Why you might like Tokyo Vice

If you are an adult who is interested in Japan, you really should read Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein, the only American to work for the big Japanese language edition of the Yomiuri.  Follow him from his job hunt all the way through to the end of his time in Japan (burn-out, death threats from the yakuza, and an increased awareness of the evils of human trafficking alive and well in Japan).  Each chapter is a mostly self-contained tale about a particular person, story, or topic, and I enjoyed them all.

If you are a Japan-o-phile, you can:

• Find out what's fact and fiction in your anime and manga.   The funny thing is that a lot of the stuff you thought they were making up is actually the true stuff.  It's something of a shock.
• Learn about the culture from a gaijin point of view.  When you read manga or watch anime, you are seeing the culture from a Japanese perspective, through the lens/filter of Japanese minds.  This is probably part of what attracts you to manga and anime.  I personally love getting a different point of reference for shared events and customs.  For the most part, you never get to ask the questions that you as a non-native really want to ask.  Adelstein asks some of them.  The answers are surprising.
• Learn about aspects of the country you won't learn about in anime or manga.  Many manga readers and anime viewers bemoan the fact that there isn't much out there in legal English for mature adults.  Well, there's a lot in here. It will probably blow your mind, and it will most definitely make you think.

The book is well thought out, well put together, and just really well done.  A journalist's perspective as an outsider on the inside isn't new, per se, but this incarnation of it is engaging, entertaining, and informative.  If you're a foreign fan of Japan, this book will give you access to a world of stories you'd never otherwise have.

Check it out from your local library, and if you love it, please buy it.  I wish it had been twice as long . . .