Just a heads up for those in the Tokyo area:
Jake Adelstein will be giving a book talk for Tokyo Vice, possibly including the reading of an unpublished chapter, at Temple University on Friday, March 5. The event is organized by Temple’s Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies and is open to the public. Hope to see both familiar and new faces there!
Too bad I’m not still there. I really enjoyed reading through your book once I finally got it back in the states. Who knows maybe we’ll cross paths again someday. Thanks again for that interview!
It was my pleasure. I hope I said something useful.
Bummer… I have another occasion I must attend on the same evening. Is there any chance that the video of the talk will be uploaded to TED or fora.tv?
I’ll ask and see if it can be done!
I’m jealous. I wish I could be there for that. Too bad I’m stuck in Arizona.
The link here and Temple email I received both indicate that the talk is Friday, March 5th. Your entry says the 8th, and I want to verify that the 8 is an error, and that the talk is not actually rescheduled for Monday the 8th. Dont want to miss that unpublished chapter!
Jason: Thanks for the head’s up and sorry about that!
Jake-san,
Just finished the book last night. Journalism was my original plan for college, but became discouraged, and switched. Had I been able to read your book then I think I would have stuck with it. Thank you for having the courage, and the conviction to be a real journalist; something that is sadly an increasingly rare thing these days. Fewer and fewer journos, American at least, have the balls to ask the tough question, let alone risk their life for a story they believe in.
I had a chance to visit Japan a few years back, and completely fell in love with it. More so with the people than anything else, and your book helped to reinforce what it was that I fell in love with, Particulary Sekiguchi. True friendship is something not everybody finds in one lifetime, but I dont have to tell you. Your book was, at the same time, a sobering look at a side of a society I had not experienced. Just another fascinating facet to the many layers of Japanese culture that is often hard for Westerners to wrap their head around.
I have lived abroad and have been witness to things like sexual exploitation, predation, and victimization, and I often times simply accepted it, rationalizing away as cultural difference. Your book really opened my eyes to the fact that we all have a duty to stand up for those that cannot stand on their own regardless of geography.
Again, thank you for the work you do, and I look forward to the next big scoop. Take care.
Sergio Martinez
Sergio-san,
Journalism is a hard field and it gets harder and harder to survive doing it every year. I’m not sure I will encourage my own children to do it. However, I think the job has its moments and its rewards. I do think that investigative journalism is increasingly hard to practice. Non-profit organizations like Pro Publica, which sponsors and conducts investigative journalism, may be the only thing to keep it alive.
I’m thrilled that you got out of the book some of the things I like about Japan–there is much to like in this country. Sekiguchi was a great friend and a mentor. I haven’t had many friends like him and I doubt I will. It’s hard to find a good friend, one that will also tell you when you’re being a jerk and encourage you to do the right thing. Yes, I think we have a duty to stand up for the oppressed and the exploited as best we can. While this can only sound melodramatic, we live in a world gradually consumed by darkness and it’s the effort of people who keep lighting the candles, that keep everything good from fading into blackness.
Thanks for writing in and for picking up on an aspect of the book that I hope people don’t miss.