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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 952
EAN num: 9780375724893
ISBN number: 0375724893
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 400
Printing Date: September 26, 2000
Publishing house: Vintage
Sale Popularity Level: 60698
Studio: Vintage
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
'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, Ltd., 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 grey 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.
Amazon.com Review:
In this compelling history of the rise of Japanese organized crime since the end of World War II, Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa (an excellent book on Japanese baseball), demonstrates that Americans have only themselves to blame for the omnipotence of the yakuza in Japanese politics and society and the rebirth of conquered Japan as one of the world's great financial giants.
Whiting's real-life protagonist, Nick Zapetti, arrived in Tokyo during the days of the postwar occupation and decided to stay. Jolted from a budding career in low-rent confidence games by a lingering bout of insolvency, Zapetti opened a restaurant on a whim. Against all odds, Nicola's Pizza became the Tokyo hotspot in the '50s for expatriates, ballplayers, entertainers, and politicians, and inevitably, the local mob. Zapetti's erstwhile adventures as a semi-honest restaurateur in a strange land frame the book's real story: the savage backstabbing and dirty dealing of Tokyo's business community, which overlaps so seamlessly with the yakuza at times that it's difficult to see where one entity ends and the other begins. Whiting expertly details the evolution of 'the Great Transfer of Wealth,' as he calls it (the shifting in funds from American to Japan), and explains why American foreign policy (and its fear of communism) may have unwittingly allowed it to happen. Whiting's writing is illuminating and engaging, and his conclusions belie the simplistic protectionist rhetoric heard from both sides of the fence.
As for Zapetti, he eventually became a Japanese citizen and took his wife's last name. In poor health and dogged by the financial ruin of his pizza empire, Zapetti turned rabidly anti-Japanese: 'You ever see the movie Rio Bravo?' Whiting quotes Zapetti as asking one of his foreign customers one night. 'You remember the scene where the leering cowboy throws the money into the spittoon ... and Dean Martin, who's the town drunk, crawls after it? That's Japan's fantasy image of us. They want us to beg like Dean Martin.' --Tjames Madison
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I found it hard to put this book down.
Its more a story of the Japanese mob than Nick Zapetti and better for it. The way Whiting digs below the surface to show the corruption in Japanese business and politics is certainly a different perspective than the average gaijin usually sees. What was particularly fascinating for me was how obvious the yakuza have become in their activities yet how easily foreigners, some at the highest levels, have been duped into believing that Japan is "clean". The story about Bush Sr's brother being retained by the yakuza is a good tale of how big and powerful the yakuza have become.
I would love to see what Whiting has to say about more recent Japanese politics - particularly about how clean / dirty Koizumi was. But since the book was published in 1999 you don't get much insight into any changes since the millenium.
Still, that's a small point and I would highly recommend the book to anyone with the slightest interest in Japan.
Rated by buyers 
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I thought this book had a great title, so I bought it. I liked the history of the yakuza and the stuff about how Ropongi was formed and became a nightlife district, but I found all the content about the American pizza place guy to be sort of dull. (It's like the writer went to the trouble to find all this stuff so he felt like he should put it in.)The back story of the Japanese criminals and gangsters was fascinating and makes this worth reading, but don't expect to be totally glued to the pages.
Rated by buyers -
Fascinating book about someone with a crazy life. The writing isn't particularly brilliant, but the subject matter is.
Rated by buyers -
The sub-title of Robert Whiting's fine book is a bit misleading. The American gangster in question often disappears from the narrative for long stretches while Whiting explains the long history of collusion between Japanese politicians and the yakuza. Nevertheless, the result is a fascinating social history with plenty of entertaining anecdotes and colorful character profiles. Chief among the latter are Nick Zapetti himself, the "gangster" who made a fortune with pizza parlors that became the hangout of choice for expatriates, entertainers, and, most significantly, those who make their living on the wrong side of the law, and then lost that fortune through a combination of stubbornness, bad luck, and ignorance. Another highlight is the career of Rikidozan, the former sumo wrestler who became a national hero and single-handedly established professional wrestling in Japan by defeating foreign wrestlers in scripted bouts, all the while hiding his Korean heritage. Often very funny, this book appeals to both a taste for the prurient and seamy and the desire for a serious, even-handed analysis of the role of organized crime, political selfishness, and short-sighted anti-Communism in Japan's rise to power and wealth.
Rated by buyers -
This is one of the most entertaining books I have ever read about Japan. And one of the most informative too. What really sets this book apart from most others on the topic is the detailed account of an American living through the post-war period and the excesses and hubris of the boom and eventual bust. I can almost imagine myself in Nick's shoes as he fights his way to the top of the pile only to slip under the weight of his greed. At the same time, this book imparts a valuable history lesson on just how much of Japan's economic boom was truly the result of hard work and how much was rigged. Until I read this book, I never fully appreciated the level of collusion and stunning, open-mouthed greed of Japan's ruling classes. It seems like another world, one that I can only see through this book.
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