Books

Tokyo Underworld

The story telling is outstanding. I really do appreciate the first-hand knowledge that Whiting brings to the book as someone who lived during most of the events covered in the book. He does a great job of presenting the evidence of public knowledge and layering it with the culture of Japan

Garrett

Mar 30, 2026 — 3 min read

The Book in 1 Sentence

A deep history of how post WWII, criminal organizations both raised Japan to be one of the most impressive economies in the world and then brought it crashing down.

Brief Review

With a tagline of "The fast times and hard life of an American Gangster in Japan" I was expecting to see a Mob Boss growing a wing of the Mafia in Japan, but that isn't what I got. You get a washed up womanizing gangster with delusions of grandeur who waddled in the background. While the book is interesting, it isn't what I expected, wanted, or honestly enjoyed.

Why I Read this book

The Tagline sold me a fake bill.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

So the author at the end of the book talks about meeting Mr. Zappetti at his pizza parlor and then becoming friends. That is a cool story. From that he learns all of these old stories full of crazy results. Zappetti comes in and out of the book multiple times to the point that he is really a background figure that just tells his story and complains about everything that doesn't go his way. He is the victim.

There are some really interest pieces of Japanese history that I really enjoyed. I wasn't aware of the layers of tax forgiveness for entertainment which create "Tea Houses" that had such a lasting effect in the Japanese world. I mean, they even get a mention in The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift which when I watched it years ago I was able to understand from context clues, but after reading this book I understood what that implied and what it meant.

The storytelling is outstanding. I really do appreciate the first-hand knowledge that Whiting brings to the book as someone who lived during most of the events covered in the book. He does a great job of presenting the evidence of public knowledge and layering it with the culture of Japan, specifically the acceptance of Tokyo.

Rating

I enjoyed the book. Not for the American Gangster part, but for the history of Japan part. The American Gangster honestly was just the perfect example of what an angry American appears to the world these days. Constantly complaining about everything and playing the victim. The book was very well done and the biggest complaint is just the tagline to the story. I think it would have been better to write about his job and having the Zappetti story inside that. I

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