Review: “The Last Yakuza” — Jake Adelstein’s Wide-Ranging, Personal History

After fourteen years, Jake Adelstein is back with a new full-length book on Japanese organized crime. The Last Yakuza was worth the wait.

It’s been fourteen years since the release of Jake Adelstein’s seminal memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan. Since then, the book has become the go-to popular non-fiction for those interested in the Japanese underworld. Tokyo Vice was still a mainstay in true crime sections at North American bookstores even before HBO began airing a fictionalized adaptation on their steaming platform, now known as Max; that series, with its premier episode directed by Michael Mann, has become a major hit, with a second season around the corner. So, what better time could there be for Jake to release the long-awaited sequel to Vice, The Last Yakuza?

Well, in some respects, The Last Yakuza (note: affiliate link) is more a spiritual successor than a direct sequel. (To really catch up with Jake’s life post-enraging mob boss Goto Tadamasa, you’ll have to read the upcoming Tokyo Private Eye. Or, for that matter, you could read his series of articles posted on this very website.) Nor is The Last Yakuza an entirely new book; rather, it’s new to English. Originally published in 2017 in France, where he has a devoted fanbase, a wider English release…