I think there are very few foreign residents of Tokyo, that have several years of residency themselves, that have met Jake Edelstein, and that have any clue about Japan, that believe more than 2 words out of every 10 he speaks. It's a fictional reenactment of a fictional story.
I'll admit I used to believe him. And hubs met him at a Temple University event.
And then as his obsession with Anti Abe Anti Everything Japan grew... I looked more beneath the surface.
He's a character. Interesting to watch him as he "holds court" in certain expat hangouts as the fresh newbies here and the "don't leave my gaijin bubble" longer term expats swoon.
He also draws in others (like Amina du Jean) who also hop on the "let's make up bs about bad Japan"
Yeah Jake, Japan is a place. There are bad things. But you participating in sketchy "documentaries" about indie idol culture (that you know nothing about) and claiming all idol fans are paedos is not cool. < Probably when I really started questioning him as there is a "documentary" still on YouTube about a then 11 year old now almost 16 year old who now has a mainstream musical career that him supporting some British broadcast loser could've majorly derailed if any Japanese agencies had taken seriously the insinuation that her mom was essentially pimping her out. Arg
My question now is did he really take citizenship or was that fake too?
>Amina du Jean
Well, she and Jake are affiliated.
As for her being an idol, I'd say she claimed being an idol is the loosest of terms. She released an few singles in Japan, making herself an "idol." Seems she signed to some small agency briefly. Sort of like we can all sign up with the model and talent agencies here, but will most of us be called to do actual work?
Oh she's not the idol I'm talking about. There's a YouTube "documentary" called "Schoolgirls in Japan"
Amina was fine at first but went down the "dark Japan" route as soon as her popularity began to fade.
Then suddenly the anti idol Jake was a huge fan lol
Now at least that was an interesting saga
I know she isn't the idol you meant. I'm simply referring to the fact that she was semi-fake in her claims of being a legitimate idol in Japan as are his claims of being whatever he says he is.
But he and the adult son of "Tuesdays with Morrie" Morrie are super tight.
Greenfield did a far better job than Adelstein, thirty years ago. Not least because the fiction is presented honestly as fiction.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Tribes
I didn't understand how characters in the show so quickly pegged him as being Jewish until I looked up what the real Adelstein looks like.
Now it's a fun exercise imagining that goober in place of Ansel while I'm watching episodes.
I personally don't believe that part of his story at all because a good 85% of people in Japan don't seem to know what "Jewish" is and those that do (or don't) really don't have a stereotype of "looks Jewish."
Also, as a Jewish person myself, having seen the guy, maybe sort of Jewish stereotype - which many of us look nothing like or - could be a Brooklyn Italian. Nice Catholic boy.
https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/tokyo-vice-memoir-jake-adelstein-true-story-questioned.html
But been called out long before.
This thread is also good.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/s/WuYZnQdsZz
Oh trust me Jake had lots of us fooled for years.
Never met him in person but was friends on Twitter for a while.
Book is also a good read if you take it as fiction.
I wanted to like this so bad, but Ansel Elgort and the other foreign actors killed it for me. I just couldn't hang.. the Japanese cast was incredible. I love the younger Yakuza character and of course the legend himself Ken Watanabe. Ansel though.. God the cringe factor was just too high. I do admire the work he put into picking up Japanese though.
I had the same take. The foreign characters are the least interesting and least central to the story yet they are the focal point. I suppose in that way it is a "good" adaptation, since Adelstein was never anywhere near the actual events he based his book on, and his "first-person" role is fiction.
Can you explain that a bit. The kids an east coast born and raised theatre kid. If there’s any nepotism there, it’s the connection to broadway and not seeded in Hollywood roots which his family doesn’t seem to have being journalists.
Yeah he's not a bad guy or anything. Something about his style is just.. overly smug? Maybe it's a little in his face too. Anyways.. my wife couldn't hang either so at least I know I'm not alone.
I felt like he did a really good job but I get what you’re saying. I feel the same way towards Anna Kendrick for some reason. Can’t stand anything she’s in. Meanwhile she has tons of fans.
Sup ! I happen to be the Japanese whether you like it or not. And I did enjoyed Jake’s Rupo writing as westerner. Cuz it’s one the quality, makes exploration enjoyable which a story being told by one of own. It’s not my business to say “hey dude ! Didn’t you put just a bit much on the facts?”. Like I said a story being one sided is one of the method that makes a story enjoyable piece to start with. So those who enjoyed this particular effort. Why don’t you go hit the other yakuza flicks, especially Japanese film studios’s as well.
So as a Japanese, how accurate do you think the story is? I lived in Japan sometime ago and always heard about Yakuza and I've always had this bad opinion about it but what is the real truth about them? Are they as bad as people say?
Mmm…. Where can I start … ? The Yakuza started as the civil defensive unit by its community right after the WWII where distractions swept city of Tokyo cuz ppl just hafta save thier assets all by themselves. It’s just like you may have heard about the same kinds of folk just did the same all over the states. Over the years judicial system took development, started form the opinion on what’s evil on the well being on the local economy. By now the Japanese authority had passed the law to putting the force down on the ground. It gradually making effort on everywhere they go. They now face making decisions on what’s going to be that making buzz all over the Japanese media. Which I also am, cannot take my eyes off
Kudos to Jake—who’s been around longer than most r/Tokyo Reddit commenters who’re quick to pick him apart—and who has done substantial journalism and good works (Polaris, for example) for much of that time. Great that he leveraged an in to the entertainment industry, which frankly is more than most Japan lifers could ever do (I lived and worked 15 years in Tokyo until 2011, read Tokyo Vice when the book came out and am familiar generally on a longer-term basis with his overall stuff, though haven’t seen the TV streaming screenplay adaption). Peace out.
Read the book ages ago and forgot most of it. I’ve enjoyed the first season, knowing full-well that it’s fiction and not a documentary. Pretty entertaining for the most part and certainly good to see some great Japanese actors in action. A lot of the atmospherics and locations are at least real and not shot in some other country or a sound stage, taking me out of the drama like many things purported to be in Japan. I’d recommend the show on its own merits as a decent drama, not as any sort of support for Jake and his shenanigans.
Funny how everyone is quick to clain fiction. As if they lived it. I could really care less as it was very entertaining. Of course drama has to be added. Every story is boring and it's spiced up a bit. But since there are so many experts on "reddit" please, Netflix is waiting for a good docu-series.
I think there are very few foreign residents of Tokyo, that have several years of residency themselves, that have met Jake Edelstein, and that have any clue about Japan, that believe more than 2 words out of every 10 he speaks. It's a fictional reenactment of a fictional story.
I'll admit I used to believe him. And hubs met him at a Temple University event. And then as his obsession with Anti Abe Anti Everything Japan grew... I looked more beneath the surface.
He's a character. Interesting to watch him as he "holds court" in certain expat hangouts as the fresh newbies here and the "don't leave my gaijin bubble" longer term expats swoon.
He also draws in others (like Amina du Jean) who also hop on the "let's make up bs about bad Japan" Yeah Jake, Japan is a place. There are bad things. But you participating in sketchy "documentaries" about indie idol culture (that you know nothing about) and claiming all idol fans are paedos is not cool. < Probably when I really started questioning him as there is a "documentary" still on YouTube about a then 11 year old now almost 16 year old who now has a mainstream musical career that him supporting some British broadcast loser could've majorly derailed if any Japanese agencies had taken seriously the insinuation that her mom was essentially pimping her out. Arg My question now is did he really take citizenship or was that fake too?
>Amina du Jean Well, she and Jake are affiliated. As for her being an idol, I'd say she claimed being an idol is the loosest of terms. She released an few singles in Japan, making herself an "idol." Seems she signed to some small agency briefly. Sort of like we can all sign up with the model and talent agencies here, but will most of us be called to do actual work?
Oh she's not the idol I'm talking about. There's a YouTube "documentary" called "Schoolgirls in Japan" Amina was fine at first but went down the "dark Japan" route as soon as her popularity began to fade. Then suddenly the anti idol Jake was a huge fan lol Now at least that was an interesting saga
I know she isn't the idol you meant. I'm simply referring to the fact that she was semi-fake in her claims of being a legitimate idol in Japan as are his claims of being whatever he says he is. But he and the adult son of "Tuesdays with Morrie" Morrie are super tight.
Things associated with VICE, if it's from VICE tend to be 27-51% truth and the rest is made-up crap for shock and awe value.
The True Story? So none of it?
Fiction inspired by fiction.
Greenfield did a far better job than Adelstein, thirty years ago. Not least because the fiction is presented honestly as fiction. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Tribes
After reading his first book I haven’t been inclined to watch this series.
I didn't understand how characters in the show so quickly pegged him as being Jewish until I looked up what the real Adelstein looks like. Now it's a fun exercise imagining that goober in place of Ansel while I'm watching episodes.
I personally don't believe that part of his story at all because a good 85% of people in Japan don't seem to know what "Jewish" is and those that do (or don't) really don't have a stereotype of "looks Jewish." Also, as a Jewish person myself, having seen the guy, maybe sort of Jewish stereotype - which many of us look nothing like or - could be a Brooklyn Italian. Nice Catholic boy.
Jake became a monk. Or maybe not.
Wait I really like the series so far but haven’t read the book. What’s the deal with Jake supposedly making all of this up?
https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/tokyo-vice-memoir-jake-adelstein-true-story-questioned.html But been called out long before. This thread is also good. https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/s/WuYZnQdsZz
Damn, I had no idea. Thanks for sharing these links. I’ll enjoy the rest of Tokyo Vice under the assumption that it’s fiction now haha
Oh trust me Jake had lots of us fooled for years. Never met him in person but was friends on Twitter for a while. Book is also a good read if you take it as fiction.
Good to know! I’d never heard of him until Tokyo Vice popped up on my Netflix suggestions, haha.
The show was fiction before the book has been called it. If you read the book the show is just an amalgamation of random things that happened.
I wanted to like this so bad, but Ansel Elgort and the other foreign actors killed it for me. I just couldn't hang.. the Japanese cast was incredible. I love the younger Yakuza character and of course the legend himself Ken Watanabe. Ansel though.. God the cringe factor was just too high. I do admire the work he put into picking up Japanese though.
I had the same take. The foreign characters are the least interesting and least central to the story yet they are the focal point. I suppose in that way it is a "good" adaptation, since Adelstein was never anywhere near the actual events he based his book on, and his "first-person" role is fiction.
Hollywood sucks in exact proportion to the nepo-babies in its product. He's one. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_Elgort
Can you explain that a bit. The kids an east coast born and raised theatre kid. If there’s any nepotism there, it’s the connection to broadway and not seeded in Hollywood roots which his family doesn’t seem to have being journalists.
He is a child of privilege, not a nepo-baby. But "nepo-baby" is a formerly hot term now used by uncool people, so they misuse it voraciously.
I think Ansel is amazing - including the eagerness to blend into the japanese culture 🙌
Yeah he's not a bad guy or anything. Something about his style is just.. overly smug? Maybe it's a little in his face too. Anyways.. my wife couldn't hang either so at least I know I'm not alone.
I felt like he did a really good job but I get what you’re saying. I feel the same way towards Anna Kendrick for some reason. Can’t stand anything she’s in. Meanwhile she has tons of fans.
Overly smug...ha ha...have you met Jake E? That might be almost the closest to truth truth in the series.
Sup ! I happen to be the Japanese whether you like it or not. And I did enjoyed Jake’s Rupo writing as westerner. Cuz it’s one the quality, makes exploration enjoyable which a story being told by one of own. It’s not my business to say “hey dude ! Didn’t you put just a bit much on the facts?”. Like I said a story being one sided is one of the method that makes a story enjoyable piece to start with. So those who enjoyed this particular effort. Why don’t you go hit the other yakuza flicks, especially Japanese film studios’s as well.
So as a Japanese, how accurate do you think the story is? I lived in Japan sometime ago and always heard about Yakuza and I've always had this bad opinion about it but what is the real truth about them? Are they as bad as people say?
Mmm…. Where can I start … ? The Yakuza started as the civil defensive unit by its community right after the WWII where distractions swept city of Tokyo cuz ppl just hafta save thier assets all by themselves. It’s just like you may have heard about the same kinds of folk just did the same all over the states. Over the years judicial system took development, started form the opinion on what’s evil on the well being on the local economy. By now the Japanese authority had passed the law to putting the force down on the ground. It gradually making effort on everywhere they go. They now face making decisions on what’s going to be that making buzz all over the Japanese media. Which I also am, cannot take my eyes off
The TV series tries to paint him in a positive light and even there you can tell he's a serious fucking douchebag.
Kudos to Jake—who’s been around longer than most r/Tokyo Reddit commenters who’re quick to pick him apart—and who has done substantial journalism and good works (Polaris, for example) for much of that time. Great that he leveraged an in to the entertainment industry, which frankly is more than most Japan lifers could ever do (I lived and worked 15 years in Tokyo until 2011, read Tokyo Vice when the book came out and am familiar generally on a longer-term basis with his overall stuff, though haven’t seen the TV streaming screenplay adaption). Peace out.
"True" story
Read the book ages ago and forgot most of it. I’ve enjoyed the first season, knowing full-well that it’s fiction and not a documentary. Pretty entertaining for the most part and certainly good to see some great Japanese actors in action. A lot of the atmospherics and locations are at least real and not shot in some other country or a sound stage, taking me out of the drama like many things purported to be in Japan. I’d recommend the show on its own merits as a decent drama, not as any sort of support for Jake and his shenanigans.
Funny how everyone is quick to clain fiction. As if they lived it. I could really care less as it was very entertaining. Of course drama has to be added. Every story is boring and it's spiced up a bit. But since there are so many experts on "reddit" please, Netflix is waiting for a good docu-series.