Yakuza, by Kaplan and Dubro

[MikeWaters]

I read this book recently, about the history of the Yakuza.

It's a stunning read, that absolutely has caused a sea-change in my understanding of Japan. It has completely turned my world upside down.

http://www.amazon.com/Yakuza-Japans-...9332413&sr=8-2

Highly recommended.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I read this book recently, about the history of the Yakuza.

It's a stunning read, that absolutely has caused a sea-change in my understanding of Japan. It has completely turned my world upside down.

http://www.amazon.com/Yakuza-Japans-...9332413&sr=8-2

Highly recommended.

Looks interesting and it's a great subject. Yes, most of us have no idea about the importance of these guys in Japanese industry and commerce. I see the book was published in 1986. Is it a little dated? I know there have been crackdowns on Yakuza as here.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Looks interesting and it's a great subject. Yes, most of us have no idea about the importance of these guys in Japanese industry and commerce. I see the book was published in 1986. Is it a little dated? I know there have been crackdowns on Yakuza as here.

it was updated in about 2002, hence "the expanded edition."

Anyway, the more interesting stuff is the old history, pre-WWII and then post-WWII where the American occupation backed the Yakuza in order to combat leftists.

Ironic, huh? Americans were behind the post-WWII Yakuza rise to power.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

it was updated in about 2002, hence "the expanded edition."

Anyway, the more interesting stuff is the old history, pre-WWII and then post-WWII where the American occupation backed the Yakuza in order to combat leftists.

Ironic, huh? Americans were behind the post-WWII Yakuza rise to power.

What's worse is that America reinstalled most of the Nazi power structure as part of its reconstruction of Germany. The Nuremberg trials were mostly for show. They tried all the big names who were in custody but needless to say there were thousands of lawyers and judges and business tycoons and others who were indispensable to the Nazi machine, who in fact facilited Hitler's conversion of the Weimarer republic into a Nazi totalitarian state, and had much blood on thier hands. Most of these people carried on unpunished after WWII, living wonderful lives.

In the aftermath of WWII Gunther Grass was a young idealist like yourself who was not born of the ultra-elite classes. His father was a storekeeper. Witnessing the inequities drove Grass to near madness, but made him a fortune as a politically correct novelist and thinker. This is why the revelation that he was in the SS was so important. He too turned out to be one of the protected.

But the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Germany is a beautiful story, ultimately, isn't is? As is the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Japan. These paid no small part in the fall of the Soviet Union and China's slow thawing. West Germany was NATO's bulwark agaisnt the Warsaw pact. Keeping the best and brightest, though criminals, in place may have been necessary to achieving these miracles. I don't know but it's a fascinating question. Had we wiped out all the most competent people in Japan and Germany would we have wound up with somethng more akin to Iraq?

History and life are full of twists and ironies and Faustian bargains. Life is a beautiful mess in some ways.