American journalist Jake Adelstein has been exposing the secrets of yakuza organizations in Japan for decades. Anyone who has read his 2009 book, Tokyo Vice, or seen the 2022 HBO drama adaptation of the book, won't be surprised that someone hunted him down.
Before the publication of the Tokyo Supplement, Adelstein decided it would be wise to hire a bodyguard, and he asked a retired yakuza member, Makoto Saigo, to take on the job. Saito agreed, but on one condition: Adelstein wanted to write his biography. "I want my son to know who I am and what I've done, but I don't think I'll live to see him grow up. ”
The Last Gangster is this biography, although some of the biographical details have been merged with the plots of other gang members to protect the identity of what Adelstein called "Saigo". Only Adelstein knows what a complex character Saito really is: in these pages, he displays a mixture of eccentricity, honor, toughness and clumsiness.
Born around 1960, Saito was a tall young man who was "a head taller than his classmates like a bear" at school. He "became a gangster...... It's because he doesn't like rigid Japanese society." Another point is his taste for high-level sex workers, which led him to a debt of 60 million yen when he first debuted. Only by joining the Inagawa Kai, Japan's third-largest yakuza organization, can he be protected from usury.
Saito's career has been full of twists and turns. In the early '80s, he was convicted of drug possession for taking methamphetamine and imprisoned in a hellish prison in Japan. "The moment you walk in here, you lose your human rights", was the greeting he received from the prison guards. This almost led to his expulsion from the Inagawa Society, but after his release from prison, he excelled and eventually became the leader of a 150-member Inagawa Society's subordinate organization.
Saito's evil plans are often very ingenious. When he wanted to get a loan without collateral, he ordered his men to go to a local bank, each with a cat: they began to tease the cats, and the noise scared all the customers away, until the manager agreed to Saito's request. But Saito was soft-hearted at heart, and when the bank manager lost his job as a result, he gave him 5 million yen. He also insisted that any gang member who harmed the cat would be fined one day's wages.
In Saito's life, there is a special woman who plays an important role, and she is Adelstein's wife, Hua Li. Huali is an American who has faced a variety of difficulties with Adelstein, including the threat of gangs and the pressure of Japanese society. However, she also became a bond in Saito's life.
At the beginning of their encounter, Saito had some reservations about Huali, but over time they developed a deep emotional connection. This relationship shows that the gang members also have a warm and emotional side.
The Last Gangster provides an in-depth insight into the world of Japanese yakuza In this world, although gangsters are known for their violence and crime, they also have their own moral bottom line. They focus on loyalty, honor, and protection of the weak, especially in the fight against other gangster organizations. They also provide a certain degree of order and protection to the community, filling in the absence of government.
However, over time, the Japanese yakuza world has also changed. Japan's crackdown on yakuza organizations has intensified, and society has become less tolerant of yakuza groups, making life more difficult for yakuza members. Saito and other yakuza members also face existential challenges, and they must find their footing in the fading gangster culture.