The great Japan-centric reading fest has begun. And it started with a Jake Edelstein journalistic bang. “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan,” is now a television series, but I would start with the book. Japan is unique, so to work as a foreigner at the best newspaper in the country takes fortitude, thick skin, language ability and guts. All of these things rule me out, so I have great appreciation for what Edelstein did. This book is a fun, fast read, and anyone with journalism in their background will appreciate the newsroom relationships, or lack thereof. (The locals refer to him as a barbarian.)
The Japan of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s was very different from the Japan of today.
Sleazy, hyper-specific fetish Japan of old has been phased out for the most part, but Edelstein got to land right in the middle of the hostess bars, murders, yakuza and more.(I know this is still plenty of wildlife to be found in Japan, but based on what friends tell me, things are less wild now.) What’s a guy not to like. Being a foreigner works both in his favor and against him. His stories often take years to file, and the behind-the-scenes relationship building is am amazing look into Japanese culture and protocol. I enjoyed this book, even though it completely fell apart minutes after I began reading it. Get it, read it.
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Not that I was anywhere near that world the tv series did make me feel a little nostalgic for the early days of the late 1990s/early 2000s when my life in Japan was just beginning.
Adelstein was a bit of a legend among the foreign community here.
Author
He seemed like an anomaly.