Prolific author and former investigative journalist Jake Adelstein has quite an extensive knowledge of the Yakuza. 

He was a reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper, between 1993 and 2005, and from 2006 to 2007 he was the chief investigator for a US State Department-sponsored investigation into human trafficking in Japan.  

He’s written for outfits such as the Independent and The Guardian, as well as writing three books: ‘Tokyo Vice: a Western Reporter on the beat in Japan’, ‘The Last Yakuza: Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld’, and ‘Tokyo Noir’. 

‘Tokyo Noir’ is his latest, covering his life post-journalism as well as some details of Japan’s criminal underworld. 

He joined Kerre Woodham to discuss his life, career, and extensive knowledge of the Yakuza. 

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