It’s almost 2011 everywhere in the world. It’s the first day of the new year where I am now. 2010 was a long, hard year. It ended well. Our humble site was listed on CNN-Go as  one of Japan’s best English language blogs of 2010 | CNNGo.com #1. It was an honor. This year we’ll be expanding the number of contributors and the scope of the website, for all those who are curious about the magical kingdom of Japan. We’ll be probing around all dark, shady, shadowy and overcast areas of the land of the rising sun. The sunny side we’ll leave to other people.

Some good things happened this year. The police crackdown on organized crime was so intense that it almost made our April Fools parody post (April 1st, 2010) look like a prophecy. Maybe it was. There were also a number of awful events in 2010 that I’d like to forget about but won’t. The 忘年会 (Bonekai/Forget The Year Party) seems like a good idea in theory but in practice if we forget what we learned in the last year, we just repeat our mistakes the following year. We all know this is true but yet we still manage to do it again every year.

Towards the end of the year, Jee-chan aka @A_Bookaholic did a long interview with me (all via email) and posted it on her website, which is fast becoming one of my favorites for reading advice.  Hooked On Bookz: A_Bookaholic Interviews Author of Tokyo Vice, Jake Adelstein is the title of the interview but it really should be titled What I Learned In 2010. I answered the questions in the middle of a very long bout with the flu and had had an unusually long amount of time to reflect on the questions and everything that happened during the past few months and to try and make some sense of it all. It was a wonderful opportunity to look back before moving forward.

A new year is a great thing. It gives us a feeling that we might be able to start over and get things right. But then again every day should be like that.   I’ll paraphrase the Dalai Lama here: “Every day we are reborn. Every day we are reincarnated. It is this day that is the most important day in our lives. It is our chance to do good, to refrain from evil, to purify our hearts.” A lofty sentiment but I like it.

So Happy Birthday and Happy New Year! May it be a good one for us all. May we all get what we deserve, and maybe some nice things we don’t really deserve, and may the rules of karma apply in the best possible ways. Cheers!

Tokyoites are no virgin brides; we know a good pole dance when we see one.

Or we thought we did, until the International Pole Championship rolled into town last year and took our brains for a ride. Packed to the rafters of Shinjuku’s cavernous Christon Cafe, aficionados and laymen alike were wowed by cowgirls, brides, monks, wild Amazon natives and other masters of the pole. From sultry numbers that would make a Roppongi stripper jealous to exotic acrobatic feats you’d expect of Cirque du Soleil candidates, it was definitely not the child’s play found in any red light district. This was some serious schooling in gymnastics. But sexier!

And as incredibly disappointed as I am that I won’t make it this year, I’m here to spread the word about the International Poledance Championship 2010, run by the lovely Ania Przeplasko of the International Pole Dance Fitness Association. The biggest pole dance event ever, this year’s competition will see representatives from 21 countries work the pole to its limit, including last year’s champions Mai Sato and Dave Kahl (pictured above). As a testament to how popular pole dancing has become (as if it wasn’t popular before!), the venue has been upgraded to the plush JCB Hall, ensuring everyone gets a great view of the acrobatic action on stage.

Jake helped judge the 2009 competition, but I see he’s relinquished the coveted position in order to spare competitors his harsh judgment of inner thigh gripping strength.

And because pictures speak louder than words, here’s some scenes from last year’s competition, including Mai’s breathtaking performance.

International Pole Championship
JCB Hall, Meets Port, Tokyo Dome
9 December 2010
¥4,000

Featuring two world-firsts: First ʻDisabled Divisionʼ and the first time National Champions from around the world will compete for the title ʻUltimate Pole Championʼ

Don’t forget to check out their workshops!

Memo from Jake: Ania Przeplasko has been a close friend for years, and even took the photos for  the cover of Tokyo Vice on a pro bono basis. So of course, I’m totally biased in praising the event, but last year it was awesome and this year I suspect will be even better. And I don’t even like watching modern dance! They have an awesome line-up this year. V. Lea from Hong Kong, when she’s working the silk-ropes, makes Spider-man look clumsy. Sexy fun for the whole family–as long as the whole family is over 18.

Just a bit of housekeeping: Japan Subculture Research Center now has a Twitter feed exclusively for updates. A slightly simpler way to find out about new posts than RSS for those who prefer to communicate in 140 characters or less. Take a look! Also, don’t forget to follow Jake Adelstein himself on Twitter.

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A few weeks ago, a yakuza boss who I only knew vaguely shot himself to death. He was badly in debt and facing charges of extortion. I’m sure he was guilty.  I knew his son from a story I did years ago on a Korean-Japanese Savings and Loan Bank that had folded  (Saitama Shogin).

When I read the article about his death, I called the son and expressed my condolences. He was relatively calm about it all. He ran a pachinko parlor in Saitama and unlike his father had stayed out of organized crime.

“Yeah, I was sad. He owed a lot of money. He couldn’t pay his association dues and kept borrowing money from another yakuza loan shark. In the end, with the trial coming up and chances of having to pay a penalty, he did what he thought was best. I respect that. But he left behind a huge debt and not much money.”

I asked if they were going to hold a funeral but he said it wasn’t usually done for suicides. As we were talking, he said there was one thing that bothered him a lot about his Dad’s death.  I asked what it was.

“He shot himself with a really expensive gun. He should have sold that gun. It was a great gun. A Sig Sauer. Relatively new model. Worth at least $20,000 on the black market. He should have sold the gun and gave Mom the money and stabbed himself to death or jumped in front of a train or something.  Blowing his brains out may have been the easiest way to die but it was a little selfish.”

Of course, there was no irony as he was saying this. I guess that’s the lesson to be learned: if you’re a yakuza with a family and you’re going to kill yourself, don’t use a gun. Sell the gun, leave something behind, then whack yourself by other means. It’s the courteous thing to do.

There is a slightly happy end to this story. The old man had taken out a life insurance policy for a substantial amount two years previously. In Japan, after two years of paying life insurance, there is a pay-out for suicide. Even for yakuza. (It used to only require one year but it was made to two years to discourage suicides and murders disguised as suicides and loan sharks pressuring deadbeats to make themselves dead so they could collect their loans).

The son called to tell me the good news and I wished him well, but as I was about to hang up, he had to add, “I guess Dad really did think about us. It was a nice gesture. Still, it’s a shame about that gun.”

Note: Portions of this were first “tweeted.” I have altered some details as to avoid causing trouble to the family or his replacement in the organization. 許してください。

I wish I could be a little more cheerful around this time of year. I can remember a time when the Christmas season didn’t depress me much but it seems like decades ago.  Maybe if I was in Japan where Christmas is more festively celebrated by buying tubs of Kentucky Fried Chicken and young couples flock to love hotels to consummate their undying love for each in Hello Kitty! themed love hotel suites or in illuminated Jacuzzi baths or round beds shaking to festive tunes channelled through the “body sonic” (speakers embedded in the mattress frame.)

Well, for me it’s the time of year when I began preparing to send out 年賀状  (nengajo=New Year’s Greeting Cards).  It’s an important thing to do in Japan and one  nengajou has the power to keep almost dead relationships alive for yet another year. To receive one and not reply is a terrible social mistake and it’s always important to send one along with a hand-written note if humanly possible. In many ways, your nengajo is considered a barometer of who you are and where you are in your life. They are not to be taken lightly although they weigh next to nothing at all.

And even though I’ve automated the process somewhat, I still find that I spend a lot of time pulling up New Year’s Cards (nengajo) from years past to make sure I have the correct addresses and am not forgetting any one.  Each year that process becomes a little more painful.  There are New Year’s cards from Sekiguchi Chiaki, my mentor, a great cop and and a great friend.  Hamaya-chan, my co-worker and teacher. Shibata–a retired yakuza who is probably burning in hell somewhere but hopefully up for reincarnation someday. There was some good in the man. And there is Helena.  Every year part of me hopes that this year, this year, I’ll get a Christmas card from her telling me she’s fine–that she started a whole new life–that I was played for a fool.  I wouldn’t mind being wrong about that one. I wouldn’t mind finding out I was the class-clown and not the class comedian.

I suppose I have other Pavlovian reasons for associating New Year’s with death. As the lone gaijin at the Yomiuri, I almost always got stuck on the New Year shift, and that meant tallying up the number of people who choked to death on sweet rice cakes (mochi)–which always included old people and sometimes children.  I think I did it for ten years straight and you know what–it’s not fun to talk to the families about the deaths of their loved ones on what should be a joyous occasion. I didn’t have to do it too many times but once is enough.  Talk about feeling like a jackal and a heel. Of course, there are a lot of suicides as well–even if you don’t write them up, you’re supposed to call and see if there is a heart-warming, really sad story behind the suicide.

Continue reading A Maudlin Merry X-mas From Jake, Sarah and Everyone At Japan Subculture Research Center →

Amazon celebrated the book’s 10th day in the top 100 best-selling non-fiction books by marking it down considerably. It’s never too late to buy it as a sushi stuffer for a Japanese thanksgiving celebration.

Today, November 1st, 60 Minutes did a stellar piece on the Yakuza in Japan and my life covering them as a reporter, and the one scoop regarding Goto Tadamasa, the Professor Moriarty of Japan’s yakuza that got me in a lot of trouble. A lot has changed since 60 Minutes came to Japan to report on the story. It remains to be seen how it will all play out. If you want to know more about it all, read TOKYO VICE.  It will tell you more about Japan, the mob, and the underworld than you probably want to know.  For more on Goto-gumi, see the crime resources. Thanks for stopping by.