Tokyo Vice: now a HBO crime drama

Jake Adelstein

Jul 2010 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

A riveting true-life tale of newspaper noir and Japanese organised crime from an American investigative journalist. Now a Max Original Series on HBO Max

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EITHER ERASE THE STORY, OR WE'LL ERASE YOU. AND MAYBE YOUR FAMILY. BUT WE'LL DO THEM FIRST, SO YOU LEARN YOUR LESSON BEFORE YOU DIE.

From the only American journalist ever to have been admitted to the insular Tokyo Metropolitan Police press club: a unique, first-hand, revelatory look at Japanese culture from the underbelly up.

At nineteen, Jake Adelstein went to Japan in search of peace and tranquility. What he got was a life of crime . . . crime reporting, that is, at the prestigious Yomiuri Shinbun. Working eighty-hour weeks for twelve years, he covered the seedy side of Japan, where extortion, murder, human trafficking and corruption are as familiar as ramen noodles and sake. But when his final scoop brought him face-to-face with Japan's most infamous yakuza boss - and the threat of death for him and his family - Adelstein decided to step down . . . momentarily. Then, he fought back.

With its visceral descriptions and detailed exploration of the modern-day yakuza, Tokyo Vice is a deeply thought-provoking book: equal parts cultural exposé, true crime and hard-boiled noir.


'Expertly told and highly entertaining' GEORGE PELECANOS, writer and producer of The Wire

'Sacred, ferocious, and businesslike, Adelstein describes the Japanese mafia like nobody else' ROBERTO SAVIANO, author of Gomorrah

'Gripping and absorbing . . . A terrifying, deeply moral story that you cannot put down' MISHA GLENNY, author of McMafia

Ratings and reviews

The author relates his years as a reporter in Japan, which eventually lead him to investigate the dirty deeds of powerful Yakuza gangs. This gripping firsthand account of the underworld paints a dark picture of the country, revealing the extent to which the Yakuza have permeated every aspect of Japanese society. It spares no details from the author's most traumatising experiences, even the more gruesome and heart-breaking - you've been warned, the last chapter of this book is not for the faint of heart!

My experience is derived solely from the HBO television series. Is this tale true? Body parts in return for forgetfulness. I hope so 🇬🇧😎

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About the author

Jake Adelstein, a Japanese-schooled Jewish-American, worked for 12 years as a journalist on Japan's largest newspaper, Yomiuri Shinbun. In 2005, he became chief investigator for a US State Department sponsored study of human trafficking in Japan. Now a writer and consultant in Japan and the US, Jake and his family remain under death threats from one of Japan's most notorious crime bosses. He is the author of Tokyo Vice (2010), which inspired the 2022 HBO television series of the same name.