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sscd00's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
3.75
More a collection of vignettes than a novel or analysis, but still gives a layered, nuanced view of the complexities and contradictions of Yakuza organizations, and in broad strokes outlines how they have declined over the years in power as prestige. If you liked "Tokyo Vice" you'll probably enjoy this one too
sabrinaslivingliterature's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Really great book! Loved learning about The Yakuza and the Japanese Underworld and how its changed over the years. The story of Saigo was really engaging as well as the other people you learn about. Adelstein has a great way of writing non-fiction as if it's fiction. My only complaints would be a few grammar mistakes and the chronology could be a bit confusing at times.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Suicide, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Drug use, and Death
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
The first time Martin Scorsese called Henry Hill after reading Hill’s gangster memoir Wiseguy, he told Hill: I’ve been waiting for this book for ten years. To which Hill replied: I’ve been waiting for this call for ten years.
Scorsese had wanted to tell a tale of mobsters that didn’t revolve around Vito Corleone-esque bosses and power players. He wanted the audience to know about the gangster-next-door, the types he grew up with around Manhattan’s Little Italy. He found the story he was looking for in Hill’s writing.
Despite his reputation as a director of gangster movies, Scorsese had only done one that solely featured mobsters: Mean Streets. They existed on the periphery in Raging Bull and he also touched on criminal outlaws in Boxcar Bertha. So the reputation was a bit undeserved.
But using Hill’s memoir, he made Goodfellas, maybe the best pure mob movie ever.
I’m not a movie maker but I’ve been waiting for this book for decades. And if I was a movie maker, I’d make a movie out of this one.
Saigo, the yakuza that Jake Adelstein focuses on, never becomes a boss. He does rise to a high and respected position within one of the top yakuza families. But he has an incredible story to tell, less a rise-and-fall (though there’s plenty of that) and more of Henry Hill: how his one strand of fabric wove through the world of the yakuza for over twenty years, watching their image and reputation change over time.
What I liked about using Saigo to tell the larger story of the history of the yakuza and how they work is that Saigo did not come up Always wanting to be a gangster as Goodfellas famously begins. He bounces around the fringes of society before being recruited to it. And while he does, he finds a degree of competence that allows him to rise in the ranks. Ambition is a part of it but Saigo found real purpose in living the life, learning and respecting the traditions, following some code of honor.
Adelstein writes a compelling narrative, weaving in fascinating yakuza tales with Saito’s personal life and the ever changing narrative of the yakuza.
This is the best kind of mob gangster true crime story I like. Tokyo Vice was a good book. This is a great one. I hope a talented director reads it.
Scorsese had wanted to tell a tale of mobsters that didn’t revolve around Vito Corleone-esque bosses and power players. He wanted the audience to know about the gangster-next-door, the types he grew up with around Manhattan’s Little Italy. He found the story he was looking for in Hill’s writing.
Despite his reputation as a director of gangster movies, Scorsese had only done one that solely featured mobsters: Mean Streets. They existed on the periphery in Raging Bull and he also touched on criminal outlaws in Boxcar Bertha. So the reputation was a bit undeserved.
But using Hill’s memoir, he made Goodfellas, maybe the best pure mob movie ever.
I’m not a movie maker but I’ve been waiting for this book for decades. And if I was a movie maker, I’d make a movie out of this one.
Saigo, the yakuza that Jake Adelstein focuses on, never becomes a boss. He does rise to a high and respected position within one of the top yakuza families. But he has an incredible story to tell, less a rise-and-fall (though there’s plenty of that) and more of Henry Hill: how his one strand of fabric wove through the world of the yakuza for over twenty years, watching their image and reputation change over time.
What I liked about using Saigo to tell the larger story of the history of the yakuza and how they work is that Saigo did not come up Always wanting to be a gangster as Goodfellas famously begins. He bounces around the fringes of society before being recruited to it. And while he does, he finds a degree of competence that allows him to rise in the ranks. Ambition is a part of it but Saigo found real purpose in living the life, learning and respecting the traditions, following some code of honor.
Adelstein writes a compelling narrative, weaving in fascinating yakuza tales with Saito’s personal life and the ever changing narrative of the yakuza.
This is the best kind of mob gangster true crime story I like. Tokyo Vice was a good book. This is a great one. I hope a talented director reads it.
spyder_trauma_rose's review against another edition
5.0
The book can be best described as a description of a series of bad choices and fuck ups with the occasional surprisingly poignant rumination on not only Japan but the world at a whole. There's an honesty to it as a result, with often events ending anti-climatically or entire portions of personal growth being tossed away, with little to no attempt by the man in question to try to make himself look better.
The end of his life isn't surprising, but there is a poignancy to it and you mourn for him if only a little, a good emotion for an biography to elicit.
The end of his life isn't surprising, but there is a poignancy to it and you mourn for him if only a little, a good emotion for an biography to elicit.
marlzipan's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
It is a popularly held belief that life in Japan is is something like the depiction we see in Ghibli films and slice-of-life anime. And while peaceful coastal life, gorgeous natural vistas, delicious food and a culture of politeness and courtesy are all part of life in Japan, like all countries, it has its underbelly. There are few people who write about this underbelly the way Jake Adelstein does. A long-time investigate journalist who spent twenty years on the crime beat, largely writing for the Yomiuri Shinbun in Tokyo, as their first non-Japanese staff writer, Adelstein's first book, Tokyo Vice, chronicles this time. His most recent, The Last Yakuza is a memoir of one particular yakuza who Adelstein became friends with after employing him as a bodyguard (if you want to know why he needed a bodyguard, read Tokyo Vice to find out!). The Last Yakuza is fascinating, compelling, and through it's memoir-biographical lens, paints a very human picture of what motivates people to enter the world of organised crime.
thecaseofbooks's review
4.0
I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this.
This was a very welcome addition to help me read more non-fiction this year. A fascinating story that taught me so much about a subject I didn’t have a lot of background knowledge about.
This is almost a biography as it follows the story of a specific member of the Yakuza whilst providing wider historical context and information about the Yakuza. This book does contain violence, drugs and crime. It also shows how the Yakuza has changed over time and the impact on the main character.
I found this really interesting, there was a brief moment where I was a little confused by the timeline but on the whole this was easy to follow and a gripping story.
This was a very welcome addition to help me read more non-fiction this year. A fascinating story that taught me so much about a subject I didn’t have a lot of background knowledge about.
This is almost a biography as it follows the story of a specific member of the Yakuza whilst providing wider historical context and information about the Yakuza. This book does contain violence, drugs and crime. It also shows how the Yakuza has changed over time and the impact on the main character.
I found this really interesting, there was a brief moment where I was a little confused by the timeline but on the whole this was easy to follow and a gripping story.