Confessions of a Yakuza: A Life in Japan's Underworld [Paperback]

John Bester (Author), Junichi Saga (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 1995

This is the true story, as told to the doctor who looked after him just before he died, of the life of one of the last traditional yakuza in Japan. It wasn't a "good" life, in either sense of the word, but it was an adventurous one; and the tale he has to tell presents an honest and oddly attractive picture of an insider in that separate, unofficial world.

In his low, hoarse voice, he describes the random events that led the son of a prosperous country shopkeeper to become a member, and ultimately the leader, of a gang organizing illegal dice games in Tokyo's liveliest entertainment area. He talks about his first police raid, and the brutal interrogation and imprisonment that followed it. He remembers his first love affair, and the girl he ran away with, and the weeks they spent wandering about the countryside together. Briefly, and matter-of-factly, he describes how he cut off the little finger of his left hand as a ritual gesture of apology. He explains how the games were run and the profits spent; why the ties between members of "the brotherhood" were so important; and how he came to kill a man who worked for him.

What emerges is a contradictory personality: tough but not unsentimental; stubborn yet willing to take life more or less as it comes; impulsive but careful to observe the rules of the business he had joined.

And in the end, when his tale is finished, you feel you would probably have liked him if you'd met him in person. Fortunately, Dr. Saga's record of his long conversations with him provides a wonderful substitute for that meeting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderful storyteller with a variety of unusual experiences." -- Washington Post Book World

"Fascinating ... gang hierarchy, the relationship between the police and the mob, the organization of gambling sessions and of prison life." -- Quadrant

"Packed with colorful details and insights, told straightforwardly without machismo or exaggeration... Important and entertaining." -- Manoa

"This is the kind of history that rarely gets recorded... Interesting, candid, and honest." -- Far Eastern Economic Review

"Vivid and accurate." -- Los Angeles Times

About the Author

Dr. JUNICHI SAGA is a medical doctor with a general practice in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Lake Kasumigaura. He began taping his elderly patients' reminiscences about thirty years ago when he realized what a wealth of detail and information they contained. He has published numerous works of local history and ecology, two of which are available in English: Memories of Wind and Waves and Memories of Silk and Straw. In his spare time he does ink painting.

JOHN BESTER, the translator, is one of the foremost translators of Japanese fiction. In 1990 he was given the first Noma Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature, for his English version of a short-story collection by Yukio Mishima entitled Acts of Worship.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha USA (July 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770019483
• ISBN-13: 978-4770019486
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars yakuza j'accuse, September 27, 2002

By 

Mendicant Pigeon "Mendicant Pigeon" (pdx, or United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Yakuza: A Life in Japan's Underworld (Paperback)

Okay, Okay, so the reviews below probably have said it all for me rendering this opinion moot but for the fact that I wanted to boost the star rating of this charming little book: A book that will have you wishing it was twice as long before you are half way through it. This is ostensibly the autobiography of a dying, retired yakuza boss as told to his attending physician. An interesting contrivance but not essential to the story at hand which is random, expertly told vignettes describing the life of a really extraordinary character whose life happens to revolve around the Japanese underworld. Extraordinary I say because this was a boy born into a family comprising the then nascent Japanese middle class: the future "sarariman," who nevertheless is so high spirited that he turns his back on what promises to be a life of relative ease (if only through dint of hardwork) for one of adventure. Extraordinary because the fellow is six feet tall in a world where the average man's height is 5' 4"; extraordinary because he is a fellow who is not afraid to buck the rules of a hidebound society, even those of the underground world which embraces him after he has left mainstream society; extraordinary because he has the kind of personality that causes his superiors to become devoted to him and his inferiors to buckle under to his rule when it is time for him to lead, and finally extraordinary because the fellow has the uncanny ability to recite events in a page turning manner.
This Yakuza's confession is a look at Japan during its transition into the industrial age; a time when the country's view of itself as the land of the rising sun was just begining to take on the sinister overtones that led to the second world war. So, while the primary objective is to describe the life of a Yakuza foot soldier and then boss, it also describes and encompasses the lot of contemporary common man who was caught between the exploitative daibatsu labor market that promised nothing more than a subsistance life and the repressive and whimsical powers of the governmental organs whose purpose seems to have been to keep order for the same. This Yakuza describes a world in which the common man, unprotected by the powers of the land seeks security instead in the context of a web of interconnecting social obligations which protect and sustain him in return for his undying loyalty.
Japan has a wonderful tradition of humorous and outrageous autobiographies by such roguish characters that is unknown in Western literature and this book is a really, truly wonderful addition to that venerable line.
I recommend this book as not only a quick, light, easy and fun read but also a beautiful pyscho-cultural study of late Meiji era Japan, warts and all.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rare glimpse at Yakuza life., December 22, 1999

By 

Edward Forsythe "edosan" (Ft Meade, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Confessions of a Yakuza: A Life in Japan's Underworld (Paperback)

I thought this was an interesting peek into a shadow world that few non-members live to tell about. The interview style of writing keeps the story moving and allows the author to interject his own insights. There are a few areas where the translation was editted and anecdotes are glossed over, but they don't detract from the overall enjoyment of this work. I recommend it for anyone interested in seeing what life in the old-time Japanese mafia was like. I enjoyed this book so much, that I passed it along to my Dad. If you like Japan and its culture, you'll like this book. Gambatte!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting tale of an early century japanese gambler, January 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Confessions of a Yakuza: A Life in Japan's Underworld (Paperback)

The book is a soft read; it keeps you interested only if you enjoy reading of real life Japan, which I do. Not one of the best flowing tales with a lot of holes (probably due to the translation of the extended interview the book is based on.) Story does not delve deeply into the "world" of the yakuza but tries to show it on the surface through the story of one of its fringe members. Human interest vice violence