Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies

"Bob Whiting came to the city as a stranger in a strange land in 1962 and stayed for five decades--he knows the dark alleys, the good whisky bars, the crooked politicians and the crooks, the baseball players, the bookies...better than anyone alive." --Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice

Ever since America's "Black Ships" forced Japan to open its doors, triggering the collapse of the ancient samurai order, a steady stream of Westerners has flowed into Japan--to impart their wisdom and know-how, and also to make a fast buck in the process.

The biggest wave arrived after World War II--the U.S. occupiers tasked with rebuilding Japan, followed by their black-ops counterparts who forged unsavory partnerships with underworld figures to fight communism. These were followed in turn by the CIA agents who groomed future prime ministers from the ranks of former war criminals. Next came the mafia gamblers who built Las Vegas-style casinos and night clubs where deals were made at the highest level. Starry-eyed GI's, ne'er-do-well opportunists and roving adventurers added to the toxic mix, as did corrupt Washington lobbyists and businessmen with questionable ethics, not to forget the hard-drinking foreign correspondents and baseball managers.

Along with the Westerners came foreigners from Asia including Korean Sadao Aoki who revolutionized the Japanese taxi industry, and Sun Myung Moon, whose Korean Unification Church until today wields extraordinary power over Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The 14 chapters in this book cover hitherto unknown and under-reported stories including:

• The story of American baseball manager Bobby Valentine, who brought the lowly Chiba Lotte Marines to undreamed of heights, while unwittingly setting the stage for his own demise through an inability to understand how interpersonal relationships work in Japan
• The dramatic account of secret U-2 spy flights over Russia and China during the 1960s, operated by the CIA out of a secret site in suburban Tokyo
• The life of brassy, boisterous Australian Maggie, who came to Japan in the late 1960s and ran the infamous 1980s bar Maggie's Revenge, while brokering drug deals with Japanese yakuza mobsters
• The influence of foreign religious groups such as the Moonies which resulted in the shocking assassination of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022

This fascinating book provides a rare inside look at the postwar history of Japan and offers cautionary tales about how welcoming Japan really is towards outsider. It is based on original research and reporting by the author, a 60-year resident of Tokyo.