Jake Adelstein

Tokyo

Investigative Journalist at Freelance

Reporter and Special Correspondent at The Daily Beast

調査報道記者・Tokyo Vice (原作の著者) Investigative journalist, Zen Buddhist Priest, Paladin, Social Justice 🥷 Ninja, Author of #TokyoVice #TokyoNoir 禅僧 @thedailybeast

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Articles

A TV Scandal Shows "Japan Inc." Is No Longer Okay With Sexual Misconducts

1 week ago | tokyopaladin.substack.com | Jake Adelstein

For decades, Japanese corporate culture has had a paradoxical relationship with celebrity misconduct—particularly when it comes to sexual assault. It has ignored it, dismissed it, and in some cases, quietly enabled it. But the scandal currently engulfing Fuji Television suggests something remarkable: Japan has changed. The facts of the case are not in dispute.
Flashback: Human Trafficking In Japan (2004)

1 month ago | open.substack.com | Jake Adelstein

In 2004, The International Labor Organization (ILO) finished a report on the plight of foreigners victimized in the Japanese sex industry, entitled Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation in Japan.
BREAKING NEWS: The Great Yakuza War (Yamaguchi-gumi vs Kobe-Yamaguchi-gumi) is Over! Maybe.

1 month ago | tokyopaladin.substack.com | Jake Adelstein

It was the kind of peace declaration that doesn’t come with champagne or photo ops. Especially since the last monthly yakuza fan magazine closed in 2017 for good. On April 7, several men in dark suits, some with only nine fingers, walked into the Hyogo Prefectural Police Headquarters. They weren’t lawyers. They weren’t lobbyists. They were lieutenants of the Yamaguchi-gumi—the biggest, oldest, and most famously fractious of Japan’s crime syndicates—founded in 1915.
Japan's Shinzo Abe Quits in Bid to 'Escape' Potential Prosecution (The Daily Beast Aug 28, 2020)

1 month ago | johnmenadue.com | Jake Adelstein

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, decided to resign Friday ostensibly because of his health, but also because he fears the unpleasant and unhealthy conditions of aJapanese prison. At a press conference, he cited his painful stomach conditionulcerative colitisas the reason for stepping down, but he leaves at a time when his ratings are plummeting and he is under at least one criminal investigation, with the public clamoring for the reopening of other cases. Abe is not resigning; he is escaping.
How The Fuji TV Scandal Became a Cultural Reckoning For Japan

1 month ago | unseen-japan.com | Jake Adelstein |Zen Buddhist priest |Yakuza Wonderland

This weekend, something unthinkable finally happened: Fuji Television—the once-untouchable giant of Japanese broadcasting—cut loose its longest-reigning shōgun, Hieda Hisashi. To the untrained eye, it looked like a retirement. A dignified sendoff. A “new chapter.”But to those who know the system, this wasn’t retirement. This was a ritual execution in a crumbling kingdom—an industry dinosaur finally thrown overboard as the network tried to keep from sinking under the weight of its own lies.
Why The Ladyboy Monologue From The White Lotus is The Hamlet of Our Generation

1 month ago | tokyopaladin.substack.com | Jake Adelstein

You know the one. The “ladyboy” monologue from The White Lotus—the TV series on HBO (MAX) . The one delivered with the shaky conviction of someone who just saw their entire sexual identity implode in a humid, overlit hotel room and is now narrating it like a TED Talk they didn’t prepare for. It is destined—destined, I say—to become the audition monologue for every drama student who thinks they’re edgy for knowing who JT Rogers is and can fake a mid-level breakdown in under 90 seconds.
"The New-Wave Yakuza": Meet the new gangs with the same old tricks

1 month ago | tokyopaladin.substack.com | Jake Adelstein

If you ever get a phone call in Japan and the person on the other line says, “It’s me! It’s me” you’d probably better hang up. Even if they say they are the police, and tell you, “You’re a suspect in a crime”—hang up. You might really want to check that number or ask for their number and call them back. Don’t stay on that line or you might get reeled in, hook, line and sinker.
Exploring gender in Tokyo

1 month ago | cathyreisenwitz.substack.com | Cathy Reisenwitz |Alice Evans |Jake Adelstein

I just spent nine days in Tokyo. I was in the neighborhood because my friend just got done with an 11-month fundraise and needed a vacation something fierce and wanted to see Taiwan while we still can. Trip photos from Taipei:Airport, bus, and Main StationXinsheng VillageChiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall & stuffTapei Botanical Garden and Longshan TempleWalk to the Grand Hotel TaipeiNational Palace MuseumTaipei 101Jioufen (best pix imo)White Terror museum and other stuffTokyo photos to come.
30 Years Later: The Day Aum Shinrikyo Brought Terror to Tokyo

1 month ago | tokyopaladin.substack.com | Jake Adelstein

March 20, 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Tokyo subway sarin attack, an unprecedented act of indiscriminate chemical terrorism that targeted Japan’s capital. The attack took place in the heart of Tokyo’s commuter network, affecting multiple subway lines and causing chaos across the city. In the immediate aftermath, one man stood at the forefront of the investigation: the then-Commissioner of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Yukihiko Inoue.
How Japan Created White Day, East Asia's Alternate Valentine's Day

1 month ago | tokyopaladin.substack.com | Jake Adelstein

On March 14, in Japan, Taiwan, and even South Korea, people celebrated a kind of second Valentine’s Day, known as White Day. While Valentine's Day in the West is a give-and-receive event, where couples exchange chocolates and gifts, it works a bit differently in Japan and other countries. The last few weeks in Tokyo have seen stores displaying and selling white chocolate, various marshmallow confectionaries and assorted gifts (usually in white packages) for this big event.