Welcome to our semi-annual pledge drive. Japan Subculture Research Center (@japankenkyu) was founded in 2007 by Jake Adelstein and many contributors to expose the hidden side of Japan – its underground economy, its transient and strange trends, its robust sex trade, wacky politics, corruption, social issues, many subcultures, yakuza, host clubs and hosts, Japanese cinema and all the other intriguing and seedy aspects that keep the country running. Balancing commentary, reporting and dark humor–we’re the kakekomitera (駆け込み寺) aka “last resort” of some news stories that no one else will touch. We’ve covered rebel graffiti artists, crusading lawyers, and some real heroes.
Click on the camera if you already feel inspired to donate.
We would like this summer to support two interns so that we can post more original material and also revamp the layout. We’d like to add a current events section, more book reviews, more informative and provocative essays about Japan, and fund some investigative journalism. Ambitious yes, but we have lofty goals here at JSRC. Please read our manifesto: If you love Japan, make it better. Our mission statement.
Meanwhile, as part of this year’s pledge drive, we are giving away to the lucky two readers who donates before Thursday (drawing by lottery) free tickets to to see Shoplifters with English subtitles and a Q & A, by the director Hirokazu Kore-eda. Your contributions are greatly appreciated, however small or large.
The business friendly Japanese government fails to deal with preventing Death By Overwork. In January, the Labor Ministry did put signs saying” Stop Karoshi” urging an end to death by overwork, “for a society where people can continue to labor”.
If your motto in life is “one good deed a day” (一日一善）, here’s your chance to get those good karma points.
Your humble, acting editor-in-chief
Jake
宜しくお願いします！
“The more the sage gives, the more they are rewarded”–Lao Tzu Click on the Zen master for a chance to en-lighten your wallet and enlighten others.
“I think that the reason the general public identified with the roles I played, was that they were struck by my stance as a man who unrelentingly stands up to absurd injustices. It wasn’t just that I was just going off to a sword fight, but that my character was willing to sacrifice himself in order to protect the people important to him.”–Ken Takakura, August 2013
In honour of Japan’s Celebration of Cinema Day, December 1st, we’ve reposted some reviews and articles on classic films. Some good, some bad, some epic. This was originally published shortly before his death.
Japan’s best actor Ken Takakura has died of lymphoma, at age 83. The actor passed away at a Tokyo hospital on 10 November, his office said on Tuesday. He has been called the “Clint Eastwood” of Japan. Takakura was renowned for his stoic roles in scores of action films and yakuza movies–he was also adept at playing tough but caring men, clumsy in expressing their emotions. He played alongside Robert Mitchum in Paul Schrader directed film, The Yakuza in 1973. He also starred as a by-the-book, honourable and ultimately brave Japanese police officer alongside US actor Michael Douglas in the 1989 Ridley Scott film Black Rain. One of his lines in the movie, probably inspired millions of Japanese men to later study English conversation: “(I’m ) Assistant Inspector Matsumoto Masahiro, Criminal Investigation section, Osaka Prefecture police. And I do speak fucking English.”
Mr. Schrader told me in March of 2011 that Takakura was one of the most impressive actors he’d ever worked with and that his Kendo (Japanese fencing) ability seemed top-notch. He had once offered Takakura the role of Yukio Mishima, the literary genius turned right wing extremist, in his bio-pic film Mishima and Takakura had seriously considered it. However, in the end for reasons he only obliquely hinted at, he politely declined the role. The film Mishima has never been shown in a film festival in Japan.
Among his well-known films were “The Yellow Handkerchief”. He won the best actor prize at the Montreal World Film Festival for “Poppoya” (The Railway Man). He also appeared in some the final “real-life” yakuza bio-pics including 3rd Generation Leader of The Yamaguchi-gumi. During the filming, the former head of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Kazuo Taoka, actually visited the set and spoke with Takakura. Ken Takakura was the consummate professional and even in supporting roles such as in Mr. Baseball, he brought dignity to the Japanese characters that seemed to embody many of Japan’s virtues.
In August of last year, we were able to interview him via FAX and his polite and short responses give a good sense of the man. They are here in both English and Japanese.
Ken Takakura, in a scene from 破れ傘
originally posted on January 31st 2014
Ken Takakura, 82, aka “the Alain Delon of Japanese cinema” was awarded one of Japan’s greatest honors on November 3rd 2012. The Order of Culture was given to him by the Japanese Emperor at a ceremony held at the imperial palace. Four other notable people, such as researchers and literature academics also received the award.
Known as to be very quiet and tough, Ken Takakura (高倉健氏） rarely gave interviews to the media throughout his career. He is known for having stayed silent nearly for 13 seconds (a record for Japanese TV programs) after a famous television caster asked him a question that he did not want to answer. “In Japanese show business, only a tough and well respected celebrity is able to stay silent during a live show and have that tolerated by the producer,” explained a newscaster for one of Japan’s largest broadcasters.
Ken Takakura became an icon of the so-called ninkyou eiga, (任侠映画) or yakuza chivalry movie, inaugurated in 1963 by Toei Production. In the 1960s, as Japan was still recovering from its lost war and musing over the the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Japanese audience wanted to see heroes in the black market making justice in the streets and feeding the dismissed hungry people, right after the war. The movie that kick started his career was Abashiri Prison. He also gained international recognition with the war movie Too Late The Hero, in 1970, and The Yakuza, in 1975. His role in Black Rain with Michael Douglas 1989, made him even more well-known in the West.
Takakura-sama, agreed to answer few questions for JSRC. We carefully translated it and have posted the entire interview. We are also posting it in Japanese, for our Japanese readers.
Interview with Ken Takakura, in August 2013
JSRC: At present, many film fans in the world see you as the personification of the yakuza on screen, almost a symbol. What are your feelings about this?
Ken Takakura: It’s true that I did many yakuza films in the past, but whether or not I’m a symbol or not, I don’t know. I have done many other roles besides those of a yakuza.
JSRC: What led you to join the world of cinema?
Ken Takakura: I had to make a living.
JSRC: What kinds of movies do you like?
Ken Takakura: As I get older, my tastes changed, but I like movies that pierce the human heart and linger with me.
The Deer Hunter, 1978.
The Godfather 1 & 2.
Gladiator (2006).
Heaven (2002).
Posta Pappi Jaakobille (2009).
JSRC: Do you have any interest in the modern yakuza films?
Ken Takakura: None whatsoever.
JSRC: Mr. Takakura, you have been called the Clint Eastwood of Japan, what do you think of that?
Ken Takakura: It’s what someone else thinks, so I have no thoughts on the matter.
JSRC: Why did you leave Toei Production in 1976?
Ken Takakura: There is no short answer (to that question).
JSRC: After leaving Toei, people were able to see you in many different roles? Was that your goal?
Ken Takakura: (My goal) was to meet people.
JSRC: Directors Takeshi Kitano and Miike are said to be geniuses of yakuza film but what do you think?
Ken Takakura: I’ve never worked with either director so I can’t answer.
END.
But the most striking explanation Ken Takakura gave us was worth mentioning here.
Ken Takakura: You seem to be very focussed on the yakuza films I did while at Toei. If you want to understand, why the yakuza films were endorsed by the (Japanese) people, you can’t do it without thinking of the social situation at the time.
When low budget films (picture programs) were at their peak production in Japan, I’d have a schedule where I’d be doing in 4 or 5 films a months. That doesn’t leave much room to really put your heart into a role. But I think that the reason the general public identified with the roles I played, was that they were struck by my stance as a man who unrelentingly stands up to absurd injustices. It wasn’t just that I was just going off to a sword fight, but that my character was willing to sacrifice himself in order to protect the people important to him.
The thing that really changed after achieving independence from Toei was that I could choose which films I wanted to be in. I had my own standards for what films I would act in. Who would I meet? The words and lines written in the script. But the most important thing to me was this: would I be able to like the person I was going to play?*
*Portions of this interview were originally published in a French film magazine
Please read this review by Jake Adelstein on the yakuza movies.
In October of 2011, it became illegal to profit the yakuza in any business including showbiz. The attempts to ban yakuza from the entertainment world have sadly been more amusing than effective.
In her support, Kazuo Kasaoka, the leader of the yakuza group, Matsurua-gumi (Kobe), submitted a statement to the court which details the time he spent employed by the head of Burning Production, doing his own dirty work for the firm, he says, and watching the sinister activities of others.
When there is a response from the individuals named in the statement and accused of criminal behavior, we will post it here. The statements made here are the opinions of Mr. Kasaoka and not the views of Japan Subculture Research Center.
A Daily Beast reporter (Jake Adelstein) obtained a copy of the statement and then interviewed Kasaoka to ask him why he would put his neck on the line to testify on the beauty queen’s behalf. One might speculate that Kasaoka is motivated by feelings of revenge because he feels he was ripped off by Suho in their past dealings, but he gives different reasons.
In a document, dated Nov. 13, Kasaoka begins by admitting that he is the leader of a right-wing group and the second-generation leader of the Matsura-gumi, with a criminal record.
“Based on my experience working for the CEO of Burning Productions, the harassment that Ms. Yoshimatsu has received is very similar to what I’ve seen and heard while working there,” the yakuza veteran wrote. “[For example], the threats Taniguchi [the alleged stalker] made to Yoshimatsu, ‘If you don’t work for us, we’ll make sure you can’t get a job in the entertainment industry,’ and the harassment that took place after she refused, such as stalking, the use of the media, bothering her family, applying pressure on sponsors [not to hire her] … I feel outrage that a group of so-called men would band together and bully a woman, and this is why I have come forward to make a statement.”
The rough English translation of the document is below, as reference—it has been augmented with material from a ninety minute interview. The original Japanese was also vague in some areas so we have clarified it to the best of our ability. For the full Japanese statement please click the following link. 笠岡和雄・松浦組長の証言
Statement of Facts
Nov.13
Tokyo District Court
Overview of Personnel
I am the Kazuo Kasaoka, the president of Dai-Nihon Shin-Seikai, and the second leader of Matsuura Gumi.
I have been in the world of Ninkyo-Doh since my early days, and I am not of the respectable “Katagi”(honest living) world. I have a history of arrests and a criminal record, however what I write here are all things that I have seen and heard with my own eyes and ears, it is all true, none of it is fictional. I plead the judge to read my statement without judgement.
Reason for Submission
I heard about the plaintiff Ms. Yoshimatsu and defendant Genichi Taniguchi and the sequence of events leading up to this litigation from the plaintiff ‘s attorney Mr. Norio Nishikawa at his office on October 16th.
I decided to submit my statement since the incident that triggered this litigation, in which Mr. Taniguchi requested and threatened Ms. Yoshimatsu that she will “not be able to work in the entertainment industry unless you sign with us” and the extreme measures he took after she declined the offer such as stalking and pressuring her, is something that overlaps in many ways with what I have experienced through my interactions with Ikuo Suoh, President of Burning Productions. I also feel a strong indignation towards their tactic, a group of grown men bullying one woman, which lead to myself agreeing to submit my statement.
Furthermore, I would like to add that I have not received any kind of reward or honorarium for submitting this statement.
My Personal Standpoint
For 10 years I served as Mr. Suoh’s Yojinbou(bodyguard) by request of Mr. Suoh via a certain person. During those years, I held an office on the 5th floor of a building Mr. Suoh owned and I had a unit in an apartment building in Kantoh as my residence. The direct renter was a monk of a temple who had agreed to sublet the place out to a yakuza like me by request of Mr. Suoh.
After this period, there were unforgivable actions of betrayal towards me taken by Mr. Suoh and since then, I have been condemning his many wrongdoings centered around facts that I saw and heard during my time as his bodyguard on the blog of “Shin Nihon Shinsei-Kai”, the patriotic group I organize.
It should be noted that the relationship between Mr. Suoh and Mr. Genichi Taniguchi is that of a boss and his henchman. This is a widely known fact to anyone in the entertainment industry. I will later elaborate on this but I can say that I have been in a situation that will clearly prove this fact.
Testimonies Related to Litigation
The fact that Mr. Suoh has been using yakuzas
The fact that Mr. Suoh and Mr. Genichi Taniguchi would use the yakuza and extreme right wing parties to intimidate and pressure talents, productions and TV networks if they saw them as insubordinate.
Regarding A, the fact that I was Mr. Suoh’s bodyguard is the most credible evidence. If Mr. Suoh says “I do not know of a man Kazuo Kasaoka, the second generation leader of Matsuura Gumi and have never requested assistance with any matters to him”, I will directly fight him in court, I do not mind, if anything I would wish to do so.
Regarding B, there is an entry on the blog of Dai Nihon Shinsei-kai I wrote, that depicts the scene of when Mr. Suoh ordered Mr. Genichi Taniguchi to “erase (Miki Mizuno an actress) from the industry”
“Erase Miki Mizuno” Mr. Suoh’s Orders to Mr. Genichi Taniguchi
(Quote from Dai Nihon Shinsei-kai Blog)
Suoh: “(Kasaoka) President, is there any way you could destroy this website? I must kill it now that these things are written up so shamelessly.”
Kasaoka(Note:Stater):”What do you mean please kill it, Boss? You can’t say those things in vain to people in our business, we’ll take it the wrong way, you know?”
President Suoh was quiet again.
Then,
Suoh:”Erase her from the entertainment industry, please make Miki Mizuno disappear.”
Suoh:”No, President. If Mizuno decided to become independent, Burning will lose face. I don’t care how much money it takes, please destroy her. Please. Erase her.”
Kasaoka:”Boss, you better not use words like kill or erase.”
I warned him.
After that, Kasaoka mediated the reconciliation between Suoh and the counterpart(Note:Miki Mizuno) but Kasaoka having being concerned, recorded the conversation.
The events that followed after the talk, with only Suoh left in the room, was also caught on tape.
Suoh:”Taniguchi(K-Dash), call the producers of all the networks right now, notify all of them that they are not to use Miki Mizuno under any circumstance! No project, show, paper, none. Tell them if they disobey, we will take away any talent belonging to the Burning Group from their networks, erase them! Tell them we’ll send in propaganda vehicles and the right wings!” (end of quote).
This is the content of the Dai Nihon Shinsei-kai blog entry, that recalls the scene when I as a bodyguard of Suoh, received direct orders from Suoh himself, to erase Miki Mizuno who was his ex-mistress and a former actress at Burning Productions.
I decided to mediate between the two parties, while calming Mr. Suoh down, who was excited and blurting out abnormal things such as “please kill her” “please erase her”. Superficially Mr. Suoh accepted my persuasion and reconciled on the condition that Miki Mizuno, his ex-mistress, would not expose his secrets to the world.
However, Mr. Suoh only pretended to reconcile and he notified producers at each network that “Miki Mizuno is not to be used” through his orders to Mr. Taniguchi.
This is a base betrayal that disgraces myself and all involved parties. He could not take actions himself to keep up his appearances towards me, so he made orders to Mr. Taniguchi. This means that Mr. Suoh and Mr. Taniguchi are acting as one and that the producers at each network cannot go against orders from Mr. Taniguchi such as “don’t use this or that talent” when they know it is coming directly from Mr. Suoh.
Next is the reason why Mr. Suoh was afraid of Miki Mizuno. The reason is that she knew secrets of Mr. Suoh that he was terrified of the world finding out. I will quote furthermore from the Dai Nihon Shinsei-kai blog about the outcome of Mr. Suoh ignoring the conditions of the reconciliation and ordering Mr. Taniguchi to notify the network producers “ not to use Miki Mizuno”. Once you have read this, you will understand why Mr. Suoh was so intent on banishing one actress from the entire industry and medias.
The Reason Ikuo Suoh Ordered the Banishment of Miki Mizuno
From Dai Nihon Shinsei-kai Blog
⚫︎Exposing drugged SEX! The misplaced rage and abomination of Suoh ordering the “banishment” of ex-mistress Miki Mizuno!
There was a revealing statement from ex-mistress that exposed Ikuo Suoh himself as a regular user of drugs. Actress Miki Mizuno, was formerly signed with Burning Productions.
She exposed Suoh and the malicious sex he would have using drugs that she experienced as his mistress on a website run by writer Manabu Miyazaki.
This was a remark she made during a round table talk between Miyazaki, Takagi and Mizuno. Suoh was enraged once he read the talk once it became an article. He came to President Kasaoka, who was in charge of solving any of his altercations at the time, begging him in his deranged state to “please erase Miki Mizuno from this industry, no, kill her!”
After all, a direct testimonial from Mizuno his ex-mistress was made public on the internet. Suoh’s panic is understandable but the request to “erase Mizuno” was rather unsettling. Moreover, Suoh having lost face, would become white as a sheet every time Miki Mizuno appeared on TV and would act in an unmanly and undignified manner such as taking his anger out on his entourage. Losing control over an exposition from an ex-mistress is unfit behavior for a man known as the “Don”(boss) of the entertainment world. Suoh himself should have accepted this as a lesson in life and kept stories between the sheets to himself but in deranged state of anger, his actions caused even more problems of more magnitude. Especially in the world of men, and the world of Ninkyo(way of the yakuza), it would never be acceptable for people to be betrayed and made such fools of by this double faced Suoh. I would like to make it clear that this is the extent of frivolousness that has been displayed time and again by this man.
⚫︎ The battle between Suoh, who betrayed all of his firm promises with President Kasaoka, and Nishiwaki Gumi who was enraged by his actions, declaring revenge! “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” was thus started!
There are many in the entertainment industry who hold grudges against Mr. Suoh for the way he ruthlessly climbed to the top of the industry. Kasaoka President was summoned to serve as his bodyguard by request of the Big Boss’ wife in Kantoh. He would try to see things in his favor. However, after Mr. Suoh went against every condition that was agreed upon when reconciling with Miki Mizuno, President Kasaoka had very little patience for the man. The sequence of events are as follows.
After the separation with Burning Productions, Miki Mizuno was side-lined from the industry for a while and laying low until she was taken under the wing of Nishiwaki Gumi in Kansai. Perhaps Mizuno was encouraged to make these expositions with the intense presence of those backing her up. Being on amicable terms with the Nishiwaki Gumi, President Kasaoka was chosen as the best mediator and after further discussion with Manabu Miyazaki who was the spokesperson, they concluded as follows. According to President Kasaoka, “Mizuno was side-lined from the industry once but was now independently back on her feet and it’s too late to erase her from the industry. However, her side of the deal was that going forward, she would never speak out about Suoh’s secrets including the fact that she was his mistress.” This was Mizuno’s proposal. After hearing these conditions Suoh accepted saying “he understood” and gave his word to President Kasaoka.
Nevertheless, Suoh’s words were makeshift lies. Unable to contain his wrath, Suoh called upon Taniguchi from K-Dash, a group company of Burning, to destroy Miki Mizuno by threatening producers at various TV networks.
“I won’t allow hiring Miki Mizuno on any of your shows!”.
This incident was naturally leaked by the producers who were tired of Suoh’s crude threats. The entertainment industry is a small world. One of the President members of Nishiwaki Gumi, Yamashita had always supported Miki Mizuno and he showed his disgust and rage towards Suoh breaking his word. Yamashita howled “This is not a joke. I will make Taniguchi regret! I will let him know that a man’s word is worth more than his life!”.
This threat took Suoh by surprise and scared him immensely. Suoh would not stand a chance against the Nishiwaki Gumi, widely known as the gang of alpha male warriors within the Yamaguchi Gumi, if they targeted him.
Hearing reverse orders such as “Destroy Suoh! Erase him from the industry!”, Suoh, with no Boss on his side left, came back to Suoh with his tearful apologies.
President Kasaoka, pitying Suoh who begged “They will kill me. Please stop them with your power”, brushed aside his doubts and warned Suoh once again.
“Look, never go after Miki Mizuno again. Let Taniguchi too”. He made sure Suoh understood and was completely under control.
“I understand. I will forgive Mizuno, I truly will this time “
President Kasaoka believed his words and notified Yamashita who was preparing an attack on Suoh. Yamashita stepped away since he could not go against the President’s mediation, and the conflict was resolved. However, after a while, attacks against Miki Mizuno to erase her from the industry was still very much alive, in forms of discreet threats to the TV networks.
President Kasaoka let out a deep sigh, after recalling the intense rage against Suoh’s repeated betrayals and how he came to sever their relationship.
“No matter how far we go, Suoh’s traitor mentality will not be cured. Nevertheless, this is the last warning”.
Ikuo Suoh, take in and reflect upon these words of the President.
Suoh is a pitiful man, indulging in drugged up sex with his mistress, becoming hysterical over an online expose article, running from the hands of Nishiwaki Gumi in fear of revenge like a coward, begging help from ones that he has already betrayed once, then repeating it all over again. His life will end in a lonesome tragedy! The amount of drugs(Cocaine, Heroine, Crack) that permeated the entertainment industry over the last 20 years is unfathomable. Ikuo Suoh has committed an unforgivable crime for polluting this industry with drugs.
One prominent example is that Suoh’s group initiated the induction of drugs at concert halls. I will warn repeatedly that Suoh must pay himself, for the sin of spreading drug abuse in the industry!
“Dai Nihon Shinsei-kai” Press Department
Conclusion
Neither Mr. Suoh or Mr. Taniguchi have the means to sue, protest or explain themselves to defend themselves against the condemnations and criticisms I have made public to the world on the internet.
They cannot do so since all these things are based on facts.
Mr. Genichi Taniguchi was able to carry out such actions toward Ms. Yoshimatsu as a result of the two of them using any means, including the yakuza, to make their way to the top of this small industry. They used the K-1 producer and promoter Mr. Noriyoshi Ishii to bring Ms. Yoshimatsu to Mr. Suoh’s office, introducing him as the man who “decides the rules of the industry”. They promised her support for going independent, in return requesting her to belong under the umbrella of Mr. Suoh and Mr. Taniguchi’s group, forcing her to see Mr. Taniguchi, which is simply put, a threat. A normal person would be intimidated by Mr. Ishii’s looks and physicality alone and be pressured to listen to his demands.
I was also used by them for a period of time.
It may come across as an excuse but the entertainment industry will never see the end to altercations with the local yakuza regarding profit. When I was requested to be the bodyguard, I initially thought that I would serve as the fixer for yakuza issues. In actuality, Suoh asked me to work for him after the shootings targeting him, which later turned out to be staged by nobody but Suoh himself. I did not for a second imagine that I would be asked to “destroy” or “kill” an actress when I first took the job.
“Join our group, otherwise we will side-line you from the industry”. This kind of statement would only come out of their mouths because they were full of themselves, and arrogant enough to think they were the ones to define the rules of this industry.
I strongly believe that the court should rule in favor of Ms. Yoshimatsu, so that they will no longer be able to put pressure on or prevent Ms. Yoshimatsu from enjoying a successful career in the entertainment industry. I believe this because from my own experience I can say, that as long as there are people like Mr. Taniguchi and Mr. Suoh allowed to stay in power in the industry and the media, things may temporarily seem to calm down but Ms. Yoshimatsu’s career in the Japanese entertainment industry will suffer from their obstruction in the future again.
Furthermore, I hope that there will be a severe ruling brought upon Mr. Genichi Taniguchi who has abused the power of Mr. Suoh “the Don of the industry”, manipulating many yakuzas including myself with no integrity whatsoever. This is because people like Mr. Suoh and Mr. Taniguchi are the ones that prevent the healthy growth of the Japanese entertainment industry and interfere with the truly talented young people pursuing their full potential.
I do not have much longer in this life, and I agreed to submit this statement as my final act of service to Japan, the country I love.
Jake’s note: I meet a lot of people and BG is a friend of a friend. So I took him to my usual haunts. One thing that you learn in life, is that there is a huge gap between how people see you and you see yourself. 灯台は元暗し. BG is an incredibly bright fellow and I hope he visits Japan again soon. The opinions expressed here as his own although most of them I found pretty true.
Trying to sum Jake Adelstein up as simply “a character,” as I attempted to do so with my colleagues, doesn’t do him a shred of justice. The Missouri-born journalist has been opening the kimono to expose everything from the complexities of the Yakuza to the expectedly bizarre Japanese porn industry for nearly 20 years now. In addition to being print published hundreds of times over, he is also a prolific online publisher for the likes of VICE and the Daily Beast and is one of the most active journalists on social media, clocking more than 50k tweets to his handle. However, despite his apparent digital fluency, he strikes me more of a throwback to a hard boiled, hard drinking detective meets justice above all gumshoe reporter.
I met Jake through a high school pal, a producer on the film adaptation of Jake’s personal memoir, TOKYO VICE. Apparently, Daniel Radcliffe is in negotiations to play Jake-san. I was intrigued a year ago when I saw the book on my pal’s shelf, and borrowed it but never got to reading it until I boarded a plane for Tokyo last week.
I read half, and listened to the rest on mp3. The stories were gripping and Jake’s commitment to his zig zag path was compelling, there was no question I had to meet dude.
The person that snuck up on me in the cinematic 25th floor Ritz lobby in Tokyo Midtown was not who I had expected. I’m a pretty good gauge of character when I meet somebody in person, but it just goes to show that a book on tape, a one-way monologue, reveals only a shred of insight.
I expected a soft-spoken ex-pat with a respectful low pro, which would make sense on an island that has a derogative term for foreigners (gaijin.) Or a writer who had chronicled his experience in TOKYO VICE as a nostalgic memoir, reflecting on the many brushes with death, unimaginable sex-capades, but who had thrown in the towel in exchange for some peace and quiet.
To the contrary, Jake is an anxiety ridden Tasmanian devil, both nervous and cocky. He surprised me as I contemplated my glass of Hibiki, instantly making me feel like a bourgeois pig.
“You Brandon?”
“Uh-huh”
“Here you go”
He presented me with a crumpled shopping bag containing a Foreign Reporter Press Club t-shirt, a gift of sorts and gesture that embodies his menschy Jewish roots with a far Eastern sensibility of hosting.
“You eat dinner?”
“No. Let’s do it.”
I threw the 40 bucks of whiskey back like I had just joined the Tokyo beat, gumshoes have not time to swirl. And then we were off, ears popping as the elevator free fell to the pristine Tokyo streets, the cleanliness now only a veneer after having read Jake’s book.
As we sped walked through the underground channels, I couldn’t help but feel like somebody may be following us, or maybe my imagination had grabbed a hold of TOKYO VICE and was running amuck. Regardless, Jake walks like a shoplifter who knows better than to run and call attention to his lift. I think this is his natural disposition, a neurotic energy, that if he were to cease moving may induce sempuku. A clumsy shark of sorts.
“I know this great Chinese place – it’s cheap and you can get a whole Peking Duck for next to nothing… you’ll like it and we can walk there.”
Cut to me just trying to keep up with his furious pace. He navigated us starting from the Ritz and through the underground walkways to our destination, the entire time, rifling from yakuza, the movie, and the Japanese porn industry. He led me into a magazine shop with no explanation, nearly bulldozing a few locals in the process. He operates with either reckless abandon only a person with little self awareness can in a country that takes politeness very seriously or with over-confidence, only afforded to those who’ve managed to penetrate the most protected institutions in Japan, never mind as a gaijin… Another dichotomy Jake embodies.
He grabs two magazines that look to may be porn, “these are really rare now. Here’s one for you and one for Adam [our mutual connection], I’ll explain what they are later.”
He never explains, but I know that they’re Yakuza fanzines from a reference in TOKYO VICE. Think People magazine for mafia fanboys.
We continue on our way. I consider jogging, two feet off the ground at once would be less strenuous. We arrive at a hidden restaurant up a flight in a non-descript building, only to walk in and find a bustling dining hall filled with locals and smoke.
We get a vat of sweet Chinese wine that tastes like shit. Jake insists he can only have a drink or two as he’s on deadline. We’re seated next to a gaggle of Japanese girls in their mid twenties. Our duck finally arrives, I’m drunk, and Jake offers the remaining bits to our neighbors. He has them cackling, he’s a naturally charming guy – though questionable whether he’d have the same mojo stateside. At this point, probably so. His triumphs in Japan, cracking a notoriously isolationist society has earned him stripes of confidence he can take anywhere, that much is obvious.
His phone rings and he takes the call at the table, leaving me to kibitz in broken Japanglish with the girls.
He barks into the phone in a familiar tone that tells me he has a lady at home expecting him not to be home too late. I can’t make out the conversation, as I’m struggling to not completely embarrass myself with my poor Japanese.
“I’ll do the translation tonight, don’t worry. [pause] Yes! I’m with a friend of the producer of the film right now. We’re eating. I’ll be home in an hour and do it, I promise.” The call is actually work related, however, all work for Jake is personal.
It seems that Jake’s always on deadline in an obsessive sort of way.
Jake shows me his phone, sharing a photo he claims is worth a billion dollars. It’s a yet to be released shot of a crime family boss with the president of Japan University, who’s also the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee. The implications for corruption are obvious. “I’m publishing a story on this. The reporter who originally had this was beaten severely.” It was my idea that we meet and get dinner in the first place so I naturally offered to treat when we first corresponded. When the waitress brings a to go bag with dishes never intended to be eaten during dinner I can only laugh to myself… journalism never has, and maybe never will pay, but I’m more than happy to subsidize the honest work of a damn good investigative journalist.
Jake clearly feeds off the danger. Sure enough the piece was published days later. I get a strange feeling, not that I’m a clairvoyant, but just sometime tells me that Jake is pushing his luck. He insists that he knows what he’s doing. But that’s what I’m afraid of.
It was my idea that we meet and get dinner in the first place so I naturally offered to treat when we first corresponded. When the waitress brings a to go bag with dishes never intended to be eaten during dinner I can only laugh to myself… journalism never has, and maybe never will pay, but I’m more than happy to subsidize the honest work of a damn good investigative journalist.
TOKYO VICE the movie is scheduled to start production in 2015 – but it’s a small miracle getting a feature film made in today’s market. I’m a fan of Daniel Radcliffe, so nothing against him, but I’ll be shocked if he can do justice to the real Jake-san.
“In life, we only encounter the injustices we were meant to correct.”
Igari Toshiro, ex-prosecutor, leading lawyer in the anti-organized crime movement in Japan. 1949-2010.
Igari Toshiro, was my lawyer, my mentor, and my friend. In the sixteen years I’ve been covering organized crime in Japan, I’ve never met anyone more courageous or inspiring–or anyone who actually looked as much like a pit-bull in human form. Igari-san was a legend in the law enforcement world, the author of several books on dealing with organized crime and preventing their incursion into the business world. He was the father of the “organized crime exclusion clause”, a simple but brilliant idea that is now embedded into most contracts in Japan and requires the signer to pledge that he is not a member of an organized crime group. It’s already been used to arrest one high-ranking yakuza boss, and is the basis for the legislation being adapted prefecture-by-prefecture that will make it a crime to pay off gangs or provide them with capital. He was rather disliked in the underworld.
The last time I spoke face-to-face with Igari was on August 8 2010. It was a Sunday; he had come back from Brazil and went directly from Narita Airport to his office to meet me. I asked him if he would cooperate in a documentary I was working on as consultant and a reporter for ●●● television, owned by NewsCorp, on the yakuza.
I also had a problem.
It’s rather simple: In 2008, I angered a yakuza boss named Goto Tadamasa, who was head of a 1,000-member strong faction of the country’s largest gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi. In an article published in the Washington Post, I wrote how he had sold out his own group to the FBI in order to get a visa for the United States so he could receive a liver transplant at UCLA. The article along with a subsequent book I helped write for Takarajima Publishing resulted in him being kicked out of the Yamaguchi-gumi on October 14, 2008. Takarijma, without bothering to warn me, published his biography this May. It’s a great book–except for a bit of subtle language that amounts to a yakuza-style fatwa on my life.
I asked Igari to help me deal with the fallout from the book. After much discussion, he and his two colleagues came up with a plan. His parting words were: “It’ll be a long battle. It’ll take money and courage, and you’ll have to come up with those on your own. But we’ll fight.”
On August 28th, his body was found in his vacation home in Manila, wrists slashed. Time of death unknown. It’s been ruled a suicide. Personally, I believe he was killed. I probably will never be able to prove it.
Igari had been working on his final book, Gekitotsu (Collision). It’s an amazing work that pulls no punches, using the real names of the yakuza and the politicians and individuals connected to them. He wrote, “Wherever it was possible, I made it a point to use the real names here. I’m aware that poses a huge risk for myself. I took that risk because I wanted to honestly write about my battles with the injustices hidden in our society and the results of those struggles. It’s proper to write the name of those you’ve fought.”
Ex-prosecutor and lawyer, Igari Toshiro, was a famous crusader in the war against organized crime. These are some of the book he authored.
Igari has been probably more influential than any individual in the anti-organized crime movement in Japan. As discussed above, he was the lawyer who first came up with the idea of the “organized crime member exclusionary clause” (暴力団排除条項). It was inspired by problems the Westin Hotel had when Goto-gumi and his posse stayed there and refused to leave, pointing out, “there’s nothing that says yakuza can’t stay at a hotel.” Igari realized that legally that could be accomplished since the Japanese government does designate organized crime groups and members officially. All it would take was adding a clause to any contract in which the individual signing has to clarify whether or not they are a yakuza, and if they are, the establishment reserves the right to unilaterally nullify the contract. It’s now part of almost any standard contract in Japan, even Sports Clubs. It has been used effectively by the police. A yakuza boss opening a bank account this year was later arrested for fraud because he lied about his yakuza affiliation on the contractual agreement with the bank. The organized crime exclusionary ordinances （暴力団排除条例）which are sweeping the country, prefecture by prefecture, were also his brain child. This year I met up with a high-ranking member of the National Police Agency, who had a copy of Igari’s book on his desk, and said, “In the war on organized crime, Igari-sensei was the equivalent of a five star general. He will be sorely missed.” The current head of the National Centre For The Elimination of Boryokudan was also very vocally supportive of Igari, adding, “the organized crime exclusionary ordinances would have never made into legislation if it hadn’t been for the man.” (There are now more than ten local governments in Japan with these ordinances on the book, which differ from prefecture to prefecture, but generally ban pay-offs to the yakuza or providing them with capital. Violators can be fined or jailed. Corporations that do business with yakuza will be publicly named. The ordinances have the potential of being a huge body blow to all organized crime groups, depriving them of protection money and capital. By punishing the individual or firm that capitulates to organized crime, it may have the same efficacy the change in the Commerce Laws had in eliminating racketeers-総会屋.)
Before leaving for Manila on vacation, he told his editor, “I’m nosing around in dangerous places. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. Let me sign the publishing contract now.”
In September, my best source in the Yamaguchi-gumi told me point blank: “Igari-san was murdered by the yakuza. It wasn’t Goto’s direct order. He was exposing yakuza ties to Sumo and professional baseball. It angered people. You should be careful too. The yakuza don’t warn people anymore, they just act.”
It’s a dangerous thing to expose the worst of the yakuza for what they are. Itami Juzo, directed the first realistic film about the yakuza, Minbo, in 1992. Goto-gumi members attacked him for doing it, slashing his face open. He would later tell the New York Times in an interview, “They cut very slowly, they took their time. They could have killed me if they wanted to.” Eventually they did. On December 20, 1997, after a weekly magazine wrote about his extra-marital affair, he allegedly killed himself. A former member of the Goto-gumi told me in 2008, “We set it up to stage his murder as a suicide. We dragged him up to the rooftop and put a gun in his face. We gave him a choice: jump and you might live or stay and we’ll blow your face off. He jumped. He didn’t live.”
In 2005, yakuza fan magazine writer Suzuki T wrote an article that poked fun at a yakuza group. They broke into his office and beat him to a pulp. In 2006, Yamaguchi-gumi thugs stabbed the son of non-fiction writer Mizoguchi Atsushi, because their boss was unhappy with one of his articles. Two members were arrested. Their boss was not. On April 17, 2007, the mayor of Nagasaki was gunned down after refusing local yakuza involvement in public works projects.
I try to be very careful when writing about the yakuza, and mindful of my sources, some of whom are members. I hate to admit it, but there are still those in the organizations that do follow a code of honor.
I understand the unwritten rules in Japan. Yakuza fan magazines are sold here in the open: three weeklies, three monthlies. They do interviews with current yakuza bosses, but the questions are limited and there is an implicit understanding that even after the interview is done, the boss reserves the right to edit or scrap it. As one veteran detective explained to me, “if you violate that rule, there will be harassment and often retaliation.”
I probably didn’t communicate that fact well enough to the ●●● television production crew that came to Japan. Through the sources I introduced they interviewed three current yakuza members, but didn’t alert me that they ran into trouble. The best I could do was warn the local National Geographic offices about it and talk to the head office in Washington DC. They were very responsive and hopefully nothing will come of it. But if it does, it will be my sources and the local Japanese staff who take the hit. I’m not an easy target because I’m under police protection. The staff are not.
The yakuza don’t have much pull in the US. They harass whoever will give them leverage. It’s why I don’t move my family back to Japan and why leaving Japan is not an option for me. I have to take care of my sources. It’s my responsibility.
I went to Igari’s offices in September to pay my respects; there was no funeral. There was a little shrine for him in his office, but everything was pretty much as he’d left it. On his desk, was an article about the Sumo Association and match rigging, heavily noted. His secretary told me, “Igari-san was really happy to take your case. He laughingly bragged to everyone, ‘I’m representing a reporter for National Geographic–that makes me an international lawyer!’ ” I could visualize him saying that with his deep, rolling laugh.
Grief is a funny thing. Seeing his empty desk, for the first time I got a little misty-eyed. Not too much, because there were people around, you know. It wasn’t very manly, but I didn’t cry.
You may wonder why I keep doing a job that is increasingly dangerous. I wonder myself. Partly, it’s because Japan is my home. I’ve lived here for more than twenty years. I’d like it to be a better place. In the old days, we’d call that civic duty.
I once asked Igari-san over wine, “Have you ever been threatened? Do you ever fear for your life?” He didn’t answer my question directly.
“I became a prosecutor because I wanted to see justice done in this world. When I quit and became a lawyer, I didn’t go to work for the yakuza like many ex-prosecutors do. I continued to fight them. Not all yakuza are bad guys, but 95 percent of them are leeches on society: they exploit the weak, they prey on the innocent, they cause great suffering. If you capitulate, if you run away, you’ll be chased for the rest of your life. And if you’re being chased, eventually what is chasing you will catch up. Step back and you’re dead already. You can only stand your ground and pursue. Because that’s not only the right thing to do, that’s the only thing to do.”
And so I stay. Igari-san wasn’t an investigative journalist and he wasn’t a saint. But he fought for justice and for truth, and as an investigative journalist, I’ve always believed that’s what our job entailed. Forgive me if that sounds naive. I believe that, if no one stands up to the anti-social forces in the world, then we all lose.Igari-san wasn’t an investigative journalist and he wasn’t a saint. But he fought for justice and for truth, and as an investigative journalist, I’ve always believed that’s what our job entailed. Forgive me if that sounds naive. I believe that, if no one stands up to the anti-social forces in the world, then we all lose.
When I called Igari’s editor, he knew who I was. He told me, “Igari said you’re the most trustworthy, crazy, and courageous journalist he knew.” It’s the first time I’ve ever been praised by the dead, and more than I deserve. But it made me feel an obligation to live up to those words. Sometimes, the only way to honor the dead is to fight for what they died for. It’s the only way I know how to mourn.
Memo: Autopsies are only done for 4% of the suicides in Japan. In the last two years several cases ruled to be suicides later turned out to be murder. Check out this excellent investigative article translated from the Yomiuri Shinbun. I would imagine staging a murder as suicide in the Phillipines is even easier than doing it in Japan.
Japan plans to restart its troubled nuclear fuel reprocessing facility, Rokkasho (六ヶ所再処理工場) in October of this year, but is that a good idea? Experts say Japan should simply shutter its nuclear reprocessing plants & avoid making more dangerous plutonium. Why doesn’t this happen? We decided to see if we could explain. Here is our short primer on the nuclear fuel cycle follies of the land of the rising sun.
Why do most nuclear power dependent countries including Japan want to reprocess spent nuclear fuel?
This is a very good question. If you have no idea what reprocessing nuclear fuel is all about, please hold on. We’ll get to that. Let’s talk a little bit about nuclear plants in general.
Guess what? Building a nuclear power plant on a volcanic island isn’t a good idea. In fact, it’s probably very dangerous and stupid. This is the conclusion the island nation of Taiwan reached last week. Taiwan’s government said on Thursday it would seal off a nuclear power plant due to open next year. The public has repeatedly criticized the plant as unsafe, and it will be shut for three years, at a cost of nearly 162 million dollars, pending a referendum on its future.
Meanwhile, under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan is rushing to restart its nuclear reactors (despite widespread opposition) and plans to reopen the dysfunctional Rokkasho Nuclear Reprocessing Facility in October. Japan’s plans to have a self-perpetuating nuclear fuel cycle have been a colossal & expensive failure—and the Rokkasho facility (as well as many other nuclear facilities) pose a serious threat to the safety of those living near them and possibly the rest of the world. Japan’s nuclear security is poor at best and the workers are not screened making them a potential target for terrorists.
Mr. Frank von Hippel, Professor Emeritus of Princeton University, and Mr. Klaus Janberg, former CEO of a German nuclear service company and nuclear advisor, told reporters in Tokyo last month that storage of spent nuclear fuel should be an alternative to the reopening of the Rokkasho Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant operational this year. Mr. Hippel is the former Assistant Director for National Security in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He advised the Clinton White House on aspects of the joint U.S.-Russian non-proliferation programs.
Why does Japan reprocess nuclear fuel even though it would be far cheaper to store it (saving at least 2 billion dollars a year)? Because they don’t have enough space.
As mentioned above, Japan’s nuclear reprocessing plant is planned to finally start running by this October, after more than 20 years of disastrous attempts to make it work. In July of this year, the two nuclear experts proposed to the Japanese government, including the Foreign Ministry and METI (Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry) officials that it would be advisable to install dry cask spent fuel storage units at nuclear power plants sites and elsewhere to prevent the Rokkasho reprocessing plant from generating plutonium that would further increase Japan’s excess stock. They said their proposal could help implement possible alternatives to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s commitment made at this year’s March Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague not to possess plutonium reserves without specified purposes. Abe pledged to minimize stocks of separated plutonium by matching supply and demand.
The two experts spoke at the FCCJ on July 1st about Nuclear Security and Reprocessing: Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Option & an Alternative to the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. We have summarized the Q & A below, adding exposition where we felt it was needed.
Frank von Hippel, Professor Emeritus of Princeton University (left) Klaus Janberg (right), Former CEO of Gesellschaft für Nuklear Service, experts in the nuclear industry say Japan should leave Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant shut and store nuclear waste.
Why do most nuclear power dependent countries including Japan want to reprocess spent nuclear fuel?
The Rokkasho plutonium plant was built to end Japan’s dependence on imported uranium, oil, gas and coal. Most countries started civilian reprocessing to acquire plutonium breeder reactors, like the Monju breeder reactor, in Japan. It turned out that such reactors are much more expensive and much less reliable than water-cooling reactors. Currently, the argument in Japan is that spent fuel pools are filling up and it is necessary to have a place where to send the spent fuel. Rokkasho is the only place.
This chart shows how nuclear fuel reprocessing would work ideally. “Let’s recycle our limited important resources!” Yes, let’s. Just don’t spill any plutonium or let the bad kids get any.
“TEPCO and KEPCO (Kansai Electric Power Company) built and completed in Mutsu city, in Aomori Prefecture, a spent fuel storage facility, which would be much enough for storing the spent fuel but Aomori, which also hosts the Rokkasho reprocessing plant is reluctant to use the storage facility unless the reprocessing plans begins,” says Frank von Hippel, He explained it was a political problem rather than a technological problem.
There is a nuclear fuel storage facility not being used due to political reasons rather than technical ones.
Several countries like the UK an the US have also tried to operate plutonium “breeder” programs but abandoned them after several accidents occurred and because they have come to the conclusion that it was not economically feasible. They are now struggling with what to do with the tons of leftover plutonium.
Japan is the last state without nuclear weapons to still reprocess spent nuclear fuel.
Japanese officials also know how costly it is to continue the project that started almost thirty years ago. But why do they insist continuing the process?
“Keep the zombie alive”
Why does Japan cling to its spent nuclear fuel reprocessing program despite all the economic and technical problems?
Japan cannot stop its nuclear fuel cycle plans because the Japanese government has an agreement with Aomori Prefecture, where the Rokkasho plant (located in Rokkasho village) was built. If they can’t reprocess the spent fuel stored there, Aomori Prefecture will remove it immediately. According to high Japanese government officials, the agreement is equivalent to an international treaty, therefore it cannot be turned over. Besides, Japan has nowhere else to move away the fuel. And which country in the world outside of Japan could ever take it? Right now, all the spent nuclear fuel (使用済み核燃料) stored at Japan’s nuclear facilities, on the assumption that it can be reprocessed, is counted as an asset by the power companies.
If Japan abandons its nuclear fuel cycle plans, the “asset” would become a huge liability and every single electric power company would become insolvent. In other words, as long as the pipe-dream of nuclear fuel reprocessing is government policy, the nuclear waste itself— is an asset; it has value. But if the stored fuel is found to have no value, than the fuel and the costs of storing it–all of this become a liability. If this were to happen, TEPCO, (Tokyo Electric Power Company) is already a de facto insolvent entity. The so-called nuclear village insists that this would be disastrous for the Japanese economy.
The current administration wants to make sure Rokkasho is ready to go and restart reactors to keep TEPCO alive. If TEPCO has another fiscal period where they are in the red, banks will stop lending them money. Restarting the reactors is one way to keep the TEPCO zombie alive.
Now, you may counter by saying, “Hey didn’t TEPCO make 4 billion dollars last year?” Yes, well part of that was a gift from the Abe government which agreed to pick up 47 billion yen (That’s $458,134,380) worth of cleanup costs for the water leaking out of Fukushima—because TEPCO was doing such a lousy job. Okay, well, 3.5 billion is still a great profit. And TEPCO will stay in the black—just as long as nuclear waste is considered an asset.
Some current and former U.S. officials said they expect Japanese officials will abandon their plutonium fuel program once they realize how much it will cost. But it isn’t happening.
The US has been building a MOX plant for its excess weapon plutonium, it was supposed to be operating in 2007 but experts are now saying it can start by 2020. But it has become so expensive that the Obama Administration is talking about abandoning the project and trying to find another cheaper way to the plutonium disposal management.
But for Japan, which is supposed to be a country of honor and promises kept, it is very unlikely. Reportedly, Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda in 1977 called the program’s promise of energy independence a “life and death” issue, and that attitude persists at the highest level of the Japanese government.
“It is in the Japanese mentality to never go back after they made an agreement,” a prominent anti-nuclear activist and attorney told JSRC when discussing the agreements in place that keep Aomori’s Rokkasho plant alive.
How safe is the Rokkasho plant from terrorism? The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is formerly responsible for ensuring that plutonium does not get removed from the Rokkasho plant by a third party, how accurate is the system installed there since it is going to start operating this October?
The measures and accuracies for the IAEA checks that plutonium won’t leak from the plant is of about 1%. If operating at full capacity, it would separate about 8 thousand kg of plutonium per year. Therefore 1% accuracy is about 80kg. The IAEA considers 8kg is enough to make a nuclear weapon. In other words, if the 1% not accounted for was actually stolen, it would be enough material to produce the equivalent of 10 nuclear weapons in a year. The IAEA recognizes that that’s not good enough, and added a system they called “surveillance and containment,” to monitor all the doors to ensure the plutonium could not be stolen.
“I don’t know about Rokkasho. The problem is that there is no way to check within the accuracy measurement that everything is still there. Reprocessing is recognized as a serious problem for safeguards and for these reasons, even though the IAEA spends globally 20% of its safeguard budget on Rokkasho and Tokaimura, it is recognized as being a hugely costly operation,” Frank von Hippel explained.
The US spends about a billion us dollars a year for the security of nuclear materials. Even so, the US still has some problems. Last year, an 82 year-old nun reportedly penetrated the security system and went to the central part of a nuclear facility. There is no perfect security. “The only perfect security is to not have the nuclear material in the first place.” Von Hippel said. “If you aren’t making nuclear weapons, I’d argue that nobody needs to have the nuclear material that could be used to build them.” (Of course, some would argue that Japan wants plutonium precisely for those reasons.)
Final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel: at which stage is the nuclear material less harmful?
The fuel is the most dangerous when it’s in the reactor, becomes less dangerous when it goes into a pool, even less dangerous when it goes into a cask, and least dangerous when the cask is buried deep underground. The two countries that understood that it isn’t in their best interests to keep the spent fuel on the surface of the earth forever are Sweden and Finland. The issue in Japan may be the suitability of the geological situation of the country. Those casks that contains spent fuel elements under helium that keeps the fuel intact—they can keep the fuel for about 38 or 39 years.
Why do the power companies not want to abandon nuclear power?
Nihon Gennen, the company which owns the Rokkasho plant, is currently bearing a huge debt for the construction of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant, and the electric power companies are guaranteeing/insuring this debt. The current law states that the money to pay back the debt with the fund raised by the consumers can’t be used if the Rokkasho reprocessing plant is not running. The moment you say that you stop the Rokkasho reprocessing plant, Nihon Gennen will go bankrupt. And the debt will be a loss for the electric power companies. The major electric power companies will register a collective loss of about 2 trillion yen and those companies can’t endure this.
Instead of thinking about all these impossible things, Japan believes it will be easier to start running the reprocessing plant. If the reprocessing plant becomes operational, there will be an additional amount of plutonium that will be produced, and that plutonium will be useless without the Monju plant running. In which case the plutonium will have to be burnt with (plutonium thermal use) MOX fuel. And therefore they can’t stop the MOX plant either.
As long as Rokkasho and Monju keep running, the power companies make money—if they are put out of commission, the power companies fail. All the politicians, scholars, ex-bureaucrats, investors and their cronies who are riding the nuclear gravy train will be left out in the cold and suffer losses as well. The so-called costs of nuclear energy do not take into account compensations for disaster, nor the costs of storing nuclear waste for centuries. The cost is only cheap for the power companies—the taxpayers pick up the rest of the bill. The storage facilities for nuclear waste in Japan are nearly full and no one wants to take them.
Kei Shimada, a japanese photographer and director of the documentary movie “Rokkasho Mirai” (2013) told JSRC that at the time under the DPJ, right after the Fukushima nuclear accident, when the cabinet proposed the zeroing out of nuclear power stations in all Japan, the head of Rokkasho village and the city hall members opposed the phasing out of nuclear energy and they repeatedly went to Tokyo to demand the continuation of the nuclear energy policy.
“As for the villagers, there are so many of them who work at the Rokkasho plant, that in case a zero nuclear energy policy in Japan is decided, and in case the Rokkasho plant has to close, they will all lose their jobs. That’s the kind of reaction I heard from the villagers of Rokkasho when the government was walking towards a no nuke policy. Therefore, I think that after the LDP started ruling the country, the people around Rokkasho were happy about the movement to restart the nuclear power plants. But it doesn’t mean that the anxiety has disappeared. I think the people are anxious, but they are also torn between the fact that they will loose their jobs and therefore their living.”
The Rokkasho reprocessing plant is designed to extract metal from spent reactor fuel. If it starts running this time, it will separate more plutonium, despite the fact that Japan already has about 45 tons of it stockpiled in Europe and domestically–enough for more than 5,000 nuclear bombs. The US and the IAEA has continually raised concerns that the lax security at Japan’s nuclear power plants—which do not even run background checks on the workers–and tolerate yakuza (gangsters) working on site–could make them a target for terrorists. However, when we examine the history of mismanagement and incompetence of the utility companies running the plants, it seems the greatest credible nuclear threat of them all is yet another accident.
Notes:
Several JSRC members contributed to this post.
Frank von Hippel is Professor of Public and International Affairs, emeritus and co-chair International Panel on Fissile Materials. He served as Assistant Director for National Security in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (1994-5). Nuclear consultant Klaus Janberg managed the development and production of the casks at GNS that provide interim storage for spent fuel in Germany and a number of other countries.
The Fifth Tokyo Prosecutorial Board announced a decision yesterday that three former executives of the Tokyo Electric Power (東京電力）company, including former Chariman Tsunehisa Katsumata (勝俣恒久元会長) should be prosecuted for criminal negligence resulting in death and injury for the triple nuclear meltdown in March of 2011. They also scolded the Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office (TPO)for letting them off the hook. The Prosecutorial Review Board oversees the decisions of the prosecutors to try or not try a case. The TPO now has to consider the decision and decide whether to reopen the investigation or attempt to close the case again.
The accident at Fukushima Nuclear Power plant resulted in over a 100,000 people being displaced and possibly a surge in thyroid cancer in children living in the area. TEPCO workers also drowned to death on site after being sent to check on equipment in the basement despite a looming tidal wave. The manager of the Fukushima plant died of throat cancer this year. TEPCO claims it had no connection to the radiation exposure he received while working at the facilities.
TEPCO executives might possibly be prosecuted for criminal negligence resulting in death and injury over the 3/11 triple nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. But will justice prevail? The odds are as good as there never being another nuclear accident in Japan. Ahem. TEPCO did admit after censure from a National Diet Investigatory Body that it had lied about it’s understanding of the risk, but it’s hard to believe that after being documented as lying to the public again and again that it will change its corporate. However, with the bad image they have now maybe a more honest name would win them back public confidence. Better the enemy you know than…..
However, if the Tokyo Prosecutorial Board again rules that prosecution of the TEPCO executives is warranted then a team of lawyers will be chosen to play the role of the prosecutors and the accused will be charged. An independent government investigatory board, National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission, concluded in 2012 that the nuclear accident could have been prevented and that TEPCO management was criminally negligent.
Last year TEPCO made 4 billion dollars in profits, much of it due to the Abe administration’s decision to bear huge amounts of the costs of the Fukushima nuclear disaster clean-up.
The Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office is well aware of how unpopular their decisions to let the TEPCO executives go scot free would be. The news that there would be no prosecution was leaked on the day it was also announced that Japan would hold the 2020 Olympics.
Prior to the 2020 Olympics, Abe also assured that the nuclear clean-up at Fukushima was “under control”. The next day media reports about radioactive water seeping ing into the ground soil and contaminating the ocean made him look very foolish and dishonest. Perhaps that was the inspiration for the Special Secrets Act which his administration rammed into law on a night in December last year, which will cripple press freedom and allow almost all nuclear issues to be labelled “top secret”—criminalising reporting on them. (We can be sure the Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office will leap to do those cases.)
A special prize to whoever figures out the day the TPO are most likely to bury the news that they are going to ignore the Tokyo Prosecutorial Board and do nothing. We could be wrong. We’d like to hope we are.
(This was originally posted on February 18th, 2014. A day later, a woman in Gunma Prefecture was most probably shot to death by her stalker)
February 21st, 2014 . Updated again on February 22nd, 2014.
Stalking in Japan is a serious problem and the laws can’t seem to catch up with it. On the 19th of this month, yet another woman was apparently killed by her stalker.
“To build a Buddha image but not to put in the soul (仏作って魂入れず/Hotoke tsukutte tamashii irezu)” is a well-known saying stemming from a folk belief that statues of Buddhist deities are meant to have a spiritual presence. In other words, it’s a metaphor for making something that’s structurally sound but missing the most vital components.
Japan’s antistalking laws are a good example. Although they have been on the books since November 2000, they are deeply flawed, outdated — and poorly enforced for a multitude of reasons, including problems endemic in Japanese police culture.
The result of these “life-less” laws is that innocent people keep losing their lives. The most recent victim appears to be a 26 year old female who was shot to death on the 19th this month.
According to news reports and other sources, on February 19th (2014) around 3pm, Chihiro Suzuki, aged 26, was shot in the head at a supermarket in Tatebayashi City in Gunman Prefecture. She died almost immediately. The police suspect the assailant was her former boyfriend. Last November (2013), she consulted with the police in Tochigi Prefecture about being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. The police acted quickly and arrested him for assault. He was fined and released. The Tochigi Prefecure Police, in accordance with the anti-stalking laws, issued him a warning to stay away from Ms. Suzuki. The Tochigi police urged her to move out of the prefecture, advice that she followed and moved to Gunma Prefecture in December of the same year. The Gunma Police, in cooperation with the Tochigi Police, kept in contact with her on a regular basis to assure her safety but she was not under constant police protection.
Her wallet was found with cash still inside the car at the crime scene. The police believe that it makes the possibility of a robbery unlikely. They were unable to get in contact with her former boyfriend. (UPDATE) The suspect was found in his car on the 22nd, dead from what is presumed to be a self-inflicted shot to the stomach*.
In October of 2013, 33-year-old Rie Miyoshi, a newlywed living in the Kanagawa Prefecture city of Zushi. She had repeatedly asked the police there to protect her from her ex-boyfriend, who was stalking her both online and stealthily in the real world.
Between January and August of 2012, police issued 1,511 warnings against stalkers — a figure already surpassing the all-time high of 1,384 for the whole of 2007. 1n 2011, when 1,288 warnings were made to alleged violators of the antistalking laws, only 205 arrests were made, according to the National Police Agency (NPA).
Recently, even the wife of the Prime Minister of Japan has raised her voice in protest about Japan’s lackluster stalking laws and a failure to enforce them. Together with former Miss International, Ikumi Yoshimatsu, they have launched a petition drive to encourage serious change in the laws and concrete actions. Ms. Yoshimatsu writes in the petition:
As a first step, I ask that you establish a taskforce to investigate stalking and violence against women with the objective of laying out an immediate national strategy to address these issues and offer real protection for women.Out of all the industrialized nations, Japan is by far the lowest ranking country on Gender Equality. –A disgraceful 105 out of 136 countries.We need strict anti-stalking laws and strong punishment for perpetrators of crimes against women. We need a police force that will protect women and immediately act to prevent stalking and intimidation.We need Restraining Orders granted by the courts for any woman who has been threatened, BEFORE she is actually harmed, murdered, or forced to commit suicide. We need media that report on these issues without fear. Without protecting the women of Japan, our country will never enjoy the economic and moral benefits of a truly equal society.
For those of you who don’t want to wade through a lengthy article, our resident social critic and manga writer, Kaori Shoji, explains it all for you in manga fashion (Note: the comic was written in 2013, so it’s a little out of date) If you encounter a stalker in Japan, go to the police. They are more helpful than they have been in the past. Which isn’t saying a lot…but it’s better. The police are trying to deal with the problem but when stalkers are simply fined and let out of jail, can there victims really be safe?
Note to the stalkers of the world: If you want to prove to your victim how much you love them, kill yourself first before killing them. It will leave a lasting impression. Yes, if you kill yourself first it will be difficult to kill them so no one else can have them but at least they’ll know you loved them. Just skip the murder and go directly to your own suicide.
Nitta Tatsuo’s Shizukanaru Don (静かなるドン), translated into English as The Quiet Don, began publication in November 1988 in the men’s manga magazine Shukan Manga Sunday (Weekly Manga Sunday) and ran until the January 2013 issue when it concluded with a 50 page chapter. The cover of that final issue had the two major characters set against a night sky and text announcing this final chapter of this long running series. The series was so long running there are a total of 108 tankobon of the series, the last volume being released on June 29, 2013, with well over 1,000 chapters selling over 44 million copies. The last volume had the same image of magazine cover except with a sunrise in the background.
Underwear designer by day, yakuza by night. The Quiet Don
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This is a gag manga about yakuza, not the most humorous subject. However laughter goes well with the contrast of the stereotypical scary tough yakuza of Japanese entertainment and gags, often at their expense.
This is a tale of a mild-mannered salaryman who works in the design department of a lingerie company, and the tale of a tough young yakuza boss who is head of the largest yakuza organization in Kanto region of Japan. The salaryman is the bottom man in his office— short, sloppy, meek, picked on, yelled at. His habit of regularly producing bungled designs don’t do him any favors either. On the other hand the sharply dressed young yakuza boss radiates authority, impressing everyone who happens to meet him.
The contrast between these two is especially interesting because, in reality, they are one and the same person. Born into a high-ranking yakuza family, Shizuya Kondo wanted to distance himself from the dark dubious trade of his parents and walk in the light of day as an ordinary person. He worked at creating such a life for himself and became a designer for the lingerie company Pretty. However fate had something different in store for him. One day, after scolding him for another failed design, Shizuya’s boss turns on the office TV to watch the first broadcast of the company’s new commercial. A news alert comes on: Isamiashi Kondo, the head of the Shinsengumi, has been shot by members of the Choshu-kai. Shizuya is unable come up with an excuse to leave early and after work rushes to the hospital, only to find his father has just passed away.
At the funeral for their kumicho, the tension is thick between the major oyabun in the group as they vie for the organization’s most prestigious seat. Shizuya’s mother takes him aside and explains that the only way to prevent a bloody internal struggle is for him to take command. He reluctantly does so on the condition that he keep his day job and carry out his role as a yakuza boss at other times. Comedy ensues as Shizuya works to balance the two sides of his life, and the two sides of his persona.
This is a story that will delight Japanophiles of all kinds. As seen from the names above, the story contains characters and groups named after many famous foes and persons from the Bakumatsu period of the mid 19th century. On a more contemporary front, The Quiet Don began near the end of the bubble economy of the 1980s, giving readers a glimpse of a booming Japanese economy, the glitter and glamor of hostess clubs included. We’re also taken to see small neighborhood eateries, middle ranking yakuza operating modest enterprises, and salarymen trying to do their job in a very competitive environment. Another interesting touch is Shizuka’s mother. She’s drawn in a dramatically different style that manga fans will identify as the high realism of Ryoichi Ikegami, a manga artist who has also drawn yakuza manga such as the Sanctuary series.
For all of the drama contained in The Quiet Don this is a gag manga filled with slapstick, very earthy humor, humorous situations, and a great mix of references to 19th century history with late 20th century reality.
The yakuza are portrayed as competitive as the corporations, both between gangs and internally, trying to rise up the ranks. Often, this is a gag manga after all, they are buffoons whose grandstanding is obvious to the reader. The yakuza side of Shizuya Kondo at first comes off as eccentric and weak, but those around him soon start to realize just why his mother says he is most capable of leading the organization. There is in fact a beast lurking inside this mild office worker, one more than capable of strategies and action to handling the fiercest opponents, one-on-one or in a showdown against other bosses at a major event. But then, as a salaryman, he is also capable of lowering himself to dancing in his underwear to amuse drunken coworkers at a hot spring resort. Romance also plays a role in the story with Kondo having to keep his darker persona secret from the woman he loves and who knows him as a bumbling co-worker.
Behind those sunglasses lurks a nice guy who just wants to make great women’s underwear. In the final issue, is he finally united with his true love? It’s not quite clear…but one can hope.
The first 15 volumes of the manga are available in English for the iPad via the ZQ Books app created by NTT Solmare, you can get the app from the iTunes store. Also, don’t expect to pick up yakuza related vocabulary from this translation. The translation is rough with many terms in English that could have been left in Japanese. These days readers of English translated manga are used to Japanese terms left un-translated when there is no real English equivalent. One example of a word that could have been left untranslated is oyabun consistently translated as “father”.
Also the English translation of the first two volumes is available in the US, and possibly other areas, as an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Each volume is broken up into four parts that are sold separately. It will also display on an iPad in a small window. There is a free app that gives a preview of the manga, so it’s easy to try out some of the early story. The downside with the iPhone version is that reading manga on small screens leaves plenty to be desired as you are basically doing it one frame at a time, making it hard to maintain a reading rhythm as you have to tap to go to the next image (or in the case of large frames, wait for the system to scan across).
All in all, the story of The Quiet Don is compelling, the characters full of depth, and it’s easy to understand how this series ran for over 20 years. There have even been adaptations of the story, including an OVA (straight to video anime), a TV drama series and two movies, both of the movies have been released in subtitled versions through iTunes in North America and perhaps elsewhere.
When the series ended the author stated that he had written enough of this series in the 24 years it ran. Less than 6 months later the “Grand Finale” issue of Shukan Manga Sunday was published with a group image of characters from many series, including Shizuya Kondo, on the front cover.
(Jake’s note: In addition, there is a long out of production computer game/interactive manga based on the book that in some ways may have been the model for Sega’s popular Yakuza series. I don’t know any yakuza with sons that went into the apparel business but I do know one mid-level yakuza enforcer who’s son became a hairdresser. He is not interested in taking over “the family business”, and his father seems very happy with that decision.)
*About the author of this piece, see below. Check his blog out for more on Anime and Japanese pop culture.
