The Last Yakuza: Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld

Journalist Adelstein (Tokyo Vice) parlays decades of reporting on Japanese organized crime into a propulsive history of the yakuza. Drawing on interviews with both his yakuza and Japanese law enforcement contacts, he examines how yakuza groups obtained power, “why they were tolerated, how they began, and how they have changed over time,” framing much of the account through the experiences of Makoto Saigo, who became a yakuza in 1976 and gradually rose in power and prominence from a “juvenile delinquent and motorcycle gang member” to become a leader of the Inagawa-kai crime syndicate. In the process, Adelstein explains the frightening national and international influence of the yakuza—the politicians they controlled, according to Adelstein, included several Japanese prime ministers, and their role in transnational crime led President Obama, in 2011, to declare them “a threat to the national security of the United States and the world.” Without diluting his fascination with the lives of Saigo and other gangsters, Adelstein is careful not to romanticize their actions: while some yakuza leaders touted a code of honor, Adelstein highlights how often that code’s directives, such as not harming civilians, were violated. He’s especially good at tracing the yakuza’s political influence in Japan, explaining how they bribed and blackmailed legislators into opposing bills that would have curbed their influence. Painstakingly reported and paced like a thriller, this is a must-read for anyone interested in organized crime. (Oct.)