Tokyo Vice

Adelstein chronicles his life as a gaijin reporter for the Tokyo Yomiuri, most of which was spent on the police beat. When he uncovered evidence that one of the biggest yakuza bosses received a liver transplant in California, with cooperation by the US, he ran into serious trouble. This wasn't quite the potboiler it was advertised to be, and honestly a bit of a bore. Adelstein sits on the fence here between memoir and expose, and the book really could've been either one ... but not both. Jake-san actually writes like a couple of Japanese authors I love (but without their sophistication), at times sounding like early Murakami without all the magic. Still a decent read if you have a passing interest in modern Japanese culture.

Noted on April 10, 2010