations director for the Washington, D.C.-based Polaris Project Japan, which combats human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in the sex trade.
“Groundbreaking reporting on the yakuza. . . . 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.”--The Boston Globe
“Gripping. . . . [Adelstein’s] vividly detailed account of
investigations into the shadowy side of Japan shows him to be more
enterprising, determined and crazy than most. . . . In some of the
freshest pages of the book, our unlikely hero tells us about his
initiation into the seamy, tough-guy Japan beneath the public
courtesies,. . . . 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. Yet the
facts beneath the noirish lines are assembled with what looks to be
ferocious diligence and resourcefulness. For even 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
"A journalist's memoir unlike any I've ever read."--Dave Davies,
Fresh Air
“Marvelous. . . . Tokyo Vice offers a fascinating glimpse into
Japan’s end-of-last-century newspaper culture as seen from a
gaijin’s perspective. It’s filled with startling anecdotes and
revelations. . . . Adelstein writes of his quest for scoops with
sardonic wit, and his snappy style mixes the tropes of detective
fiction with the broader perspective of David Simon’s books as he
makes a careful account of his journalistic wins and losses. . . .
The author’s gallows humor bleeds into even darker, more serious
hues once Adelstein starts covering the Japanese mafia. . . .
Astonishingly proves that no matter how weird and perverse Japan
may seem in fiction, the real thing never fails to exceed our most
violent expectations.”—Sarah Weinman, Confessions of an
Idiosyncratic Mind
“Tokyo Vice succeeds on several levels: as gripping journalism, as
a ragged crime tale, as culture-shock memoir. Stakes are raised in
its third act as the yakuza exercise increasing pressure on
Adelstein, but he pursues the story anyway. Obviously, he lived to
tell his tale — and thank goodness, because it’s a fascinating
one.” —BOOKGASM
“Engrossing. . . . fast-paced.”—The Atlanta-Journal
Constitution
“Exposes Tokyo’s darkest, seamiest, most entertaining corners. . .
. [A] gritty, true-to-life account of 12 years on the news beat as
a staffer for a Japanese daily — and it is exceptional. Its classic
atmospherics rekindle memories of Walter Winchell and Eliot Ness.
It’s a tale of adrenalin-depleting 80-hour weeks, full ashtrays,
uncooperative sources, green tea, hard liquor, and forays into the
commercialized depravity of Shinjuku’s Kabukicho. . . . Definitely
raises the bar. . . . A classic piece of 20th century crime
reporting.”—The Japan Times
"[A] gripping story. . . . Pulls the curtain back on a sordid
element of Japanese society that few Westerners ever see. In
addition to his clash with [a] yakuza boss, Adelstein details the
more notable cases from his 12-year career at the Yomiuri,
including "The Chichibu Snack-mama Murder Case" and "The Emperor of
Loan Sharks." No less fascinating is the view Adelstein provides
into Japanese society itself. . . . Adelstein's Tokyo is a
veritable Gomorrah where nearly every act of intimacy is legally
bought and sold."—San Francisco Examiner
"Debut author Adelstein began with a routine, but never dull,
police beat; before long, he was notorious worldwide for engaging
the dirtiest, top-most villains of Japan's organized criminal
underworld, the yakuza. Thanks to [Adelstein's] immersive
reporting, readers suffer with him through the choice between
personal safety and a chance to confront the evil inhabiting his
city. . . . Adelstein also examines the investigative reporter's
tendency to withdraw into cynicism ("when a reporter starts to cool
down, it's very hard… ever to warm up again") but faithfully
sidesteps that urge, producing a deeply thought-provoking book:
equal parts cultural exposé, true crime, and hard-boiled
noir."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Not just a hard-boiled true-crime thriller, but an engrossing,
troubling look at crime and human exploitation in
Japan."—Kirkus
"Terrific. With gallows humor and a hardboiled voice, Adelstein
takes readers on a shadow journey through the Japanese underworld
and examines the twisted relationships of journalists, cops, and
gangsters. Expertly told and highly entertaining."—George
Pelecanos
"Sacred, ferocious and businesslike. This is the Japanese mafia
that Adelstein describes like nobody else." —Roberto Saviano,
author of Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent
International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System
"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
"A tale of a gaijin who stumbled onto a story so important and so
dangerous that it put his life at risk. A yakuza offered him half a
million dollars not to tell it. He wrote this book instead." —Peter
Hessler, author of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
"In this dark, often humorous 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: The Fast Times and Hard Life of
an American Gangster in Japan
"Anyone interested in tattooed yakuza, 'soapland' brothels, and the
various other aspects of Japan's lurid underbelly is guaranteed to
be electrified by Tokyo Vice. Why is a manual on the perfect way to
commit suicide a Japanese bestseller? Who goes to sexual harassment
clinics? What's it like to spend a night in a male hostess bar?
Tokyo Vice reveals all this and more. It's a story of lust and
profit; a chronicle of fear and determination; most of all, a
modern bildungsroman that simultaneously illuminates the soul of
its narrator and that of modern Japan through the underside of
Tokyo, the world's most fascinating city. I loved this book for
many reasons—its humor, its pathos, its insight, its honesty—and
maybe most of all, for reminding me of how lucky I am to live
here."—Barry Eisler, author of Fault Line
"Jake Adelstein's razor straight reporting from the mean streets of
Tokyo is a coming of age story that reveals more than it pretends
to—because he has the guts to find the truth, and the gall to tell
it."—Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture
Has Invaded the U.S.
"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
"Jake Adelstein writes in the classic hard-boiled Dashiell Hammett
manner—complete with stubbed out cigarettes and a shot of whiskey
shared with his cop informant—but this is not San Francisco or New
York, it's Tokyo, and it's not fiction. Those who live and
work in Japan will recognize reality on every page. It's at
times a harsh and ugly reality, but depicted humorously with
whimsical details of Japan's twilight world that we only dreamt of.
A guaranteed page-turner." —Alex Kerr, author of Dogs and Demons:
Tales from the Dark Side of Japan
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