A thrilling follow-up to Tokyo Vice that still felt like it was missing the mark. I wish he'd expanded upon some of the themes he explored in this work, but I still came away from it feeling the satisfaction I've felt with his earlier works.

I enjoyed Tokyo Vice (the tv series) a lot, especially having lived and worked in Japan myself and being able to speak Japanese (although never as fluent in my reading and writing as Jake!). His second book starts after he stops being a journalist and become an investigator (mostly doing due diligence), but still talks about the Yakuza and about his life in Japan. His health, his family in the US, his love life, his spiritual life, and the danger he was in from Goto (the Yakuza boss he had had thrown out of his yakuza family) make for a fascinating story, told with a sense of humour.
Highly recommended reading if you have read or watched Tokyo Vice.

After reading 'The last Yakuza' by this author I just had to read this one too. The writing style is good and it shows his journalistic past. To be honest I didn't know about the past of the author and I think for people who read his books for the first time it could be interesting to look into him as a person first. It gave me a different look on how to read the book and comprehend what I'm reading.
It is hard to follow for me from time to time, since English isn't my first language I will say that this is on me, but if you are expecting a light read, this isn't the book for you. It is more than interesting and even after reading 'The last Yakuza' there are new things in this book that actually surprised me. If you want to know about more about the Japanese underworld- Pachinko parlours, racism, how he became a priest and just a turbulent and stressful life- read this.

This is a great read. Jake Adelstein has a very distinct authorial voice and he's able to really instil a sense of action and pace that few other authors are good at.

After reading the author’s previous books Tokyo Vice and The Last Yakuza I was very much looking forward to this – the ‘sequel’ to Tokyo Vice (if autobiographies can truly have a ‘sequel’). I’m guessing there will be a number of readers coming to this who have seen the TV adaptation of the original book and hoping for ‘more of the same/ continuation’. For those it should be pointed out that the TV work is a VERY loose adaptation of the book – the author and tv show runners freely admit this, so that while the basic concept is there, there are entire characters that are composites, ‘inspired by’ or are completely invented for the show. Similarly, the ‘action’ is for large parts completely fictionalised. This is not intended as a criticism of either the show or the book – merely a ‘note’ to temper expectations.
I think it’s relevant because Tokyo Noir, covering the next stage of Jake Adelstein’s life does, from its premise, sound like a tv spin off. Journalist leaves his profession to be a private investigator. (The author even makes a point of saying he likes the ring of his new title). But in the same way that the TV show might have looked to ‘add action’ to the source material, that term PI conjures up certain Noir aspects (as does the title) that the book is actually much less sensational about. Leaving his job, the author specialises in due diligence cases on behalf of large and international companies wanting to ensure purchases and partnerships are above board or at least acceptable enough to pursue.
The yakuza remain a prominent part of the book – as you would imagine from the author’s previous work, many seemingly legitimate companies have yakuza influence and interest, but it is a book which goes both to the more personal (in the life and health of both the author and one of his closest friends) and larger scale as, in the aftermath of 2011 he looks into Tokyo Electric Power Company and the criminal neglect in the running of Japan’s nuclear power stations. Alongside this the author, as in his previous works, gives some interesting insights into Japanese society – from Korean relationships to the medical system, to the utter bizarreness of Pachinko – as an experience and an industry.
The book covers a considerable period and at times I didn’t quite follow the chronology or passage of time. There are a few repetitions of description and events which threw me slightly but that may have been my reading rather than the author’s writing.
If a reader new to the author’s work is expecting a true successor to the tv show in the same sort of style and action they might be a little disappointed, but for those of us who have lived in, or are interested in Japan, the author has once again produced a compelling read on the country, the people and the culture, and all its contradictions, good and bad.

As I enjoyed reading The Last Yakuza, when I saw this ARC, I knew I wanted to read it. But my, oh, my does it need another edit! There’s so much repetition especially around Goto, the yakuza being violent, the yakuza espousing “protect the weak” whilst simultaneously bleeding said weak dry, etc. This is a real shame as there’s so much good material in the work: it just needs tightening up so that it can shine (has it been rushed out to coincide with the Tokyo Vice TV series?!).

Topics covered include the pachinko parlours and racism against Koreans, the criminality of TEPCO & just how dangerous all Japan’s nuclear power stations are (many way past their use-by-date as well as being poorly maintained in a land of earthquakes…), caring for his colleague Mimi, dealing with a cancer diagnosis, the yakuza olympics of 2020/2021 and how he became a Zen Buddhist priest.

If you can ignore the repetitions, this is a good read. However, due to the repetitions/extra edit required, I can’t give it more than 2*. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Tokyo Noir is the sequel to Jake Adelstein's best-selling memoir Tokyo Vice, now an equally successful TV series.
Having moved on from journalism Adelstein goes into the field of due-diligence ,investigating businesses for signs of corruption or organised-crime links for potential buyers and investors. Not everything has changed however and Adelstein's nemesis Tadamasa Goto ,thrown out of the Yakuza as a result of one of his scoops, is still angry to the point of not very subtle death threats.
This is a bit different to Tokyo Vice in that a number of diverse topics are addressed,some very personal,Adelstein's friendship with his chief researcher blooming before tragedy strikes, Japan's appalling treatment of its Korean population since world war 2, the truth behind the Fukushima incident and much more.
A fascinating read that will open many eyes into the way Japan is run,not least the massive level of corruption that still lingers on even as the Yakuza is finally being taken on by the authorities.