Comments on: Tokyo Vice /websites/www.darkmirage.com-pre/2010/09/07/tokyo-vice/ Anime, Games, J-Pop and Whatever Else Sun, 05 Jun 2011 14:44:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: DarkMirage /websites/www.darkmirage.com-pre/2010/09/07/tokyo-vice/comment-page-1/#comment-356336 DarkMirage Mon, 13 Sep 2010 10:32:28 +0000 /websites/www.darkmirage.com-pre/?p=1433#comment-356336 Wow. Didn't expect you to comment here. Loved your book. I do agree that the traditional funding behind investigative journalism is drying up with the impending death of printed news, and I can only hope that someone somewhere discovers a new way to fund it in the modern information economy. I suspect it will probably be something similar to how agenda-driven NGOs do things, but perhaps done in a more centralized and objective manner. I suppose we have to wait for this transition period to run its course. What really inspires me about your book is how you managed to learn so much about things that are hidden out of sight from surface world that we live in. I'm from Singapore, a technocracy that is in many ways similar to Japan when it comes to criminal justice. Things are very well managed here, to the point that reporters here basically have nothing to write about other than official government releases and human interest stories. I cannot imagine any reporter here building up the kind of relationships you have and using them to uncover a story of any social or political significance. For example, human trafficking in Singapore is very similar to the incident you described in your book (i.e. tourist visa, indentured servitude, deportation upon arrest with no trial), but I've not seen any local journalist done a proper research on it before. Journalists here are quasi-government employees and no one dares to stir the hornet's nest. I suppose this says more about the quality of local journalism than anything else, but still... I truly admire what you've done. Wow. Didn’t expect you to comment here. Loved your book.

I do agree that the traditional funding behind investigative journalism is drying up with the impending death of printed news, and I can only hope that someone somewhere discovers a new way to fund it in the modern information economy. I suspect it will probably be something similar to how agenda-driven NGOs do things, but perhaps done in a more centralized and objective manner. I suppose we have to wait for this transition period to run its course.

What really inspires me about your book is how you managed to learn so much about things that are hidden out of sight from surface world that we live in. I’m from Singapore, a technocracy that is in many ways similar to Japan when it comes to criminal justice. Things are very well managed here, to the point that reporters here basically have nothing to write about other than official government releases and human interest stories. I cannot imagine any reporter here building up the kind of relationships you have and using them to uncover a story of any social or political significance.

For example, human trafficking in Singapore is very similar to the incident you described in your book (i.e. tourist visa, indentured servitude, deportation upon arrest with no trial), but I’ve not seen any local journalist done a proper research on it before. Journalists here are quasi-government employees and no one dares to stir the hornet’s nest.

I suppose this says more about the quality of local journalism than anything else, but still… I truly admire what you’ve done.

]]> By: Jake Adelstein /websites/www.darkmirage.com-pre/2010/09/07/tokyo-vice/comment-page-1/#comment-353495 Jake Adelstein Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:50:57 +0000 /websites/www.darkmirage.com-pre/?p=1433#comment-353495 Thanks for the kind review. I can certainly understand waiting for the paperback edition to come out. Hardbacks are expensive, but they do last a lifetime. Probably actually longer than a lifetime if printed well. I'm glad that you found something inspiring it. It is very hard to make a living as a journalist; the business model for print journalism is floundering, and investigative journalism is becoming something that people vaguely remember rather than do. But if you're willing to dedicate yourself to the cause of social justice for lousy pay, terrible working hours, and a lot of meaningless crap that is necessary to do the 5% of the job that actually matters--go for it. I'm glad I've stuck with the work. Sometimes, it makes a difference and it's as they would say in Buddhist terms, "a right livelihood" . Now if I could just do the other things right, I'd be a saint. Thanks for the kind review. I can certainly understand waiting for the paperback edition to come out. Hardbacks are expensive, but they do last a lifetime. Probably actually longer than a lifetime if printed well.
I’m glad that you found something inspiring it. It is very hard to make a living as a journalist; the business model for print journalism is floundering, and investigative journalism is becoming something that people vaguely remember rather than do. But if you’re willing to dedicate yourself to the cause of social justice for lousy pay, terrible working hours, and a lot of meaningless crap that is necessary to do the 5% of the job that actually matters–go for it.
I’m glad I’ve stuck with the work. Sometimes, it makes a difference and it’s as they would say in Buddhist terms, “a right livelihood” . Now if I could just do the other things right, I’d be a saint.

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