Customer Reviews

Speed Tribes: Days and Night's with Japan's Next Generation

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is enjoyable to read. It presents a side of Japan that is almost unheard of, the disenfranchised. Told as a series of first-person vignettes, with each person similar but distinct. This is the raw underbelly of Japan, violent, disatisfied with life, desperately seeking for an unknown goal. A quick look at the domestic Japanese news reveals that there is a serious crisis of identity occuring, and this is one of the few books that reveals the true roots of the problem. In my time in Japan, I have known people like the characters in this book, and in general the stories ring true. The only thing which prevents me from giving this book 5 stars is that the few places that the Japanese language is used in this book, it is odd or even incorrect. Still, the stories seem to provide an accurate insight into the thinking and lifestyles of many young Japanese.

"I realized that the Japan I had been writing about as a reporter and magazine editor had nothing to do with the Japan I was living. I had overlooked the gritty, sexy, real Japan" The dazzling variety of new youth subcultures and rich pop cultures emerging as a result of the Bubble Economy prosperity". (Greenfeld, prologue, xiv) In his book, "Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation", author, Karl Taro Greenfeld has unearthed a fascinating cluster of Japanese youth that he refers to as "Speed Tribes", a direct translation of the Japanese "Bosozoku", youthful delinquent Japanese gangs, notoriously characterized by their noisy hopped-up motorcycles and turbo powered hot rods. Greenfeld asserts that hidden deep beneath Japan's traditional "kimono-clad" skin exists the discontent rebellious "real" Japan, lacking its values in the wake of the "Baburu" economy. Greenfeld implies that Japan is caught in the midst of a subcultural revolution. After a five-year plunge deep into the heart of Tokyo's cultural subterrain, he emerged with a line on its components; the Yakuza (mafia-types), political right wing Uyoku, computer hacking Otaku, to name a few. He illustrates how each component plays its own role in the exploitation of Japan's generation gap. Greenfeld makes the case that a growing generation gap is irrefutable. "The twenty-five million Japanese between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five are a far cry from their generational predecessors, the shinjinrui" (baby boomers) he says. (Greenfeld, prologue, xiv) He points out that because it is no longer fashionable to think politically in Japan, many Todai Sei (Tokyo University students) lack any interest in politics whatsoever. He explains that today, college students would sooner drink beer and watch baseball.(Greenfeld, p.154) He goes on to describe a large population of youth as larcenous, glue-sniffing street punks, notorious for stealing motorcycles in and around Tokyo in protest of traditional society. Ironically, he explains, these are the children of the industrialists, executives, and laborers who built modern Japan.(Greenfeld, prologue, xiv) Through Greenfeld's elaborations, it appears that modern Japanese youth are drafting their own set of values. "Family values such as unity, cohesion, and diligence were cracking right down the middle".(Greenfeld, p.22) Through their own invention of values, Bodi-con girls are exploiting their feminine sexual appeal as a means of "coping with male dominated society.(Greenfeld, p.125) In tokyo's Ueno Park, the Yakuza and their subordinates have successfully sullied the sacred Meiji Shrine by using its steps as one of the country's most prodigious drug bazaars. Political right wing Uyoku effectively extort money from nearly every major corperation. These "speed tribes" are by no means the "quaint picture-postcard Japan of tea ceremonies, sumo wrestlers, rock gardens, and Kabuki".(Greenfeld, prologue, xiv) Although Greenfeld provides an intriguing tour deep into the pit of Japanese underground subculture, his purpose seems somehow unconvincing. Begging the question, he leads the reader to believe that the Bubble Economy is ultimately responsible for the spawning of such groups as the Yakuza, Bosozoku, and virtually any other entity outside the sphere of traditional Japanese traditional culture. Although much of what Greenfeld says does ring true, pinning the proverbial tail of the rebellious "real" Japan squarely on a relative snap shot of the country's long history is an attempt of grossly oversimplify the cultural issues of a complex Japan. Although I'm not necessarily doubtful of Greenfeld's knowledge and insight of the secret workings and dealings of modern Japanese subculture, his lack of a bibliography leaves this work wide open to skepticism. His detailed narrations of the activities behind closed doors of beedrooms and back-room chicanery raised questions. There were occasions while reading this book that I found myself in self-debate; were these the real life names and faces of gangsters, punks, and porn stars? Despite my differences with the book, it provided some interesting content. I have long been fascinated by the Bosozoku and was enlightenen to learn of their link with the Japanese mafia. The fact that approximately Forty percent of these young men are much more than just juvenile delinquents, but destined to be life-long Yakuza is probably what I found to be most interesting. Overall, "Speed Tribes" has broadened my perception of Japanese people and made me a better student of their culture. I recommend it as a must-read, not only to fellow students of Japanese history and culture, but to anyone planning to spend much time in Japan.

As someone who has lived, studied, and worked in Tokyo, I have come in cursory contact with many of the types of people described in this book. While Japanophiles and purists will find much to pick at, Greenfeld has added a very necessary facet to the general public's image of modern Japan. Just as a Japanese person might want to understand our hippie, punk, gang, sex, and drug subcultures to get a fuller understanding of the US, so too would non-Japanese be drawn to this book. The stripping away some of the more annoying stereotypes and sugar-coating of Japan is a big enough pay off in my mind to put up with the inaccuracies.

Well, the Library of Congress classified this book as Subculture - Japan - Case Studies, and having read it, I am relatively sure that it is a work of nonfiction. One reviewer claimed that parents would *never* tout the merits of their child at an omiai, yet in "Pink Samurai: Love, Marriage and Sex in Contemporary Japan" Nicholas Bornhoff writes extensively on just this topic. According to Bornhoff, virtually all that happens at an omiai is that parents go on and on about their children's accomplishments ad nauseum. The "date" (which is meant to culminate in arranged marriage) is more like a particularly boring, traditional job interview in which the resume is the main topic under discussion. No wonder "Keiko Nakagami" (perhaps a pseudonym, but nevertheless most likely a living person whom Greenfeld *interviewed*) kept thinking about the Australian she met at a club the other night! Anyway, for those who still have doubts about the book's authenticity, reread the chapter "Dai: The Motorcycle Thief" which is full of interview quotations regarding his "observation period" at a juvenile rehabilitation facility. If this is fiction, this is the most realistic fiction I've ever read ...

Yes, when I first started reading this thing, I also thought it was great. Startling imagery of a "Blade Runner"-type world, valuable details about Japanese society, engrossing stories, and (of course) sex, violence, sex, crime, and plenty of sex.

Upon a second reading, however (and after spending a year or so in Japan) Greenfeld's stories start falling apart. The cool stories are written from the perspective of an omniscient narrator who cannot possibly know all of the details that he claims to know. The best example of this is in the story of the young right-wing-nationalist who, when beaten in a fight, walks offscreen to commit suicide as the chapter ends. If he really committed suicide, how did Greenfeld get the story out of him? The abundance of instances like this, coupled with inaccurate details and blatant exaggerations, make the answer clear: Greenfeld simply made up these stories. Oh, he may have based them on real characters (like Janet Cook! e, the Washington Post reporter who had to return her Pulitzer) but these stories aren't an accurate picture of Japan. They aren't journalism. They're just fiction masquerading as truth (and larded with enough sex to keep your attention).

In today's literature, there seems to be two prevailing view of Japan:
1 - Japan Inc: Once monolithic, but now of lost luster.
2 - Lost Culture: The land of disappearing kimonos and bonsai trees

This book provides another slice of reality - an eerie behind the scenes look at the lost generation of young Japanese not buying in to dreams of being a salaryman. It's a Japan that is not frequently written about in the West. The angst is real amongst the young, though.

Is it truth or fiction? If it's not true, it could be. I suspect the interviews are real, or at least the stories have a basis in fact. Teenagers peddling false drugs... Motorcyclists speeding through town on noisy bikes... Office ladies more interested in gai-jin that nihon-jin... These stories all exist. It takes a good storyteller to bring them out.

Essential reading for anyone brainwashed by the endless images of idyllic and serene temple gardens and kimono-clad women which seem to populate every Japanese calendar and book produced for foreign consumption.

This is the real Japan, albeit with focus on some of the juicier topics. From motorcycle gangs to porn stars, surfer dudes to the teenagers gropingly losing their virginity upstairs from the family sushi shop, this book takes you inside, to the realms not usually shown to outsiders.

Greenfeld has a great eye for detail and I found myself giving a wry smile at things like the ultra-nationalist youth who hates foreigners and foreign things but wears only expensive Italian designer suits.

The only minor flaw I could detect was a tinge of bitterness when Greenfeld describes the attitudes of young Japanese women, perhaps the result of an unhealed personal wound?

Well, don't want to spoil too much for you, so just let me say get it! This is a great book!

Inspired by the author's time spent living and working in Japan, this cutting-edge, intimate ethnography, whether consistenly accurate or not, does a stunning job of challenging readers' cultural, social and moral perceptions of Japan, its youth and, as importantly, the personal perceptions of the readers about themselves. Having lived and studied in Japan myself, this enlightening and exquisitely voiced book is not altogether surprising.

I was really impressed with Greenfield's book. I've lived in Japan since I was a young teenager and what I've read in this book is pretty much true to life. I think that it's awesome that someone finally decided to write about the other side of Japan...the boso and snack-girls and such. Although it may seem a little confusing and vague to some readers who have never been to Japan, I think that it is a very good read for anyone who is currently living or has lived here. Things will make a lot more sense after reading Speed Tribes.

An occasionally awkward blend of reportage and fact-based fiction about Japan's own Generation X. I lived in Japan for three years, and although I never encountered any people of the type revealed in these vignettes, nothing I read in these pages conflicts with my own understanding of Japanese society.

The final section, about a computer-obsessed otaku, is an unfortunate way to end the book. It's speculations on the melding of man and machine are overdone; furthermore, it falls back on the old cliche of attributing whatever aspect of Japanese culture is under discussion to the Japanese' lack of a strict prescriptive system of morality. However, Greenfeld's book is very strong when his focus is narrowed to the motivations and activities of individuals.