Scan barcode
michalski19's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
debumere's review against another edition
3.0
If this book was marketed as fiction I would have enjoyed it more. It was good but too much macho added in. I didn't want to read about his Yakuza girlfriend giving him a bj while he was on the phone and his emotions at the time.
Gross.
I have to say his memory was remarkable, the fine detail.
Just wasn't for me. It was written for the men.
Gross.
I have to say his memory was remarkable, the fine detail.
Just wasn't for me. It was written for the men.
chrisiant's review against another edition
4.0
This book is fascinating and disturbing in equal parts. I haven't read a lot about Japan besides pretty basic history, so a lot of the cultural differences that Adelstein describes were news to me - like the whole concept of hostess clubs, the structure of the yakuza crime syndicate and the entire way that the Japanese press functions.
Adelstein ends up covering the Tokyo Police vice unit, and getting good at plumbing the seediest elements of Tokyos hostess clubs and sex districts for information on organized crime and eventually their connections to human trafficking. Along the way he encounters some godawful stuff, as you might imagine, and eventually gets himself in some pretty hot water with the yakuza for knowing too much, as you might also imagine.
His being an obvious foreigner works both for and against him, and he manages to get some acknowledgment from some of the better cops in Tokyo as a decent report, for a gaijin (white foreigner).
Here and there the story dragged a little, and it took me a little effort to wrap my head around all the Japanese concepts and words thrown in the narrative, but that was to be expected. All in all this was a thorough and interesting exploration of a really unexpected corner of the world, and a glimpse of someone doing some really difficult and important work to root out some real-world evil.
Adelstein ends up covering the Tokyo Police vice unit, and getting good at plumbing the seediest elements of Tokyos hostess clubs and sex districts for information on organized crime and eventually their connections to human trafficking. Along the way he encounters some godawful stuff, as you might imagine, and eventually gets himself in some pretty hot water with the yakuza for knowing too much, as you might also imagine.
His being an obvious foreigner works both for and against him, and he manages to get some acknowledgment from some of the better cops in Tokyo as a decent report, for a gaijin (white foreigner).
Here and there the story dragged a little, and it took me a little effort to wrap my head around all the Japanese concepts and words thrown in the narrative, but that was to be expected. All in all this was a thorough and interesting exploration of a really unexpected corner of the world, and a glimpse of someone doing some really difficult and important work to root out some real-world evil.
ryoflame's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Being a journalist, Jake Adelstein is able to tell a good story, and I was intrigued throughout his whole journey as he shares the ins and outs of crime reporting in Japan. You can feel his own emotion running through everything he discusses and it feels very personal. All the information about yakuza business was really wild to learn about, and I found myself quite unable to put it down at parts.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
(4.5) A fascinating look at the life of a gaijin reporter on the crime beat in Japan. It's interesting to note that underneath the cultural differences between Japan and the US, the similar motifs of crime still lurk. Adelstein does as deep of a dive as one could expect and the results are interesting. Some will read this as a tourist-y read, which I think is wrong. Japan is far more than just crime culture filtered through the lens of a foreigner. But if you want to know about the Japanese underworld and its idiosyncrasies, check this out.
kathleenitpdx's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.25
akadamo's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, what a book. Really gives a street-level view of what it is like to work as a foreigner in Japan. He presents a view of Japan most foreigners would not imagine. The book's first two parts were for me the most interesting. The last part is the most jaw dropping, but his journalistic style got a little exhaustive. Glad he's doing this work to protect the vulnerable in Japan, because it's apparent it isn't getting done by the Japanese themselves. Women, especially foreign women, are tragically second-class citizens in Japan.