"This is a book I wish I'd written. It's brilliantly researched, full of detail and illuminating…" --Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Ice Uncover the shocking world of the Japanese courtroom. In a country where nearly all defendants plead guilty, the interesting part is what happens between the plea and the sentencing. In True Crime Japan, journalist and longtime resident of Japan Paul Murphy delves into a year's worth of criminal court cases in Matsumoto, a city located 140 miles to the west of Tokyo. The nine defendants in these cases range from ruthless mobsters to average citizens with a variety of methods and motives. Using court documents and interviews, Murphy makes a point of including the perspectives of the defendants, as well as those of their families, neighbors, and lawyers. He explores not only the motives of offenders but the culture of crime and punishment in Japan. The nine cases include: "Late in Life" -- A wealthy octogenarian is put in jail for stealing fried chicken "Mama's Boys" -- A disbelieving family unveils their son's role as a yakuza gangster. "Mother Killers" -- A middle-aged carpenter beats his 91-year old mother to death and goes to work the following day, leaving the body for his wife to find. True Crime Japan provides an unusual lens through which to view Japanese society and its emphasis on honor, shame, and conformity. Murphy's in-depth analysis of the court system reveals Japan to be, perhaps surprisingly, a land of true individuals.

This book reviews research on psychology and crime in Japan, and compares the findings with similar research conducted in Western industrialised countries. It examines explanations for crime and antisocial behaviour in Japan using research and theories from a psychological perspective. Topics covered include cultural explanations, developmental and life-course criminology, family violence and family risk factors, youth crime and early prevention, school factors and bullying, mental disorders, biosocial factors, psychopathy and sexual offending. In some parts, it challenges and refines the prevailing belief that Japan is a society characterised by low crime and little antisocial behaviour. This original project is the most up-to-date work on crime in Japan, and advances the important field of psychological criminology.

"A fascinating study of how criminal enterprise can infect the very heart of modern capitalism. Here is the backstage world of political influence and organized crime in the world's second largest economy... by far the most detailed and even-handed study of this important and neglected subject."—John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II Reviews of original edition: "A superb study of Japan's underworld that is both entertaining and revealing. The authors miss none of the color and curious detail of the yakuza style, but at the same time go far beyond surface observations."—Far Eastern Economic Review "The book is laden with fascinating information, some of it heretofore unavailable in English."—Washington Post "Blend the Mafia with the Masons. Let them simmer a while, then fold in the Ku Klux Klan and you'll have the yakuza…. Important and timely…Yakuza will serve for years as the source document on Japanese organized crime."—San Jose Mercury News "State-of-the-art investigative reporting…must reading for those who consider themselves already highly conversant with yakuza activities…disturbing."—Journal of Asian Studies

This book provides an overview of capital punishment in Japan in a legal, historical, social, cultural and political context. It provides new insights into the system, challenges traditional views and arguments and seeks the real reasons behind the retention of capital punishment in Japan.

A murderer doing time in hell. A girl who just wants to win her high school band contest...no matter what it takes. Sumo wrestlers with a supernatural secret. A future Tokyo where vampires are menial laborers nursing long-held grudges against humanity. And even a very conscientious, if unstable, Universal Transverse Mercator projection. These crime and mystery stories from and about Japan explore myth, technology, the sharpness of a sleuth’s mind, and the darkness in the hearts of criminals. Read these stories and learn that hanzai means crime! Ray Banks Libby Cudmore Brian Evenson Kaori Fujino Jyouji Hayashi Naomi Hirahara Yumeaki Hirayama Violet LeVoit Yusuke Miyauchi S.J. Rozan Hiroshi Sakurazaka Setsuko Shinoda Jeff Somers Genevieve Valentine Carrie Vaughn Chet Williamson -- VIZ Media

This book provides an important overview of key criminology and criminal justice concerns in Japan. It highlights similarities between the practice of criminology research in Japan, as well as important differences, with other areas of Asia and with the West. In previous decades, Japan attracted international attention as the only industrialized country where the crime rate declined along with a rise in urbanization and economic development. Currently, Japan still enjoys a declining crime rate (the lowest among major industrialized countries) and a study of criminal justice practices in Japan may provide important insights for other regions. Japan also experiences important contemporary challenges which are shared by other regions: 1. Japan has the highest proportion of people over the age of 60 in the world. For criminology, this means key challenges in the victimization of older people, as well as the challenges of an aging prison population. 2. Besides the United States, Japan is the only developed country that still practices capital punishment, and its rate has been on the rise in the past 20 years. 3. Japan has also introduced new reforms in its law practice, including the introduction of new trial formats. The research in this book provides a helpful overview for scholars interested in criminology and criminal justice in Japan to understand the key issues of concern, and present a framework for future research needs. It will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, international studies, Asian Studies, sociology, and political science.

"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.

Japan is often described as an inclusive society, and yet the media reports record highs in crime and suicide figures. This book examines criminal justice in Japan, and questions whether Japan really is facing social malaise, or if the media are simply creating a 'moral panic'.

Now in a significant new edition, this landmark book documents little-known wartime Japanese atrocities during World War II, including cannibalism; the slaughter and starvation of prisoners of war; the rape, enforced prostitution, and murder of noncombatants; and biological warfare experiments.

The Showa Era in Japan commenced in December 1926, when Emperor Showa ascended the Throne, and came to an end in January 1989, when His Majesty passed away, ushering in the new Heisei Era. The Showa Era was marked by drastic changes in the economy, society, and political and legal sys tems, which brought about an ebb and flow in criminality and precipitated various criminal policies. From an economical, political, and criminological perspective, the Showa Era stands out as a remarkable period in Japanese his tory. The Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice, which has annually published the White Paper on Crime in Japan since 1960, received Cabinet approval to introduce a special topic section, "Criminal Policy in Sho wa" in the White Paper for 1989, which was published in October the same year. This White Paper is the first comprehensive publication that deals not only with the crime situation but also with the various activities of the criminal justice system, including the police, public prosecutors' offices, courts, correctional institutions, and probation and parole supervision organisations for 63 years.