Watch That? Read These! Tokyo Vice

Tokyo Vice was an underrated show on HBO Max that was taken from a memoir written by the real Jake Adelstein. It discusses Jake being the first American reporter in Japan to report on the yakuza and other true crime in Japan. The show was sadly cancelled after the end of season 2, & while I preferred the first season over the second, I still wanted to see season 3 happen. Fear not, at least there are books available to read. While Ansel’s acting is a bit on the bland side, most of the other cast make up for it!

Watch That? Read These!

If you’ve watched Tokyo Vice, it’s worth reading the books that started it all. First, you should begin with Tokyo Vice, then read The Last Yakuza which is a partial sequel, only it’s more about Jake’s bodyguard who was a yakuza, Saigo. The real sequel memoir that would take place after the show (or would eventually add to the show if it got renewed) Tokyo Noir.

I put Tokyo Vice on hold at the library shortly after the show premiered and I was hooked. When I read the memoir, I was also hooked. I figured out some of whom was based on who and certain situations. The show was heavily fictionalized. As a curious cat, I did a google search of the real Jake Adelstein and was…surprised to see how different he and Ansel Elgort looked. It is debated among fans about who was better looking, Ansel Elgort or the real Jake Adelstein.

The Last Yakuza has some Jake in it, but really, it’s about his bodyguard friend Saigo who is now deceased, and how he became a part of the yakuza. It was part memoir, part yakuza history book. You see how someone like Saigo would be drawn into the world of the yakuza without making excuses for him.

Tokyo Noir is a sequel that was written & published sixteen years after Tokyo Vice but the events take place right after the first book. Other than defeating his enemy Goto Tadamasa, there was the Fukishima Meltdown, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) & The Olympic Committee having yakuza ties. Jake also gets more personal in this one with suffering liver cancer & the death of close friend and woman he loved Michiel Brandt & making decisions he shouldn’t etc. You need tissues for those parts. You also do see Saigo again.

For Further Reading

Check out my reviews and interviews I did with Jake throughout the years!

https://booknotions.com/tokyo-vice/

https://booknotions.com/the-last-yakuza/

https://booknotions.com/tokyo-noir/

https://booknotions.com/the-devil-takes-bitcoin/

https://booknotions.com/qa-with-jake-adelstein/

https://booknotions.com/behind-the-book-with-jake-adelstein/

https://booknotions.com/behind-the-book-tokyo-noir-with-jake-adelstein/