Tokyo Noir

In and out of Japan's Underworld

By: Jake Adelstein

Narrated by: Jake Adelstein, Shoko Plambeck

A darkly comic sequel to Tokyo Vice that is equal parts history lesson, true-crime exposé, and memoir.

It’s 2008, and it’s been a while since Jake Adelstein was the only gaijin crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun. The global economy is in shambles, Jake is off the police beat but still chain-smoking clove cigarettes, and Tadamasa Goto, the most powerful boss in the Japanese organized crime world, has been banished from the yakuza, giving Adelstein one less enemy to worry about—for the time being. But as he puts his life back together, he discovers that he may be no match for his greatest enemy—himself.

And Adelstein has a different gig these days: due diligence work, or using his investigative skills to dig up information on entities whose bosses would prefer that some things stay hidden.

The underworld isn’t what it used to be. Underneath layers of paperwork, corporations are thinly veiled fronts for the yakuza. Pachinko parlors are a hidden battleground between disenfranchised Korean, Japanese, and North Korean extortion plots. TEPCO, the electric power corporation keeping the lights on for all of Tokyo, scrambles to hide its willful oversights that ultimately led to the 2011 Fukushima meltdown. And the Japanese government shows levels of corruption that make the yakuza look like philanthropists in comparison. All this is punctuated by personal tragedies no one could have seen coming.

In this ambitious and riveting work, Jake Adelstein explores what it’s like when you’re in too deep to distinguish the story you chase from the life you live.

©2024 Jake Adelstein (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Could not get enough of this story!

I love that it was read by the author. I learned so much about Tokyo and yakuza and Japan in this book.

Jake Adelstein's story is wildly entertaining

I have listened to every one of Jake Adelstein's audiobooks and his presentation style is as compelling as the actual story he is telling. Aside from his personal reminiscences, all of which are shared with the candor and emotion that only a first-person can convey, the historical/factual portions of the story appear to be well researched and contribute valuable context to the story. I would love to spend a long weekend talking with this guy and suspect that would still only touch the surface of his incredibly rich life.

Another Fantastic Insight into Japans Seedy Underbelly

If you liked Tokyo Vice or The Last Yakuza, you will certainly love Tokyo Noir. Seems like a bit of an End cap for the Authors Life and Career in Japan, but I certainly hope this isn't the last I'll read one of Jake Adelsteins books. A surprising amount of personal insight, a lot of heart and heartbreak in this one.

Excellent, heartbreaking continuation

Two Jake Adelstein books in one year? In some solipsistic way, I feel like this is proof there is a God and he loves me.

Tokyo Vice is an all time favorite book and I've revisites it on multiple occasions. Both The Last Yakuza and Tokyo Noir are excellent follow ups. Jake has really lived a one of a kind life for a gaijin and his knowledge and insights into the Japanese business, political and underworlds is incomparable. I want to read the exposes his colleagues wrote that were mentioned in this book as well.

par for the course

I've listened to all of his books and all of them are examples of perfect writing and even better performance; and absolute pleasure to listen to this book.