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Tokyo Underworld The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan♦Robert Whiting 2000
Robert Whiting Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan Vintage Books 2000
Title: Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan
Author: Robert Whiting
Format: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books 2000
Edition: First Edition
ISBN: 9780375724893
Size: 5.25 x 8 * 372 pages including index
Synopsis: Whiting's probe of Japan's gangsters, corrupt entrepreneurs and political fixers reads like a James Bond thriller yet manages intelligently to illuminate the seamy underside of Japan's postwar economic boom. At the heart of his colorful tale is swaggering, thickset Nick Zappetti, a tough from East Harlem's Italian ghetto who arrived in U.S.-occupied Japan in 1945 as a 22-year-old marine sergeant. Zappetti stayed on to become a black marketer, branched out into illegal banking, pimping and armed robbery, then launched a Tokyo pizza restaurant, Nicola's, which became a favorite night spot for mobsters, diplomats and movie stars. After decades of booze, debauchery, multiple marriages, gangland ties and lawsuits, he lost control of his restaurant-chain empire to his former Japanese partner and to his Japanese fourth wife. Zappetti died in 1992, nearly bankrupt and consumed with hatred for the Japanese, whom he saw as arrogant swindlers intent on taking over America. Whiting (You Gotta Have Wa), an American journalist who lives in Tokyo and writes a weekly column for the Japanese press, sets Zappetti's rise and fall against juggernaut Japan's financial ascendancy over the U.S. and its current slide into economic malaise. In this critical, revealing look at a half century of U.S.-Japan relations, he blames General MacArthur's occupational government--with its massive embezzlement, theft, fraud and black marketing--for creating the environment that allowed Japan's organized crime syndicates to join forces with its ruling political and business elite, aided by strategic financial aid from the CIA." publishersweekly
Overall Condition: Very good with price sticker on rear cover; see images.
2026--U.S. shipping for this (One Pound Media Mail) is $4.47 with tracking.
Multiple items will be combined for the lowest shipping price.
International Shipping cost is based on the destination so inquire before buying. Mobile users must scroll to the bottom and click on 'use desktop site' to bring up the Ask a Question link which sends me an email.
(PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE MAKING ANY PAYMENT FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S.)
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Just about all the books are USED books. Some have been used more gently than others. Some have been in libraries and have typical library extras. Some are so old and/or interesting that they are being offered for the sake of preservation regardless of the condition they are in. If the condition of the book is very important to you, please feel free to click the 'Ask seller a question' link and I will tell you more.
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Title: Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan
Author: Robert Whiting
Format: Softcover
Publisher: Vintage Books 2000
Edition: First Edition
ISBN: 9780375724893
Size: 5.25 x 8 * 372 pages including index
Synopsis: Whiting's probe of Japan's gangsters, corrupt entrepreneurs and political fixers reads like a James Bond thriller yet manages intelligently to illuminate the seamy underside of Japan's postwar economic boom. At the heart of his colorful tale is swaggering, thickset Nick Zappetti, a tough from East Harlem's Italian ghetto who arrived in U.S.-occupied Japan in 1945 as a 22-year-old marine sergeant. Zappetti stayed on to become a black marketer, branched out into illegal banking, pimping and armed robbery, then launched a Tokyo pizza restaurant, Nicola's, which became a favorite night spot for mobsters, diplomats and movie stars. After decades of booze, debauchery, multiple marriages, gangland ties and lawsuits, he lost control of his restaurant-chain empire to his former Japanese partner and to his Japanese fourth wife. Zappetti died in 1992, nearly bankrupt and consumed with hatred for the Japanese, whom he saw as arrogant swindlers intent on taking over America. Whiting (You Gotta Have Wa), an American journalist who lives in Tokyo and writes a weekly column for the Japanese press, sets Zappetti's rise and fall against juggernaut Japan's financial ascendancy over the U.S. and its current slide into economic malaise. In this critical, revealing look at a half century of U.S.-Japan relations, he blames General MacArthur's occupational government--with its massive embezzlement, theft, fraud and black marketing--for creating the environment that allowed Japan's organized crime syndicates to join forces with its ruling political and business elite, aided by strategic financial aid from the CIA." publishersweekly
Overall Condition: Very good with price sticker on rear cover; see images.
2026--U.S. shipping for this (One Pound Media Mail) is $4.47 with tracking.
Multiple items will be combined for the lowest shipping price.
International Shipping cost is based on the destination so inquire before buying. Mobile users must scroll to the bottom and click on 'use desktop site' to bring up the Ask a Question link which sends me an email.
(PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE MAKING ANY PAYMENT FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S.)
==========================================================================================================================
Just about all the books are USED books. Some have been used more gently than others. Some have been in libraries and have typical library extras. Some are so old and/or interesting that they are being offered for the sake of preservation regardless of the condition they are in. If the condition of the book is very important to you, please feel free to click the 'Ask seller a question' link and I will tell you more.
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