By Jake Adelstein
So, you want to become a Gokudokisha 極道記者, or rather, a journalist who writes about the yakuza? Then you should now there are some unwritten rules you will be expected to follow. (Read more about yazuka fan magazines here.)
1) No writing about ongoing criminal ventures or front companies.
2) When writing about yakuza arrested for extortion, assault and other crimes, the tone must be neutral.
3) Yakuza who are arrested for crimes such as theft and armed robbery should be treated as heretics, since those are, presumably, two crimes yakuza don’t commit. Street crimes, such as muggings, are off limits as well.
4) When covering new laws regulating the yakuza, the reportage must be disapproving and suggest that that the laws are actually an attack on civil liberties.
5) Don’t make any jokes about the yakuza or individual yakuza groups or leaders.
All said, when it comes to writing for a yakuza fan magazine there’s one basic rule: be nice to the Yakuza. When journalists write nasty things about them in the traditional press, they are sometimes menaced or intimidated, but it is rare. However, when yakuza journalists do the same, the yakuza feel betrayed, which can have dire consequences.
A friend of mine who edited a yakuza fan magazine for five years once wrote an article describing how some Yamaken-gumi (reputed to be the toughest of the tough) who, when found strutting around Ginza in Tokyo, had been given a beat-down by some rival Sumiyoshikai soldiers. In response to the article, the disrespected Yamaken-gumi broke into my friend’s office and gave him a beating of his own.
Another investigative journalist, yakuza expert Mizoguchi Atsushi, also raised the ire of the Yamaken-gumi with an article in 2006. The Yamaken members went looking to beat some sense into him but, failing to find him at home, stabbed his son instead.
Even I have had problems when in 1999 I angered some yakuza when I wrote in the Yomiuri newspaper about a Korean bank that had had gone bankrupt due to bad loans to yakuza groups. I was lucky: I just had death threats and people lurking around my house for a few days and wasn’t stabbed or shot.
6 Comments
Jake san,why do you want to be assaulted or worse . you play with fire you will get burnt.I saw your 60 minute segment.your brave but think of your family. leave japan before they hurt or kill you . you have a worthy cause but will not change japanese society. good luck.
John-san,
Thanks for writing. I go back and forth between the Japan and the US now. My family is safe. I think I can change Japanese society–it’s my society as well. I’m a permanent resident. Every job has its risks. I’m will to take them.
Boy, my English sucks these days. Let me rephrase that–I think I have a worthy cause. Yes, there are risks in exposing corruption and being a good investigative journalist but that’s the occupation I’ve chosen. I’m willing to accept that there are risks and the possibility of being hurt or killed. If everyone ran away from dangerous jobs, we wouldn’t have police officers or firemen or soldiers. But I will be careful. Thank you for writing.
ご苦労さま． Thank you for writing TOKYO VICE.
It fills a void in the (English) library of Japanese “culture”. YOur book is filled with so much “reality” and the writing is great–it reads like a fast-paced movie- funny, sad, perceptive and a remarkable story of your life. It’s more than a page turner for me, because I can identify with many of your encounters as a 外人- you know, the syndrome I call “the Japanese-reaction-to-a-外人-who-isn’t-supposed-to-speak,-read-or-write-the-impossible-Japanese-language.”. Please continue your story in more books. Keep writing, Jake. Keep writing! You have so much to offer the English speaking world.
I do have one burning question that kept going through my mind while reading TOKYO VICE. (Maybe this is fodder for your next book?) What about yakuza wives and children? How do they fit into the scheme of things? Is there some kind of passing of the baton during the child rearing process? Since the life of raising children is usually the purview of wives, how do wives, children and the extended family fit into the yakuza world? Are there “special” school for yakuza kids? Is there some kind of rites of passage for the children? How many follow in the father’s footsteps and if they don’t what are the consequences? What are these family relationships like? I know you can simply spend time in a yakuza family, etc. but what do you know about this? Is it a complex yakuza family structure similar to that of the mafia? I’m anxious to read some of your thoughts on this point.
ポールさん
Thank you. It’s so nice to have struck a chord with my fellow gaijin.
The whole yakuza wives and children issue is pretty complex–when you get into the usual family structure–yakuza, mistress, wife and kids–it gets even more complicated. (Usually only bosses can afford a mistress、I should say).
I’ve known yakuza that raised their children to carry on the organization and others who have made extraordinary efforts to see their kids lived normal lives and went to college. I know one yakuza boss who’s son is very effiminate, well, actually gay, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the boss get over his disappointment and be supportive of his son and pay for his hairdressing school education.
Mochizuki, my bodyguard, ex-crime boss, and long-time friend, is very proud of his yakuza life and wants me to write his biography so that his son can read it someday. At the same time, he’s deadset on making sure his son goes to college and doesn’t become a gangster. His wife is tremendously supportive, even after his fall from grace. I really think the role family plays and extended family plays varies from individual to individual.
However, the kids of yakuza are often bullied and ostracized at school. Sometimes, depending on the area–they are at times also treated like royalty. Not much of an answer but that’s the best I could.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Adelstein san, I have recently finished reading Tokyo Vice I thoroughly enjoyed it. It really shines a light on Japans ura no shakai and the depth of the Yakuza. I just have one quick question, in the book you mention the chinpira and the fact that the traditional yakuza has been replaced by more or less “weenies” and punks. Why do you think this has happened? And what is the best yakuza film to your knowledge?