The Last Yakuza

Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld

By: Jake Adelstein

Narrated by: Brian Nishii

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The Last Yakuza tells the history of the yakuza like it’s never been told before.

Makoto Saigo is half-American and half-Japanese in small-town Japan with a set of talents limited to playing guitar and picking fights. With rock stardom off the table, he turns toward the only place where you can start from the bottom and move up through sheer merit, loyalty, and brute force―the yakuza.

Saigo, nicknamed “The Tsunami”, quickly realizes that even within the organization, opinions are as varied as they come, and a clash of philosophies can quickly become deadly. One screw-up can cost you your life, or at least a finger.

The internal politics of the yakuza are dizzyingly complex, and between the ever-shifting web of alliances and the encroaching hand of the law that pushes them further and further underground, Saigo finds himself in the middle of a defining decades-long battle that will determine the future of the yakuza.

Written with the insight of an expert on Japanese organized crime and the compassion of a longtime friend, investigative journalist Jake Adelstein presents a sprawling biography of a yakuza, through post-war desperation, to bubble-era optimism, to the present. Including a cast of memorable yakuza bosses―The Coach, The Buddha, and more―this is a story about the rise and fall of a man, a country, and a dishonest but sometimes honorable way of life on the brink of being lost.

©2023 Jake Adelstein (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

Basically, Yakuza Goodfellas

Fun, engaging listen. Great performance, flew right by, didn’t want it to end. Highly recommend.

Fantastic

A great follow up to Tokyo Vice. It’s great being fully immersed more in the life and recent history of the Yakuza.

vivid details. sincerity.

really enjoyed this book. Tokyo Vice the book and TVshow on HBO. Pulls back any element of romanticism you may have about the Yakuza and modern day gangsters in Japan. And the changing nature of crime and criminals in an evolving modern society. Great characters. Great stories. Great listen. 👍

Simply phenomenal

The storytelling and the voice acting is simply phenomenal. The insights that Jake was able to get and put into a way that I can so easily visualize is amazing

Fantastic fun and insight into the Yakuza

Listening to Saigo's story was amazing, fun, at times sad or tense, but never boring. in big part to the amazing Narrator

Yakuza

Name says it all. A candid and poignant telling of a man's life. Great read.

absolutely astounding work. you will not put this down.

Jake killed it. Every tale he shares is teeming with all the raw, visceral characters that you'd probably been hoping for in a book with this title. No BS here. He dove deep and craftfully- by the way he is just blowing me away as his literary style keeps evolving right in front of you, chapter by chapter- put this ... epic and sad tale together. Now you have 2 books to get moving on because he is going to dig two fingers deep into your chest with the third that's coming out soon.

mindblowing

Its half biography and half history lesson. A journey in to an alien underworld like no other.

Story, performance and how it was written.

Another great book by Jake Adelstein and follows up his previous one perfectly, wish it was longer.

Lackluster...

I loved tokyo vice. But this was pretty boring. The writing is good, but the actual story is vanilla. I was never fully engaged. Im quite disappointed.