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You can watch a fictional(ized?) series (Tokyo Vice) about and produced by the author Jake Adelstein on HBO. I’ve watched the first season, season 2 recently re

You can watch a fictional(ized?) series (Tokyo Vice) about and produced by the author Jake Adelstein on HBO. I’ve watched the first season, season 2 recently released.

15457345234 3y ago
I have that book, it's interesting but it isn't a particularly enjoyable read.
resolutebat 3y ago
That's not really an endorsement: to a first approximation, Adelstein is full of shit when it comes to all things Yakuza. He's made a career out of claiming they're super powerful and pulling strings across Japanese society, when all actual evidence indicates that they're weaker than ever and declining.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- banashark 3y ago
  I'd be interested in reading more about the evidence. I just watched the show and though I'm sure it's got quite a bit of embellishment, anything I've read in the past made the yakuza out to be about the level they're shown in the show (have some power within their local communities, but not much in government unless they can blackmail someone via prostitution or otherwise).
  - zerocrates 3y ago
    The Hollywood Reporter ran an article about it: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/tokyo-vice-problematic-source-material-1235135828/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/toky... Though he's disputed it. His problems with National Geographic are telling... the same year he's unable to produce any connections for their show, he's got close enough connections to "high-ranking gangster bosses" to write an article where he purportedly has them play and discuss the video game Yakuza 3: https://web.archive.org/web/20110214054056/https://boingboing.net/2010/08/10/yakuza-3-review.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110214054056/https://boingboin... (side note: this article describes him playing this game with these guys "one Thursday afternoon," having a teenager teach them to play a video game, having three separate people play this single-player game while discussing it, one of whom finishes it despite an average main story playtime of over 16 hours)
  - resolutebat 3y ago
    The Yakuza, weirdly, operate semi-publicly so their headquarters, hierarchies, and membership numbers are well known. In the early 90s there were close to 100,000 members, now there's probably under 20k. https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01383/ https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01383/
- emodendroket 3y ago
  Come on man, they're baked into the alliance that was chosen by the American occupation to rule post-War Japan. They're far from irrelevant to anyone who wants to understand modern Japan. If you don't like Adelstein's brand the Kaplan/Dubro book is good but at this point dated. Either way, they're endemic in construction, entertainment, and lending and still have meaningful political links.
  - LtWorf 3y ago
    Ah when USA invaded sicily they put mafia in power, to avoid the farmers getting any ideas of land redistribution. USA bringing "democracy" as usual. edit: Ah I forgot to mention the elections held with the USA navy ready to invade and bomb, should the people decide to vote too left wing.
- spike021 3y ago
  I mean they said it's fictionalized. It's an enjoyable show even if it isn't very accurate.
  - mindracer 3y ago
    Not watched the show but the book it’s based is a memoir https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Vice https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Vice
    - spike021 3y ago
      I'm aware of that. I'm not sure that memoirs have ever been known as only being 100% truthful.
      - emodendroket 3y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoir > A memoir (/ˈmɛm.wɑːr/; from French mémoire [me.mwaʁ], from Latin memoria 'memory, remembrance') is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. Any work of nonfiction will end up with some inaccuracies and a form based on one person's memories may be especially prone to this. But if he's outright deliberately fictionalizing events (not saying he is, necessarily), that's a big mark against the work. I mean that's exactly what got James Frey castigated on TV and made persona non grata.
keiferski 3y ago
There is a subplot about these magazines in the show. It’s unclear how accurate the show itself is, but the basic concept of yakuza mags is covered accurately.

You can watch a fictional(ized?) series (Tokyo Vice) about and produced by the author Jake Adelstein on HBO. I’ve watched the first season, season 2 recently released.

15457345234 3y ago

I have that book, it's interesting but it isn't a particularly enjoyable read.

resolutebat 3y ago

That's not really an endorsement: to a first approximation, Adelstein is full of shit when it comes to all things Yakuza. He's made a career out of claiming they're super powerful and pulling strings across Japanese society, when all actual evidence indicates that they're weaker than ever and declining.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
banashark 3y ago
I'd be interested in reading more about the evidence. I just watched the show and though I'm sure it's got quite a bit of embellishment, anything I've read in the past made the yakuza out to be about the level they're shown in the show (have some power within their local communities, but not much in government unless they can blackmail someone via prostitution or otherwise).
- zerocrates 3y ago
  The Hollywood Reporter ran an article about it: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/tokyo-vice-problematic-source-material-1235135828/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/toky... Though he's disputed it. His problems with National Geographic are telling... the same year he's unable to produce any connections for their show, he's got close enough connections to "high-ranking gangster bosses" to write an article where he purportedly has them play and discuss the video game Yakuza 3: https://web.archive.org/web/20110214054056/https://boingboing.net/2010/08/10/yakuza-3-review.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110214054056/https://boingboin... (side note: this article describes him playing this game with these guys "one Thursday afternoon," having a teenager teach them to play a video game, having three separate people play this single-player game while discussing it, one of whom finishes it despite an average main story playtime of over 16 hours)
- resolutebat 3y ago
  The Yakuza, weirdly, operate semi-publicly so their headquarters, hierarchies, and membership numbers are well known. In the early 90s there were close to 100,000 members, now there's probably under 20k. https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01383/ https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01383/
emodendroket 3y ago
Come on man, they're baked into the alliance that was chosen by the American occupation to rule post-War Japan. They're far from irrelevant to anyone who wants to understand modern Japan. If you don't like Adelstein's brand the Kaplan/Dubro book is good but at this point dated. Either way, they're endemic in construction, entertainment, and lending and still have meaningful political links.
- LtWorf 3y ago
  Ah when USA invaded sicily they put mafia in power, to avoid the farmers getting any ideas of land redistribution. USA bringing "democracy" as usual. edit: Ah I forgot to mention the elections held with the USA navy ready to invade and bomb, should the people decide to vote too left wing.
spike021 3y ago
I mean they said it's fictionalized. It's an enjoyable show even if it isn't very accurate.
- mindracer 3y ago
  Not watched the show but the book it’s based is a memoir https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Vice https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Vice
  - spike021 3y ago
    I'm aware of that. I'm not sure that memoirs have ever been known as only being 100% truthful.
    - emodendroket 3y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoir > A memoir (/ˈmɛm.wɑːr/; from French mémoire [me.mwaʁ], from Latin memoria 'memory, remembrance') is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. Any work of nonfiction will end up with some inaccuracies and a form based on one person's memories may be especially prone to this. But if he's outright deliberately fictionalizing events (not saying he is, necessarily), that's a big mark against the work. I mean that's exactly what got James Frey castigated on TV and made persona non grata.

keiferski 3y ago

There is a subplot about these magazines in the show. It’s unclear how accurate the show itself is, but the basic concept of yakuza mags is covered accurately.