Came across Tokyo Vice as referenced by a Daily Show interview with its author some years ago, and had the book on a list to get from the library, finally got around to it. This is a very interesting read, although like the author, I was a bit jaded by the subject matter by the end. Jake Adelstein was a reporter living in Japan in the 90’s/00’s and tells many a tale of being on the police beat, and then later, the yakuza (Japanese Mafia) beat in his reporting responsibilities.

On the one hand, it’s interesting to watch his gradual ‘indoctrination’ into the hard-boiled lifestyle of a big-paper reporter in Japan, and as he navigates a culture that doesn’t welcome outsiders easily or consistently. Eventually due to his dedication and commitment to near-complete immersion in the Japanese language and culture he wins out and is accepted by his regular circle, but still relates how many times he’s still considered an outsider ‘gaijin’ by most daily encounters, and this doesn’t change.

On the other hand, as we see Mr. Adelstein move from regular reporting, then the conventional police beat, then into harder-edged vice and sex and drugs-related reporting, it’s clear that he’s been changed, and he admits as much several times throughout the book. But in some cases it’s hard to feel sympathetic, either, given who he spent most of his time with (hookers, drug lords, pimps, etc.) as opposed to his new family and children. He is really drawn into the seedy world and it almost (literally) does him in when his reporting intersects with the Yakuza world directly.

Reading a book like this brings out that age-old tension between regular civilian life – like most of us lead – and the seamy underbelly of most societies. Here Mr. Adelstein is talking directly about Japanese culture but I’m pretty sure there are elements of these issues in nearly every human culture, Asian, Western, or otherwise. There are definite heroes and villians in this book, and Mr. Adelstein arguably becomes a little of both through his travails. I hope the end result wasn’t near as hard on his family as it sounds like it was….

A very interesting read…..

candybowl

Tags: '10s, 00's, 90's, books, crime, freaks, Japan, malevolence

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