Jake Adelstein > Quotes

“Confession is for the confessor. It makes you feel good; it ruins the lives of everyone else. It’s a selfish thing to do. Don’t confess.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“Heroes are just people who have run out of choices.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“You develop a kind of admiration for criminal genius and ruthless efficiency, and you forget that the criminal empire is built on human pain and suffering.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“As the Japanese would say, I’d already eaten the poison, might as well lick the plate.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“The people believed that kotodama—the soul or spirit of language—resided in every word;”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“The biggest question for me was always this: how did this man get away with allegedly raping woman after woman for more than a decade, and why didn't the police catch him sooner?
It's not that the police have a bad attitude toward crimes against foreign women-it's all women. They still don't seem to anticipate how stalking behaviour such as the kind demonstrated by Obara can lead to serious injury and even death.
I think-and since I'm not writing for the newspaper, I can actually express my opinion here- that sexual assault against women was always a low-priority crime for the police.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“The book has had one unexpected side effect: by disdaining Koreans' complaints, it actually touches upon Japan's less-then-noble history with Korea, which is something the Ministry of Education has worked hard to keep out of the public school system. Apparently not knowing history means never having to say you're story.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“I was really delighted when in June that year the U.S State Department put Japan on a watch list of countries doing a piss-poor job of addressing human trafficking problems. In terms of willingness to act, Japan was ranked only slightly above North Korea. For the Japanese, that was like pushing a button. Never underestimate the power of national humiliation to make the Japanese government get off its lazy ass.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“Sometimes in the mountains the animals make paths by using the same route again and again. If you don't know what you're doing, you might think it's a path made by humans--it looks that way. If you follow that path, the path of beasts, you won't get anywhere at all. People lost in the wilderness, they follow these paths and only get more and more lost. Sometimes they lose their way and they die. It's not a path for humans, it's a dangerous diversion. Are you sure that's the road you want to take? It won't get you where you want to go.”
― Jake Adelstein

“I was angry that, although human trafficking was rampant in the country at the time, the Japanese police and the Japanese government didn't care and didn't want to deal with it. I can't really blame the police that much. The laws are the laws, and without any real anti-human trafficking ordinances on the books, what were they supposed to do? The problem didn't start with the cops; it started way above them.

I decided to bust the Japanese government as far as I could.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“You learn to let go of what you want to be the truth and find out what is the truth, and you report it as it is, not as you wish it was. It’s an important job. Journalists are the one thing in this country that keeps the forces in power in check.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“I've talked to three women who have had very unpleasant experiences with the police after being raped. Each of them was made to wait between three and eight hours before being taken to a hospital for examination. During the time, all of them were allowed or encouraged to go to the bathroom, thus, of course, destroying the physical evidence.

Rape kits are not a standard item at police stations, and very few officers know how to use them, thought I've been told that rape kits themselves do exist. In a country were rape is not considered a serious crime, it's not surprising that people like Obara flourish.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“get wound up. Kimura was a short, stocky fellow with a tight-permed hairstyle reminiscent of the yakuza from my internship story. When he was sober, he was a great guy. He was a mean drunk, however, and he’d been putting it away all night. He kept picking on me as we entered the next izakaya, and once we were sitting down, he looked over at me and sneered. “I look at you, Adelstein, and I can’t figure out how we lost the war. How could we lose to a bunch of sloppy Americans? Barbarians with no discipline, no culture, and no honor. It beats me. Long live the Emperor!”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“Hostesses aren't seen as victims by many of the police; they're seen as victimizers, greedy, manipulative prostitutes. Especially the foreign hostesses.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“Inutile d'apprendre les règles, contente-toi de les suivre.”
― Jake Adelstein, The Last Yakuza: Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld

“It must have been so, so horrible. I extend my sympathy and love to each one of you. I'm very sorry that you had to go through what you went through. My heart is with you all the way.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“People of the Tohoku region are stoic, compassionate, calm and humble. They have always just dealt with the situation without complaining. Of course they have questions and fears, but they hesitate to show them as they know other people are experiencing far worse.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“Due diligence involves a lot of paperwork and sometimes more footwork than you could possibly imagine; hopefully you’ll find the process of getting the job done as fascinating as I do. Real-world puzzle-solving is always going to interest me more than any novel, escape room, or video game. I do believe that the truth is out there; there is an answer if you ask the right questions.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Noir: In and Out of Japan's Underworld

“Besides, you’re a Jew. I’m sure you’re used to getting blamed for everything.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“What is yarusenai?
It's that one email you never replied to and will never open. It's the bad advice you gave and the phone call you should have made and everything that came out of it. It's thinking about the friends that you suspect you might have been able to save.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“who”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“After what seemed like an eternity and an apocalypse—computers strewn, desks swept clean, printers toppled and presentations mixed up—the more seasoned people suggested we march down 30 floors. No rushing of feet or stomping of ground, no racing through or overtaking, just a good old smiling saunter as if going down for a quick cup of coffee.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“Sometimes its better to be lucky than good.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“I can buy another bag or coat, but I can't buy another one of you if you die, so just leave those things behind!" I told her.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“Two things stand out: The zen-like demeanor of the Japanese amidst such a huge disaster, and the realization that if there is a place on earth that I want to be with my family and friends (current and extended), when (God forbid) such a disaster ever struck again, then it's this country, Japan.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“The U.N.-backed International Labor Organization had carried out a study funded by the Japanese government, on the state of human trafficking in Japan. The report was scathing: Japan had failed to punish human traffickers or to take care of the victims. The Japanese government ordered the ILO to keep the report under wraps; it would never be published.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“There was an emergency earthquake kit under our bed. A list of emergency landline numbers by our phone. A childhood's worth of earthquake drills in my memory. I had prepared, yes, but I wasn't prepared.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“I didn't expect a disaster like this to happen to the country I love so much.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake

“I’ll do my best.” “Don’t do your best. Use your brain. Get results. Effort doesn’t count for shit. I appreciate it, but it’s the results that count.” “All right, I’ll do a half-assed job, but I’ll bring back something interesting.”
― Jake Adelstein, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan

“After a moment I turned back to Twitter and messages were flying past. It was clear now that something huge had just happened. I flipped on the TV and soon learned some of the basics. The quake was centered in the northeast and that we only got a small taste of the full force. People outside of Japan were asking what had happened. News hit of a huge earthquake in Japan, but there were few details. Rummaging through the mess on the floor I found my video camera and a laptop and set up a quick livestream broadcast of the news on TV. For hours I kept the video running as I started to clean up my apartment. I stayed on Twitter throughout the night, as aftershock after aftershock rocked my building, each threatening, then backing down. Soon hundreds of people had logged onto my video as I continued passing information on Twitter to people at work, walking home, or outside of Japan altogether.”
― Jake Adelstein, 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake