in the early 1980s, a countryside doctor in Japan met a chief of a yakuza gang and history was made...the first of two Yakuza books to be "accidentally" written; in that a writer accidentally meets a significant organized crime figure and then characterizes that life. (the other being the one about an Italian-American in Occupied TOkyo). the author is a doctor; his patient happened to be a very interesting gambler-style crime boss (rather than drug or violence sector crime boss, although of course his life included violence). I can't overstate how great this book is: wikipedia even reports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessi...that Bob Dylan lifted two lines from the book for a song !this reason why this book is so great is because you can have a writer or a writer's personality (a) or you can have a really interesting unique life (b), but finding a and b together is not always so easy to find. I can find a dozen creatives in a few hours just poking around the internet. but how many actually crime bosses could I locate and how many would be willing to disclose details of their life? many crime bosses die; many just repeatedly sell amphetamines or whatever; Saga was living on the crux of things and saw war, a love affair, torture, rise and decline, defeat, occupation, the korean war's impact on defeated japan etc. the goodreads description is actually spot on, indeed pushing on spoiler. contains romance, violence, nostalgia for the 'early' yakuza. etc. well-written without filler, well-structured, and not unmoving . contains heavy period detail so if you are curious as to what pre-war tokyo's atmosphere was like; some of the social realities of pre-war; how a town dealt with soldiers being sent out and some of the life of the soldiers in manchuria; and what the crime bosses were doing as the surrender hit in august 1945 (they were gambling, naturally...) then this is excellently written and full of great detail.wandering the misty mountains of Japan, the gambling-style yakuza. (classic literary moment)you get war; you get prison; you get the aftermath of war; you get action up in the first colony of japan; you get the earthquake of 1923 and the ashio copper riots; you get life in downtown tokyo... and then after 1945, little much (kinda like memoirs of a geisha)a clear reference work for the japan library, and of immediate and obvious historical interest.
This isn’t confessions of a yakuza, it’s confessions of some dude who happened to meet a yakuza! I’ve been tricked! I could maybe excuse this, if there was anything at all interesting happening in the life of this some dude, but as far as I can see he goes to a few whore houses, gets a low-paying job, has a few lovers, and whatever. This was such an unexciting read. No tension, drama, intrigue, humour, anything. Doesn’t help that it’s been translated from Japanese, which by default makes the work more long-winded and fragmented. But I’ve read good Japanese books before. Welcome to the NHK is awesome, read that instead!
Do You like book Confessions Of A Yakuza (1995)?
This is the autobiography of a retired yakuza low-level gambling boss, as told to his doctor, who recorded the dying man's recollections and then transcribed them to text with his own observations sprinkled throughout. For what this book is, it's a great little read, with an insider view of the yakuza world from 1920s to the 1950s, some interesting details about pre-War Japanese life, and an engrossing narrative. But I was a little disappointed about the lack of contextual details about the yakuza, and frankly, I expected it to be more like Goodfellas.
—Meredith
True story: a Japanese doctor begins chatting with one of his elderly patients and soon discovers that his patient is a well-respected yakuza, or mobster. The doctor begins tape recording the old man's stories about yakuza life in pre-WWII Tokyo. After the patient dies, the doctor compiles the stories into this book. The yakuza boss, named Eiji, had an incredible life--he was a 1920s mobster, survived the Great Earthquake and gambled his way through the WWII carpet bombings. I enjoyed all the first-hand historical descriptions. Many of the places he talks about were destroyed during the war, so his account felt very special. Sure, Eiji was a criminal, but I felt immense sympathy for him as a down-to-earth and often classy guy. This is a quick read, perfect for traveling or a quiet weekend.
—Andrea
This is easily my favorite book on Showa-era Japan. It was readable and engaging, full of surprising details. This is not your stereotypical or salacious "gangster" type story, with very little blood or violence. It's the life story of a Yakuza in the days when their primary pastimes centered on running illicit gambling dens. Many of the scenes from the book have stuck with me.One of the most striking parts is when he lives through the great earthquake of 1920. The book meanders quietly through his life, and though it's definitely not action packed or particularly "exciting" per se, it's still a very quick read. Over all it's a lovely memoir, and delightfully informative as well. Highly recommended!
—Alice
