The next series premiere Deputy Tokyo HBO Max, which marks Michael Mann’s return to directing, has become a phenomenon. It is the first work signed by the director after a long absence. Also, your feedback and review of many of your favorite topics.
The plot, which revolves around a Western journalist who will come into contact with Japanese organized crime, has aroused great curiosity. Especially because in Mann’s hands, could become a full-fledged exploration of Japanese culture’s most violent underworld.
However, beyond its obvious benefits as a television plot, the show also incorporates an element of considerable interest. Its screenplay is not the work of the imagination of the group of screenwriters led by Jake Adelstein, JT Rogers, Jessica Brickman and Karl Taro Greenfeld. In fact, it is based on the real experience – bloody and almost fatal – that the journalist had Jake Adelsteinwhose book was published in 2009.
“Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan” became a bestseller over the next decade. At the same time, in a first-hand testimony on the violence which surprises by its rawness. Adelstein’s experience is not just a first-hand view of violence in Japan. It is also a story of great interest in understanding the illicit balance of power between the Yakuza and other criminal organizations.
A history of violence
For Adelstein, it was a baptism of fire. Aged just 24, the journalist began his long investigation in 1993 and pursued it for twelve years. Little by little, what It started as a remote analysis of the Asian criminal world, but it evolved into something more complex.
The journalist came into direct contact with the most corrupt Japan but also with various criminal organizations and their leaders. Additionally, he was involved in a detailed investigation of yakuza Tadamasa Goto, which earned him death threats. Ultimately, he discovered that Saitama Prefecture was tampering with scientific data on specific cases. The case forced him to flee Japan.
Tokyo Vice: an American journalist on the rhythm of the police in Japan
Jake Adelstein is the only American journalist to have been admitted to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club. For twelve years, he covered the dark side of Japan: extortion, murder, human trafficking, tax corruption and, of course, the yakuza.
Adelstein, a Jewish American who grew up in Japan, also had the opportunity to better understand the intricacies of Japanese culture. The eventuality enabled him not only to overcome the language barrier, but also to have contact and privileged access to informants. Curiously, andhe journalist became famous in Japan thanks to his ability to penetrate criminal circles seemingly airtight.
The long journey was captured in detail in “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan”. The work is now considered fundamental to understanding the Japanese underworld.
From paper to multi-screen
From its beginnings in 1990, where she participated in specific raids, Adelstein’s adventure has become a milestone in North American journalism. His immersive tone, his ability to understand the need for accurate reporting, even above personal safety, surprised readers.
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For his television version, Michael Mann will not only adapt several of his most complex cases. Also, it will show the slow transformation of the novice journalist into an expert of the illicit stratum of Tokyo. The HBO Max series is expected to take a look at both the criminal and journalistic realms.
Deputy Tokyo by Michael Mann will premiere on HBO Max with weekly episodes.
