Book Review: Tokyo Vice

I'm going to be honest, I picked up Tokyo Vice mainly because of the title. Though I hate to admit it, if there's anything I have in common with greasy 14-year-olds who watch anime it's that we both think Japan is, like, super-cool. So when I saw a copy of Tokyo Vice laying on a table at a bookstore it was the "Tokyo" half of the title that initially caught my eye.

Let me back up a bit and explain what Tokyo Vice is, exactly. While it's being sold, more or less, as the story of an American who travels to Japan and hangs out with yakuza, the yakuza stuff is really only part of the story. Basically the book follows the (mis)adventures of an American crime reporter (author Jake Adelstein) writing for the biggest newspaper in Japan. The book is non-fiction, but beyond that its genre is a bit hard to pin down. The best way I am able to describe it is that it's one-third memoir, one-third travel writing, and one-third true crime.

While the crime elements lend the story excitement, the aspect of the book that I found most interesting were the author's observations about Japanese culture. The little details, such as the importance and prominence of business cards in Japan, fleshed the story out and explained to me things that I would otherwise be oblivious to. It's a cliche to say this, but Adelstein's descriptions of Japanese culture helped transform the setting into one of the most prominent and interesting characters in the book.

OK, now for the bad stuff. First let me say that I don't think that any of the following criticisms are deal breakers. If you're even slightly interested in Japan or yakuza then you're gonna enjoy this book on some level so don't let what I'm about to say deter you. Alright, with that out of the way let me say that the writing in Tokyo Vice occasionally leaves a bit to be desired. While many critics have described Adelstein's writing as "hardboiled", I think this is kind of a nice way of saying that his writing is generally a bit sparse and lacking in a distinctive style. Don't get me wrong, the majority of time Adelstein's writing gets the job done and is very easy to read. Just don't expect poetic musings. On a similar note, the dialogue occasionally felt stilted to me and many of the characters lacked distinctive speaking patterns. I've gotta give this second criticism a pass, however, as presumably most of the conversations were originally conducted in Japanese.

All that aside, Tokyo Vice was an easy, informative, and entertaining read. Throughout the book Adelstein makes a few questionable choices and occasionally puts his family at great risk, but it's hard not to sympathize with him and the crazy cast of characters he interacts with. I genuinely liked many of the characters in this book and loved spending time with them in the crazy place that is Japan.