Tokyo Vice

‘Mr Adelstein’s book expertly melds classic writing about the police beat - replete with its public corpses, clean or rotten cops, smoky rooms and gangsters who eventually seek redemption - with a candid journalistic memoir that details this profession’s moral and mental dilemmas. At the centre is a complex protagonist - both jaded and emotionally deep - whose drive and positive impact win respect as he offers, perhaps, something as rare and fascinating as a black pearl, namely the most compelling insider’s expose yet of Japan’s opaque society.’ -Washington Times

‘Tokyo Vice is about Japanese subculture. Adelstein instructs us in the vagaries of Japanese journalism and provides a gamy, colourful tour of the morally flexible areas of Japan, particularly in Tokyo. He also shows how Japanese police work and interact with journalists. Adelstein shares juicy, salty, and occasionally funny anecdotes, but many are frightening.’ -Carlo Wolff, The Boston Globe

‘A gripping and absorbing read. Very few foreigners ever come close to discovering what’s really going on in Japan’s closed society. Adelstein chases two major stories that pull him into a vortex of destruction, threatening his friendships, his marriage and even his life. As he battles with profound issues concerning truth and trust, Tokyo Vice approaches a heart-pounding denouement. This is a terrifying, deeply moral story which you cannot put down, and Adelstein, if occasionally reckless, is an extremely courageous man.’ -Misha Glenny, author of McMafia- a journey through the global criminal underworld

Jake Adelstein was a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper, from 1993 to 2005, and from 2006 to 2007 was the chief investigator for a US State Department-sponsored study of human trafficking in Japan. He is also the public relations director for the Washington, D.C.-based Polaris Project Japan, which combats human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in the sex trade. Adelstein has written for The Daily Beast/Newsweek, The Independent, and The Guardian, and is a regular contributor to The Atlantic Wire. He has appeared on CNN, NPR, the BBC, and other media outlets as a commentator on yakuza-related news and Japan’s nuclear industry giant, TEPCO.