Jake Adelstein
The Daily Beast
Japan
Contact Jake
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
| Recent: |
|
| Past: |
|
Past articles by Jake:
Who the Hell Keeps Unplugging the Vaccine Fridges Right Before the Olympics?
As Japan plunges towards the Olympics, the baffling mystery of who is responsible for thousands of ruined vaccine doses is gripping the country. → Read More
‘Fuck the Olympics’: Inside Japan’s War to Dodge a COVID Disaster
Jung Yeon-Je/GettyTOKYO—As COVID infections and deaths continue to surge in Japan, so does the fiery opposition to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.Japan is... → Read More
Man Who Predicted the Worst Nuclear Disaster Since Chernobyl Sees Another Coming
Vulnerable to both terrorists and Mother Nature, Japan's nuclear power plants are accidents waiting to happen. → Read More
Japan’s Gun Laws Worked So Well They Need to Ban Crossbows
After a series of grisly crimes involving “bow guns,” Japan is cutting the strings on the deadly weapons. → Read More
The Gorgeous Japanese Island Where the Exiled Once Dwelled
Perhaps being sent there was a punishment in the past; going there now is a wonderful reward to yourself. → Read More
Japan’s Prime Minister Is Already Flunking Out
Japan’s new leader was the most popular kid in the class, but his obstinacy, meanness, and ineptness have cost him. → Read More
Nonaffiliated gangs seek to exploit vacuum left by the yakuza’s declining influence
Violent gangs are starting to make their presence felt in western Japan, with incidents of armed robbery and violent crime clearly on the rise. → Read More
Crime syndicate puts brakes on fraudulent activities during pandemic
Gang leadership says it's wrong to “rob (elderly) individuals of the money they need to live.” → Read More
This Wrestler Wouldn’t Bow to Men, But Trolls Took Her Down
Pink-haired pro wrestler Hana Kimura was a hit on TV until she confronted her male roommate. What happened next says much about misogyny and bullying, and not only in Japan. → Read More
Japan's gangs find themselves in a losing battle to mark territory
Carrying a business card bearing a gang crest is "effectively a license to collect cash,” a former gang member says. “Without the crest, it’s just a sheet of paper.” → Read More
Examining the legal definition of a virus
Law enforcement agencies in Japan are struggling to define exactly what the new coronavirus is, and what it is not. → Read More
A U.S. Embassy Refused to Test Exposed Staff for Coronavirus
Symptoms of bureaucratic blindness: Tokyo embassy employees who visited infected America patients from the cruise ship Diamond Princess were told they didn’t need tests. → Read More
Criminals are taking advantage of fear over COVID-19
Where some people see calamity, criminals see opportunity. As concern grows over the outbreak of COVID-19 in Japan, the denizens of the underworld haven't → Read More
What's in a name? For the yakuza, quite a lot
The Yamaguchi-gumi is one of the most feared crime syndicates in Japan and yet its name may become a relic of the past in 2020 if recent reports are to be → Read More
Police warn Olympic ticket lottery winners to be vigilant
The second ticket lottery for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics closed on Aug. 19 for an estimated 4.16 million residents of Japan who came up empty-handed in the in → Read More
As Japan prepares to open casinos, gangs won't be afraid to test security
Japan is currently creating a legal framework to operate casinos via a system of integrated resorts, but concerns persist that they'll be prime targets for → Read More
Historic justification for Japan's tattoo ban is no longer relevant
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games a little more than a year away, it's time for Japan to turn the page on tattoos. It's hard to argue with a → Read More
This Off-the-Beaten Path Japanese Town Is a Hidden Gem
I went to Daigo-town in Ibaraki Prefecture to write about the struggles of Japan’s traditional lacquerware but found a town so charming, I’m going back this summer for vacation. → Read More
Japan Has a New Emperor and a New Era, But a Dark Future
Japan’s new imperial era officially started on May 1 at a time when 79 percent of the Japanese people no longer believe their own government. Should we? → Read More
Google Maps could point users down the wrong path
One could almost be forgiven for thinking that con artists are a dime a dozen in Japan. They've been terrorizing elderly folk over the telephone in recent → Read More