Tokyo Underworld by Robert Whiting

Tokyo Underworld by Robert Whiting

"A fascinating look at some fascinating people who show how democracy advances hand in hand with crime in Japan."--Mario Puzo

In this unorthodox chronicle of the rise of Japan, Inc., Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa, gives us a fresh perspective on the economic miracle and near disaster that is modern Japan.

Through the eyes of Nick Zappetti, a former GI, former black marketer, failed professional wrestler, bungling diamond thief who turned himself into "the Mafia boss of Tokyo and the king of Rappongi," we meet the players and the losers in the high-stakes game of postwar finance, politics, and criminal corruption in which he thrived. Here's the story of the Imperial Hotel diamond robbers, who attempted (and may have accomplished) the biggest heist in Tokyo's history. Here is Rikidozan, the professional wrestler who almost single-handedly revived Japanese pride, but whose own ethnicity had to be kept secret. And here is the story of the intimate relationships shared by Japan's ruling party, its financial combines, its ruthless criminal gangs, the CIA, American Big Business, and perhaps at least one presidential relative. Here is the underside of postwar Japan, which is only now coming to light.

Robert Whiting is a Principal Lecturer in History at York Saint John University. The Blind Devotion of the People (1989) and Local Reactions to the English Reformation (1998) are two of his previous works.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780375724893
ISBN 10	0375724893
Title	Tokyo Underworld
Author	Robert Whiting
Series	Vintage Departures
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2000-09-26
Number of pages	400
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.