Tokyo Salarymen: Modern-day Samurai Fight Back

An interesting piece from CNNGo reveals that some salarymen, sick and tired of the daily grind, and are fighting back by eschewing the rigors of corporate life and adopting a more relaxed attitude.

Is Japan Finally Standing Up?

Earlier this summer, the revered Japanese sport of sumo made headlines worldwide for all the wrong reasons: High-level ties to the yakuza, including match-fixing, were finally exposed. It turns out that sumo and the yakuza went together like sushi and soy sauce. For the first time ever, broadcaster NHK cancelled airing a match. Later, signs at sumo arenas and stables sprung up specifically denying access to gangsters and other undesirables.

Could the sumo fiasco be the impetus to bring the yakuza out of the shadows and shine a bright, probing light on organized crime in Japan? Two articles I uncovered suggest the philosophy might be taking hold. First, yakuza-affiliated construction concerns are officially barred from work on the Tokyo Sky Tree project. (For years, the yakuza has called the shots in the construction industry.)

Second, the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly approved an ordinance Wednesday to ban gangster leaders from setting up offices or buying homes in neighborhoods and near schools. (To indicate just how little yakuza regulation there has been, most organized crime families set up traditional office spaces, proudly displaying their insignia and affiliation on the front door.)

These are both small steps, to be sure—but you’ve got to start somewhere!

Sumo Says “Sayonara” to Yakuza (But Does Anyone Believe It?)

In the wake of any great scandal comes a heavy-handed crackdown, and the Japan Sumo Association is falling in line. To recap, Japan’s most cherished sporting tradition has been rocked in recent months as investigators and the media unraveled deep ties to the yakuza that involved illegal gambling, nefarious sponsorships, and even the use of premium ring-side seats to send messages to incarcerated gangsters. Things got so bad that NHK decided not to air a live tournament for the first time in nearly 60 years.

That’s all a thing of the past, says the JSA. In typically overworded fashion, the JSA has issued a “Declaration of Rejection of Violent Groups.” As such, “violent groups or antisocial forces” are banned from training stables, matches, and other sumo facilities. Meanwhile, surveillance cameras are being installed to sniff out yakuza members who may have sneaked into matches. Only time will tell, however, if the JSA lives up to its newfound sense of propriety…because you know the yakuza won’t willingly disappear.

Read more about the yakuza in my book, Tokyo Lives, available in paperback from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Yakuza Weigh in on…Yakuza

One of the most popular video games on the market is called Yakuza, now in its third iteration. It covers…yep, you guessed it: Japan’s seemy underworld! Yakuza 3 is a “simulation” game in which players delve into the role of a real-life yakuza clan.

And who better to review the game than actual yakuza members? Such was the keen idea of Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice and the foremost American authority on the yakuza. He met up with some actual “yaks” (as he calls them) to test drive the game.

Turns out the folks at Sega are spot on in their rendering. Take, for example, their comments about the depiction of a red-light district: “You got your salaryman in there, the delinquent school girl and her sugar daddy, Chinese people, and even those Nigerian touts.”

The review goes on to cover what you’d expect—the authenticity of street fights—and what you wouldn’t—gangsters’ clothes, culinary preferences, and whether or not shabu (crystal meth) should be one of the game’s “power up” features.

Should you desire to learn more about this Japanese mafia milieu but aren’t a gamer, check out the short excerpt below of my book, Tokyo Lives, which describes the very neighborhood—kabuki-cho—that the yakuza commented on in the game review:

“Shinjuku pulses with radiant activity night and day. It is Japan’s neighborhood that never sleeps. There’s something for everyone: shopping, hotels, bars, restaurants, movie theaters, parks, galleries, shrines.

And sex. Lots of sex. Wind through the restaurants and department stores, past the giant screen above Studio Alta, cross Yasukuni Dori, and enter Kabuki-cho. By day, the neighborhood is tame and welcoming, the alleyways empty and uncluttered. But as day fades to night the neon flickers on and the neighborhood transforms itself. The signs glow red and pink. Fleshy images preside over each door front. Salarymen with loosened ties roam the alleys, with scantily-clad women interspersed to lure them to their lairs. Elicit desires are indulged in all forms: strip clubs, porn theaters, hostess bars, massage parlors, brothels, S&M studios. No fantasy goes unfulfilled. And the Chinese rule the neighborhood with an iron fist.

Simple economics drive neighborhood trade: a glut of women and gangsters willing to work harder for less. There is no planning; there is no tomorrow. The next customer is the only concern. Where the yakuza focus on reputation and survival, the Chinese have only three priorities: The first thing is money, the second thing is money, and the third thing is money."

You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda

If you have any interest in Japanese culture and business history, then I hope you caught Sunday’s episode of Mad Men. In the episode the boys at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce have an opportunity to bid on the account for Honda motorcycles. To get everybody in the right frame of mind, all agency staffers are given a copy of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Ruth Benedict’s seminal book describing Japanese culture that was the authority on Japan for many, many years. Creative director Don Draper also takes in a meal at Benihana to further explore the mysteries of the Orient. The episode ends with the agency instead being awarded the account for Honda’s forthcoming car, which the gang ridicules as a “motorcycle with windows.” Well, I hope SCDP held on to the Honda car account because, in reality, it probably made a lot of people a lot of money!

And now it’s time to separate the “reel” story from the real story. As the end of the episode intimates, Honda was never serious about leaving Grey Advertising. And why would it be? By 1964, Honda had become the world leader in motorcycle sales.

On the creative side, Grey churned out the iconic campaign “You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda.” The campaign not only introduced Honda to American consumers, it started to re-brand the entire motorcycle industry, which had been taken over by leather-clad biker gangs and virtually ignored by respectable, suburban, middle class consumers. The “You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda Campaign” brought motorcycles back into the mainstream.

To wit, in 1964 the Beach Boys released “Little Honda,” and, with two short lyrics, did as well as any ad campaign in explaining the essence of Honda:

“It’s not a big motorcycle,
Just a groovy little motorbike.”

Only in Japan: Slashing Pounds With Samurai Swords

No—you don’t literally cut out the fat, but you do incorporate traditional samurai swords into an aerobic workout. There’s not much more explaining to do….just watch the video!

Translation Fascination

The publishing industry is nothing if not unoriginal. From the “Chick Lit Craze” to the “Why [Insert Nationality] Women Don’t Get Fat” to a virtual vampire invasion, editors and publishers can’t help themselves when it comes to latching onto a hot idea and milking it for all it’s worth. In typical cases the craze virtually plays out the genre and kills it off via over-saturation.

The next wave, though, just might last—and benefit readers (a rare outcome of the copy-cat nature of publishing). Based on the stunning success currently being realized by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson (he of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo fame), publishers are scouring the globe for the next irresistible import ingénue. “A lot of publishers are looking at this because they don't want to miss the next Stieg Larsson,” an editorial director confessed to The Wall Street Journal. Intriguingly, Japanese authors are at the top of the list.

It makes sense, as Western readers have already embraced translated works from Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, and other J-authors. Japan hosts a vibrant literary culture and I can’t wait to see what turns up on shelves next!

And of course, if you want a taste of Japanese crime fiction without waiting, I would humbly suggest my book, Tokyo Lives!