True Crime Japan
Thieves, Rascals, Killers and Dope Heads: True Stories From a Japanese Courtroom
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
"This is a book I wish I'd written. It's brilliantly researched, full of detail and illuminating…" —Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice
Uncover the shocking world of the Japanese courtroom.
In a country where nearly all defendants plead guilty, the interesting part is what happens between the plea and the sentencing. In True Crime Japan, journalist and longtime resident of Japan Paul Murphy delves into a year's worth of criminal court cases in Matsumoto, a city located 140 miles to the west of Tokyo. The nine defendants in these cases range from ruthless mobsters to average citizens with a variety of methods and motives. Using court documents and interviews, Murphy makes a point of including the perspectives of the defendants, as well as those of their families, neighbors, and lawyers. He explores not only the motives of offenders but the culture of crime and punishment in Japan.
The nine cases include:
"Late in Life" — A wealthy octogenarian is put in jail for stealing fried chicken"Mama's Boys" — A disbelieving family unveils their son's role as a yakuza gangster."Mother Killers" — A middle-aged carpenter beats his 91-year old mother to death and goes to work the following day, leaving the body for his wife to find.
True Crime Japan provides an unusual lens through which to view Japanese society and its emphasis on honor, shame, and conformity. Murphy's in-depth analysis of the court system reveals Japan to be, perhaps surprisingly, a land of true individuals.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pimps, arsonists, mobsters with missing pinkies, elderly shoplifters, and other criminal characters figure into Irish journalist Murphy's zany account of modern crime and punishment in Matsumoto, Japan. After settling in this metropolis, west of Tokyo, in 2013, Murphy became a regular at the Summary and District Courts, observing 119 cases over the course of a year. Drawn to the courthouse setting, Murphy presents these cases as anecdotes pertaining to "intriguing aspects of Japan" at large. He uses the trial of a mother and father who attempted to kill their daughter in an arsonous family suicide as a way to explore why Japan's suicide rate is twice that of the U.S. Another chapter describes the recent spike in shoplifters over the age of 70, labeled by one criminologist as bosou rojin ("out-of-control old people"). The shift in criminal activity in the elderly is the topic of a national debate about whether this segment of society has become too isolated and needy. Murphy creates a winning mix of irreverent and earnest observations in this snapshot of the underworld in modern Japan.
