Is "Tokyo Vice" Authentic?

After watching the first eight-episode season of "Tokyo Vice," I have so many questions.  The show is a crime drama about a young American man who becomes a crime reporter in Tokyo in 1999, based on the memoirs of writer Jake Adelstein.  It's a rare co-production between Japanese and western companies, features a mostly Japanese cast, and most of the dialogue is in Japanese.  I don't have a great ear for language, but Elgort's Japanese doesn't sound half bad compared to the horrorshow attempts we've heard so often in the past.  However, I can't shake the feeling that the show is pulling one over on me, and the authenticity may only be a mirage.

Because, the appearance of authenticity here is the primary thing that sets "Tokyo Vice" apart from similar crime films and series.  This was originally supposed to be a feature film, before it wound up as an HBO Max series, adapted by J.T. Rogers, with Michael Mann onboard to direct the pilot and executive produce.  Tackling the Japanese underworld, the show is full of gangsters, hostesses, criminals, and other shady types.  Jake is a lone westerner, working in a gloomy, murky Tokyo that is often openly hostile to his presence.  In the pilot, Jake is hired at a major newspaper, Meicho Shimbun, and quickly needs to learn the ropes as an investigative reporter.  Japanese office and social norms are strict, and Jakes is constantly running afoul of his disapproving supervisor Maruyama (Rinko Kikuchi) and casually racist boss Baku (Kosuke Toyohara).

Soon, Jake becomes curious about a series of suicides he believes are connected.  He gets a source in vice squad detective Miyamoto (Hideaki Ito), and befriends an expat American hostess, Samantha (Rachel Keller) who is becoming involved with a Yakuza enforcer, Sato (Show Kasamatsu).  Eventually he crosses paths with Katagiri (Ken Watanabe), a detective handling organized crime.  The show spends a lot of time with each of these characters, showing how the yakuza operate from a variety of different perspectives.  With Sato we get to see the inner workings of the organization run by Ishida (Shun Sugata), whose territory is being muscled in on by the vile Tozawa (Ayumi Tanida).  With Samantha, we spend time in the red light district, with the girls exploited by the clubs.  The police department is shown to be riddled with corruption, and the loyalties of the detective characters are often ambiguous.   

Ansel Elgort sticks out like a sore thumb and his presence is a constant distraction, but he's playing a part where that's the whole point.  Jake is the overeager, rule-breaking, hothead who stubbornly sticks to his ideals heedless of the realities of his profession.  He's destined to get his heart broken and his illusions shattered, and the perpetually baby-faced, awkward Elgort is perfect for this.  What's smart about "Tokyo Vice" is that Jake's story isn't the only one the series is telling.  The investigation storyline doesn't have as much emphasis as you'd expect, really just a jumping off point to get to know all the other characters and their various dealings with each other.  I found Sato a far more interesting character to follow, who starts out as a low level yakuza, and soon discovers how dangerous and unstable his organization is as he advances.  Loyalties are tenuous and those he admires most are constantly revealing themselves to be more or less than what they seem.    Then there's Samantha, who probably won't go over well with everyone, but I appreciate her as a newer variation on the naive westerner who thinks she's being smart, and has a good plan, only to run afoul of basic human nature.

The grimness of this version of Tokyo is a nice change from the touristy versions we usually get in American pop culture.  Likewise,  after seeing Watanabe and Kikuchi playing throwaway roles in so many recent genre films and shows, it's a great relief to see them in parts of actual substance.  They're great actors and are at their best playing actual people, even if they don't get as much screen time as I would have liked.  I understand that this darker, more sinister version of Tokyo is just as artificial as any other media depiction - the veracity of Adelstein's memoir has been questioned - but the pointed lack of romanticization, especially of the expat experience, feels overdue.  I appreciate that the show doesn't pander, even if it's still aimed at Western audiences, and even if it's almost certainly not getting everything right.

   

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