Having read and enjoyed Jacob Adelstein's Tokyo Vice, it was with considerable interest that I read his article "The Last Yakuza" in the World Policy Journal (h/t to Corey Wallace).Like Wallace, I have no particular expertise with which to assess the role played by the Yakuza in Japanese society. But also like him, I am …
Tag: Yakuza
Subterranean Japan blues
The big story, worldwide, out of Japan today was, of course, the assassination of Nagasaki Mayor Ito Itcho. (BBC; CNN; Yomiuri editorial)The suspected assassin, Shiroo Tetsuya, a local Yakuza boss, seems to have had no other motive than to avenge a trivial wrong.The coverage within Japan seems to hinge on the supposed threat to democracy …
Tobias S. Harris 