The wild, true story of cyber-era commerce, crime, cold-hard cash, and one of the greatest heists in history. Even in hell, Bitcoin talks. This modern take on an old Japanese saying still holds true. The cryptocurrency was supposed to do for money what the Internet did for information, but it didn't work out that way. Its virtual existence unleashed real-world chaos -- especially in the homeland of its mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Tokyo was the centre of the world's largest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, until that company collapsed with nearly half a billion dollars' worth of bitcoin gone missing. It might be the greatest heist in history. If it was a heist. So what really happened? Here's the true story of the humble-to-hot commodity, from the former geek website that launched the boom to an inside world of absent-minded CEOs, hucksters, hackers, cybercrooks, drug dealers, corrupt federal agents, evangelical libertarians, and clueless techies. You'll discover Bitcoin's connection to the infamous Silk Road, learn why hell has nothing on Japan's criminal justice system, and get the lowdown on the high cost of betting with the Devil's dollars. All of this for less than the price of a single bitcoin.
Jake Adelstein Reihenfolge der Bücher (Chronologisch)





Tokyo Noir
- 306 Seiten
- 11 Lesestunden
The sequel to bestseller Tokyo Vice, now a major HBO drama, with a second season coming in 2024.It’s been a while since Jake Adelstein was the only gaijin crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun. The global economy is in shambles, Jake is off the police beat but still chain-smoking clove cigarettes, and Tadamasa Goto, the most powerful boss in the Japanese organised-crime world, has been banished from the yakuza, giving Adelstein one less enemy to worry about — for the time being.Adelstein has a new gig these days: due-diligence work, or using his investigative skills to dig up information on entities whose bosses would prefer that some things stay hidden. Underneath layers of paperwork, corporations are thinly veiled fronts for the yakuza. Pachinko parlors are a hidden battleground between disenfranchised Japanese Koreans and North Korean extortion plots. TEPCO, the electric power corporation keeping the lights on for all of Tokyo, scrambles to hide its willful oversights that ultimately led to the 2011 Fukushima meltdown. And the Japanese government shows levels of corruption that make gangsters look like philanthropists.In this riveting memoir, Jake Adelstein once again reveals Japan’s dark underworld, as he battles to keep himself in the light.
Makoto Saigo, a half-American, half-Japanese young man, struggles to achieve his dream of becoming a rock star in small-town Japan. After his aspirations falter, he joins the yakuza, where he must navigate a dangerous world defined by loyalty and violence. Known as Tsunami, Saigo discovers that differing philosophies within the organization can lead to deadly consequences, and one misstep could cost him dearly. The story explores themes of ambition, identity, and the harsh realities of life in organized crime.
Tokyo Vice
Eine gefährliche Reise durch die japanische Unterwelt. Geldwäsche, Prostitution, Korruption. Alles über die größte Mafia der Welt. Das Buch zur HBO-Serie
- 380 Seiten
- 14 Lesestunden
Jake Adelstein ist der einzige westliche Journalist, der jemals als Polizeireporter in Japan arbeiten durfte. Er berichtete viele Jahre für die führende japanische Zeitung über die dunkle Seite Japans, wo Erpressung, Mord, Menschenhandel und Korruption ebenso häufig vorkommen wie Ramen-Nudeln und Sake. Doch als er seinen letzten Knüller landen wollte, stand er Japans berüchtigtstem Yakuza-Boss plötzlich persönlich gegenüber. Da ihm und seiner Familie der Tod drohte, gab er auf . . . vorübergehend. Dann schlug er zurück. In »Tokyo Vice« erzählt Jake Adelstein, wie aus einem unerfahrenen Jungreporter – dessen Wing-Chun-Kampf mit einem älteren Kollegen nicht sein einziger Anfängerfehler war – ein wagemutiger Enthüllungsjournalist wurde, auf den die Yakuza ein Kopfgeld aussetzte. Mit seinen lebendigen, emotionalen Geschichten aus der Welt der modernen Yakuza, von der selbst Japaner wenig wissen, ist »Tokyo Vice« von der ersten bis zur letzten Zeile ein ebenso faszinierendes wie informatives Buch und ein einzigartiger, aufschlussreicher Bericht aus erster Hand über die Schattenseiten der japanischen Kultur.