For the rest of the story, read TOKYO VICE: An American Reporter On the Police Beat in Japan
Today, November 1st, 60 Minutes did a stellar piece on the Yakuza in Japan and my life covering them as a reporter, and the one scoop regarding Goto Tadamasa, the…
2 Channel Devotes A Thread to Jake and Tokyo Vice
In one of the mind baffling things to happen of late, the popular Japanese internet BBS and forum, 2 channel, devoted a thread to me and the book. I suppose…
The Japan Times Reviews TOKYO VICE "classic newsprint noir"
Mark Schreiber, long time chronicler of Japan’s seamy side, weighs in on the book. Shrieber has authored several books about crime in Japan and has been a denizen of Kabukicho,…
Yakuza and Livers and The History Of Organ Transplants in Japan
If you don’t already know, between 200o-2004, several of Japan’s crime bosses, including the notorious Goto Tadamasa, received liver transplants at UCLA. Goto Tadamasa, one of Japan’s most brutal dons…
Cabaret Club Girls in Japan: All You Ever Wanted To Know
The publication of the magazine Koakuma Ageha in 2005 sent a shock-wave through Japanese society: when did cabaret-club hostesses become socially accepted to the degree that they have their own…
Marijuana (大麻） in Japan：Don't Smoke More Than You Can Eat
Unlike speed （覚醒剤）it's not a crime to use it, only to possess it
Hosts and Hostesses: Some thoughts on Hiroko Tabuchi's great article
Tabuchi-san wrote an interesting piece about the resurgent popularity of hostess jobs in Japan in the New York Times last week. I contributed a commentary to the debate blog about…
Yakuza Superstitions #1
When a yakuza sees a hearse (霊柩車/reikyusha) coming towards him in traffic, he’ll often put down the cell-phone which he has semi-permanently attached to his ear, and hides his thumb…
Amazon Japan Says Goodbye to Covert Child Porn
In the Empire of Child Pornography: AMAZON JAPAN REMOVES CHILD PORN FROM THEIR WEBSITE May 2009 by Jake Adelstein and Polaris Project Japan “Idols” in Japan refer to pin-up girls,…