Comments on: Tokyo Vice: Interview with Jake Adelstein

By: Jake Adelstein

Jake Adelstein — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:25:54 +0000

NOVA was sponsored with yakuza money and run like a yakuza scam. The real money came from the contracts that Japanese were pressured to sign and that couldn’t be nullified and were never refunded. Of course, they also used scary tactics to intimidate union-minded teachers as well, I’m told. But, if it got you to Japan and you had a good experience—well that’s not a bad thing.
I think love is only blind for so long but I’ve never really fallen out of love with Japan and there are some great people here.

頑張って

By: Kinnon Yee

Kinnon Yee — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:05:24 +0000

Just finished it… Gotta say, you really nailed a lot of it on the head. I think that a lot of people have blinders on about what goes on in foreign countries that they “fall in love” with. I was lucky enough to make a stint in Japan for a year from 2005-2006 working for…. *gasp* NOVA… Yakuza funded or not, it was a quick way for me to get over there from Toronto for a while after being a huge Japano-phile for much of my life.

Anyways, glad to see that you’re safe and I hope that you’ll continue to write about other things that interest you.

By: L Pai

L Pai — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:37:43 +0000

I just finished Tokyo Vice and could not put it down! It was fascinating to read about the many levels of the Japanese system you encountered. Journalism, human trafficking and yakuza are realms for a type A personality, and most Japanese know little about. Cops and yakuza -operating as two sides of the same coin.

As a woman in Japan, I worked for several years on a landscape and construction crew in zen temples. Sometimes head monks seemed like yakuza (they drive in Benzes also). Thanks again for trying to do the right thing. When and what can we look forward to?

By: Nat

Nat — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:16:26 +0000

After reading your book I am stunned, and so impressed. Your willingness to share your story in such an open way, and then this blog which makes you seem so accessible is really amazing. I immediately previewed Kaplan and Dubro’s book in the hopes of another lost weekend of intrigue and new information about this place… well, it didn’t happen. I find it is so rare to read an account of life and culture in Japan and not run into that tendency to slight exaggeration, journalistic sensationalism, that totally ruins the piece for me. It is the generalizations that are made from the point of view of an outsider, that seem to me just a little bit off, maybe only seeing one side of a complex issue, and I end up just sort of annoyed afterwards. Your observations were so spot on, and your matter-of-fact telling of the tale combined to make this unique work really work. I look forward to reading more.

By: Jake Adelstein

Jake Adelstein — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:30:08 +0000

I contacted people she would have wanted to have known and I can’t say more without violating her privacy or what I would think were her wishes. I’m not sure what happened to her. I don’t know what to believe any more. There’s one person who could give me answers and he’s not talking. Thanks for writing.

By: L

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:31:35 +0000

The story in the book about what happened to Helena was very disturbing. With all your police contacts, were you never able to get any justice for her? Did you ever contact her family in Australia?

By: Marie Galonski

Marie Galonski — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:55:56 +0000

Saw you on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. That piqued my interest enough to buy the audiobook. (Thanks for reading it yourself; I always like to hear the author’s voice and inflection when I listen to a book.) What a great book! It was much more than I expected. I thought it was just going to be about Goto and his transplant story. So interesting to learn about the Japanese culture and your trials and tribulations in becoming a reporter. Good job!

By: Anthony Critttenden

Anthony Critttenden — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:01:07 +0000

Hi Jake,

I was a criminal intelligence analyst for the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence in the 1980’s and 1990’s. During that time I worked the Yakuza for the Bureau and wrote alot of intelligence reports and public publications in regards to the Yakuza. At that time they were heavily involved in the property real estate buying binge of the Japanese in Hawaii and Continental USA. I found your book to be extremely accurate and insightful. Just wanted to thank you for a great book.

By: Trevor Martin

Trevor Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:51:51 +0000

I am sorry about your friend Helena. I just finished the book and I can not believe the strong emotional response it produced in me.

By: Trevor Martin

Trevor Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:51:16 +0000

Jake, you are my hero! I dislike men who traffic women and men who know that they are trafficed but uses them anyway. your outrage with the japanese laws is my outrage. i am glad that you were in a position of power to at least address it. I have not yet finished the book, but it is better than I thought it would be. Although I also visit japan alot I must shout USA