This guy Jake Adelstein went to Japan to broaden his horizons, wound up becoming a reporter for one of Japan's newspapers and was assigned to cover vice stories.
He writes about his interactions with Yakuza members, the Japanese police force, and the denizens of the seedier side of Japan's red light districts.
I found it to be very interesting, and while I'd love to live in Japan, I'd be afraid of their mafia, the "yakuza"
[Edited 11/20/09 20:24pm]

I hate all kinds of mafia equally but if I had to choose, I´d opt for the Yakuza any day. At least they seem to have a bit more of a code of honor, unlike those fools in Europe, America or Eastern Europe these days. The Yakuza seems to have more class then, say, the Russian "mafia" or the scum that is terrorizing Sicily and South Italy or Istanbul these days.

So what are his impressions of the Yakuza?

I heard the Simpsons used to be banned in Japan because they only have four fingers.

He's been on 60 Minutes and The Daily Show recently. The book looks interesting, and this guy's unique perspective into the Yakuza would make it pretty informative.

KoolEaze said:

his impressions of the yakuza are that they're bad guys. They setup legitimate businesses, like home loans. They lend people money who need it desperately, and therefor the terms are unfavorable. They then threaten the people with harm to their loved ones, grandparents, friends, lovers, etc, and sometimes carry through with it..They own detective agencies...lets say you hire one to follow your loved one whom you fear is not being faithful...they'll get evidence against them and blackmail them, before they give the information to you...I forget the statistics, but a very high number of stocks listed on the japanese stock exchange are linked to the yakuza. So is the largest political party...