Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan's Next Generation

by Karl Taro Greenfeld

This foray into the often violent subcultures of Japan dramatically debunks the Western perception of a seemingly controlled and orderly society.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction, Sociology, Travel, Asia, History, Cultural

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

I'm the author of six books, including the recent novel Triburbia, the story collection NowTrends, the memoir Boy Alone and the Japanese youth culture collection Speed Tribes

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Ψάχνοντας για παλιές εκδόσεις ξένης λογοτεχνίας που κυκλοφόρησαν στην Ελλάδα μέσα στην δεκαετία του '90 -με την ελπίδα να βρω κανένα διαμάντι που τόσο καιρό μου είχε ξεφύγει-, πέτυχα το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο από τις εκδόσεις Πατάκη. Αμερικάνικο όνομα συγγραφέα, ενδιαφέρων τίτλος - οι μόνες διαθέσιμες πληροφορίες. Είπα να το ψάξω. Κοίταξα στο Goodreads και είδα ότι πρόκειται για μια καταγραφή των υποκουλτούρων των νέων της Ιαπωνίας, τέλη δεκαετίας του '80, αρχές δεκαετίας του '90. Ε, ήθελα να το βρω και να το διαβάσω. Η Ιαπωνία πάντα με τράβαγε ως πολιτισμός, ιστορία, τοπία κλπ. Στάθηκα τυχερός, γιατί λίγες μέρες μετά την ανακάλυψη του τίτλου, πέτυχα και το ίδιο το βιβλίο σε παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο. Πριν ένα μήνα αυτό. Και τώρα το διάβασα. Και έμεινα εξαιρετικά ικανοποιημένος.

Ο Γκρίνφελντ, γιος ενός Αμερικανοεβραίου και μιας Γιαπωνέζας, ο οποίος γεννήθηκε στο Κόμπε της Ιαπωνίας αλλά μεγάλωσε και σπούδασε στο Λος Άντζελες, από το 1988 μέχρι το 1993 έζησε στο Τόκιο, εργαζόμενος ως δημοσιογράφος. Ήταν παρών στην "οικονομία της σαπουνόφουσκας", όπως χαρακτηρίστηκε η απότομη οικονομική ανάπτυξη της Ιαπωνίας, με την αύξηση των τιμών των ακινήτων, της γης, των μετοχών, και πάει λέγοντας. Ε, ο Γκρίνφελντ σκέφτηκε να γράψει για τους νέους που ζούσαν στην σκιά αυτής της ανάπτυξης, για τους γιους και τις κόρες των βιομηχάνων, των στελεχών επιχειρήσεων, των εργατών, των απλών μεροκαματιάρηδων. Στο βιβλίο υπάρχουν δώδεκα αληθινές ιστορίες, μικρές και μεγάλες, που αφορούν αυτούς τους νέους. Έτσι, παίρνουμε μια ματιά από τον κόσμο των κλεφτών μοτοσικλετών, των πωλητών ναρκωτικών, των κατώτερων μελών της Γιακούζα, των συμμοριών με τις φτιαγμένες μηχανές και τα φτιαγμένα αυτοκίνητα, των συνοδών πολυτελείας, της μουσικής βιομηχανίας, των νυχτεριών κλαμπ, των πορνό ταινιών, των τρελαμένων τύπων με τα ηλεκτρονικά παιχνίδια και τους υπολογιστές, των φοιτητών, και πάει λέγοντας.

Οι ιστορίες αυτές βασίζονται σε αληθινά γεγονότα και συνεντεύξεις που πήρε ο Γκρίνφελντ από πολλούς νέους διαφόρων κοινωνικών και οικονομικών τάξεων. Πολλά από τα ονόματα που αναφέρονται είναι ονόματα πραγματικών ανθρώπων. Υπάρχουν αναφορές σε πολιτικούς, σε μέλη της Γιακούζα αλλά και ακροδεξιών οργανώσεων, σε επιχειρηματίες, σε πανεπιστημιακούς κ.α. Οι ιστορίες αυτές μας δίνουν μια άλλη εικόνα της Ιαπωνίας, που απέχει αρκετά από αυτήν που γνωρίζουμε ή νομίζουμε ότι γνωρίζουμε, της Ιαπωνίας της τάξης, της αφοσίωσης στους ηθικούς κανόνες και τους νόμους, της παράνοιας της πολύωρης και αδιάκοπης εργασίας. Ουσιαστικά οι ιστορίες αυτές μας δείχνουν τον υπόκοσμο, τα στενά και βρώμικα σοκάκια, τις παράνομες δοσοληψίες, την σκοτεινή πλευρά του πλούσιου Τόκιου.

Η γραφή είναι, κατά την γνώμη μου, εξαιρετική. Ο Γκρίνφελντ περιγράφει τα πάντα -τους ανθρώπους, τα σκηνικά, τα γεγονότα, τις σκέψεις- με ιδιαίτερο ρεαλισμό, χωρίς φτιασίδια και ωραιοποιήσεις. Καταφέρνει το κείμενο να είναι ζωντανό και γλαφυρό, ευκολοδιάβαστο και ευχάριστο. Υπάρχουν κουλές καταστάσεις, απίθανοι διάλογοι, αρκετό χιούμορ. Μπορεί να εστίασε σε νέους με δύσκολη ζωή, όμως δεν υπάρχει κατήφεια, η ατμόσφαιρα δεν γίνεται βαριά, η αισιοδοξία δεν είναι απούσα. Επίσης, προσωπικά, δέθηκα ακόμα και με κάποιους από τους νέους που "γνώρισα" στο βιβλίο αυτό. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι συμπάθησα τους περισσότερους, αν και οι περισσότεροι μάλλον δεν θα ήθελα να ήταν φίλοι μου, ούτε καν γνωστοί μου, με τα μπλεξίματα που είχαν. Αλλά ενδιαφέρθηκα γι'αυτούς, ήθελα να μάθω περισσότερα. Ειλικρινά, δεν θα είχα κανένα πρόβλημα το βιβλίο να ήταν διπλάσιο ή και τριπλάσιο σε μέγεθος, να μάθαινα περισσότερα γι'αυτούς ή και για άλλους νέους, να έβλεπα περισσότερα πράγματα γύρω από τις διάφορες υποκουλτούρες και τον υπόκοσμο του Τόκιο.

Το βιβλίο αποτελεί ένα κράμα πεζογραφίας, δημοσιογραφικού ρεπορτάζ και κοινωνιολογικής έρευνας, και είναι εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον και καλογραμμένο. Από τον πρόλογο κατάλαβα ότι θα διάβαζα κάτι πολύ καλό και η συνέχεια με επιβεβαίωσε πανηγυρικά. Μπορεί και να μην είναι τέλειο, αν το δει κανείς αντικειμενικά, το θέμα όμως είναι ότι με συνάρπασε ο τρόπος που ο συγγραφέας περιέγραφε τους νέους, τα σκηνικά, τις διάφορες καταστάσεις. Μου θύμισε κάπως τον τρομερό και μοναδικό Χάντερ Σ. Τόμσον. Και έτσι κατάλαβα ότι αυτού του είδους τα αληθινά χρονικά, που αποτελούν δημοσιογραφικά ρεπορτάζ αλλά μοιάζουν με μυθιστορήματα/συλλογές διηγημάτων, είναι απόλυτα του γούστου μου. Αλλά στα ελληνικά δεν κυκλοφορούν και πολλά τέτοια, ειδικά γύρω από την Ιαπωνία. Τι να κάνουμε! Τουλάχιστον το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο μεταφράστηκε και έτσι είχα την ευκαιρία να το διαβάσω και, πραγματικά, να το απολαύσω.

[Philipp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of (newspaper) articles from the author on various aspects of Japanese society that usually are ignored by the mainstream - motorcycle gangs (bosozoku, that's where the title comes from - speed tribes), small time youth criminals, low-ranking Yakuza, independent drug dealers, party girls, foreign hostess girls, criminal far right nationalists (Neonazis?), apathetic elite university students, etc. There's an undercurrent of anger in some of those articles, especially the one on uni students - the cult around Tokyo University, the number one elite university, is criticized as having this ridiculously hard rote-learning entrance exam, after which every student is basically given a pass for the rest of the degree. I can't comment on the truth of that - the example question on specific landmarks and their size in the Netherlands certainly is ridiculous and requires pure rote learning, but online I can only find their mathematics exam which looks 'normal'.

Since the book is a bit old it works better as a time document of Japan shortly after the bubble popped. Some of the subcultures described have mostly disappeared, or greatly lost in importance. I think bodycon is completely gone, bosozoku are mostly gone too (2011 source), other areas like hostess bars are still going strong (I've once been invited to one, it's a strange place), and the Nazis are still driving around with their annoying speaker cars (and are now getting stronger due to Abe's program of strengthening Japan's military and changing the constitution towards what they've always clamored for).

The target of these articles is clearly a Western reader unfamiliar with Japan since these articles mostly appeared first in Western newspapers, so people should have no problems reading these. The seediness of the majority of these articles should satisfy people who are into authors such as Ryu Murakami (not Haruki), most of Murakami's books are set in the same milieu as Greenfeld's articles.

P.S.: The bosozoku gang Black Emperor appears shortly - there is an documentary from the 70s on that gang with a name that, to post-rock fans, sounds very familiar: Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

suggestively-linked vignettes that confront the question, is it innocent Anglo-Saxon Westerners being seduced by the corrupt Japan or innocent sober Japanese being seduced by the drug-addled foreigner? meditation on appearances vs. reality, living in the moment vs. planning for the future, the potential of the individual vs. the cohesion of the group. Greenfeld "dog-whistles" or "winks at the Japan insider" with little twists of phrase, demonstrating an insider's knowledge of what the people know and what the people will never get (he appeals to the broad audience with one layer of story, but for the language-speaker or those familiar with the culture, he winks knowledge of what is going on). flows his stories in such a fashion as to comment one on the other.

the Japan writer is faced with the existential dilemma: do I write about sumo wrestlers, geisha girls and Mt. Fuji and attract a mass audience (viz., presenting "tourist's eye view of Japan") or do I write about the gritty authenticity of the glue-sniffing streets and be unknown? only the very best, such as as Greenfeld, manage to present everything all at once, such that it's uncertain where the drugs are talking and where the social realities. author plays on authorial uncertainty/narrative unreliability, and even makes his next book about 'memoirist whose made-up memoirs are about to be uncovered.'

[Tats] wanted to tell them all about the Shonan Run, about the tear gas and methampetamine and newspaper reports...and--he suddenly remembered Yamada, riding out of the rising sun on his motorcycle, and shivered. He didn't want to think about Yamada. He didn't want to think about the pistol. Instead, he yawned as some pimple-faced punk talked at length about his new Yoshimura header pipes.

There is no mention of "the American reporter" attending this gathering of motorcycle riders. How would Greenfeld know second-by-second exactly what the subject of his sociological research is thinking, in the fifteenth hour of a three day rave, what the subject didn't want to think about, and then down to the very split-second, his yawn? This is literary writing rather than non-fiction research. (see 'Million Tiny Pieces,' 'My Buddy Reagen' etc etc etc). but we forgive Greenfeld's embellishments for moments like this:

He looked her over. 'Oh fvck it, who cares. Hey do you want a trip?"

She didn't understand.

"A trip, some Ecstasy."

She knew that word. She had heard about this wonderful drug called Ecstasy that was supposed to make you feel happy or joyful. She scanned the room. So that's what everyone was doing.

[...]

He also told her he was from somewhere called South Yarra in Melbourne. Handsome, charming, and he would be back in Australia in a few months. Australia with its Statue of Liberty holding up a flashlight.

Is this corrupt West preying on innocent Japan? Or terminally decadent Japan completely out-sophisticating yabbo West? Or supersophisticate Greenfeld, simultaneous ultimate insider and ultimate outsider conning us all? Only demographics in the end have answered these questions, as Japan's average age climbed last year to 44, and the population shrunk 1.7% (more if illegal Chinese immigration wasn't counted)...

The south entrance of Ueno Park was a wide, granite stairwell whose sweep and epic scale was similar to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. But the grandstairway had lately come to resemble a Middle Eastern bazaar. At open-air stalls mustachioed Iranians grilled shish kebabs and round flat, floury loaves of bread.

And then this quote finally contains the third important usefulness of the work, the insight into how things were in 1988-1995 (time period of the work). Certain authors such as Shusaku Endo comment on what a street scene was like at what particular year, and in Tokyo, the scenes change a bit from decade to decade, if seemingly in patternless ways. (Today Ueno Park is back to Japanese blue-plastic tarp homeless. No more Iranians. Roppongi has gotten far more African then ten years ago.)

brilliant work 5/5 contains deeper truth even if some scenes seem to delve far too knowingly into thought of strangers.

remaining thoughts: focuses on youth right at moment when Japan gets middle-aged/elderly; "magazine" style influence of magazine-article writer, plays a bit with factual truth for interesting content.

(as other GR reviewer notes, would be fascinating to learn what happened to various subjects of vignettes 10 years out.)

a good read 5/5


Tats' gang is the Tokyo chapter of the Midnight Angels; chapter VII, Kazu, who used to run Kill Everybody, is kidnapped by MA. There's the echo of an Ecstasy-related one night stand; Keiko chapter V sleeps with an Australian after she does E; chapter VII Kazu gives E to Hiroko <-- creates a deliberate mood effect of deja vu(?)--maybe not.




related books: Jake Adelstein researches Yakuza as crime reporter for the Daily Yomiuri; Tom Wolfe rides with the Hells' Angels and writes a book.


does some interesting narratological tricks. ends chapter IV, choco bon bon with about a 60% ambiguity that the character is going to overdose.

チョコボール向井
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocobal...

but Chocoball lives...

chapter Xi, 'homestay,' seems to suggest moto is going to get the mother of all beatings. (unclear) so, deliberate narratological tricks to suggest 'death' when such an ending may not be present.



differs from Shutting out the Sun & other / modern preoccupation with cults / religions / psychodisorders. (Greenfeld's book 1994; Aum Shinrikyo attacks 1995; 9/11 of course 2001). portrait of a Japan right before all the extreme signs of decay set in; Grenfeld has identified the subcultures / superficial consumers / low-levels gangsters as objects of interest, which beats the 'green tea and flower arranging' crowd of japan-culture self-delusionists.

overall, Speed Tribes is an important, well-researched academic work, a glossy magazine write-up of tokyo street life, an insider's view of a reclusive culture, and a portrait of self-destruction on the verge. fascinating and authentic look at early 90s Japan, right as the bubble burst and before it became evident that the crash was permanent.


what is amazing is how little Japan has changed on in the inside in twenty years rather than how much

PICTURE TIME...


chapter I. Izumi has a BMW and a Nissan Sylvia


Suzuki GSX-R 750s, similar to the 400 driven by Tats in Chapter II; the 750s stolen in chapter III "a biking enthusiast's bike, not a delivery boy's or student's"


"Choco Bon-Bon" dreams of a Karmann Ghia

[image error]
"Bodicon" style


the iconic Yasuda auditorium, symbol of Todai


Hotei Tomoyasu guitarist for Complexx Boowy


Zi:Kill, chapter VIII; before their almost break-up


silver-gray Toyota Hilux Surf


Chisato Moritaka

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who think of Japan as wholly tradition-bound, pristine and conformist, this book paints a very different picture. Through chapter-long vignettes, each following a different person for a brief time, it captures the disaffected, alienated and, in some cases criminal, youth of Japan. Written in the early 90s, the book is interesting in that it likely was chronicling the front end of a problem that still exists today -- young Japanese who feel out of touch with the expectations of the society into which they were born and who are either searching for a different way to define themselves and structure their lives or have no hope or clue as to how to do so. Because the people it followed were all in their late teens to mid-20s at the time, I can't help but wish for a sequel in which we learn what they are doing today, nearly 20 years later. Have they been assimilated into the dominant culture? Have they helped change the dominant culture? Or are they still living on the fringe of the dominant culture?

Some of the portraits in this book were more interesting than others. And although the book is not long, I still found myself wishing it had been more tightly edited. For the most part, however, it held my attention and I enjoyed the window it provided into a world of which many of us in the west are unaware.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely destroyed this book in less than two days. It's a very easy read that keeps your interest and allows you to build reading momentum. Having lived in Japan since 2006 as an English teacher (I'm returning this summer) I found it especially interesting, because I've had first-hand contact with some of the subcultures that are described here (the right-wingers blaring slogans with loudspeaker-equipped trucks, otaku, etc.) That being said, some of the information seems a bit dated. For example, the last chapter about otaku fails to mention Akihabara, which nowadays is the undisputed capital of the otaku "movement," if you can call it that. I believe this book came out in 1994. Still, it felt like it could have been written today, aside from the few bits that date it, like little mention of computers or cell phones. A nice read that gives an entertaining glimpse into different parts of the "underground" in Japan, especially because of its writing style that almost makes it seem like fiction. If another edition of this book were to come out, I would like to see a chapter dealing with hikikomori (shut-ins with a kind of agoraphobia). The author touched on some aspects of these kinds of people in the otaku chapter but I don't think hikikomori was such a well-defined concept when this was written.

[Wes Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alternately compelling and sloppy, but always lurid, Speed Tribes' original sub-title was something like The Children of The Bubble. It was meant to chart young Japan after the economic bubble of the 1980s popped and left their parents wondering why they weren't rich anymore. It does that, I guess, never having been to Japan. Greenfeld, who is half-Japanese, is seriously about telling you how messed up Japan is and he's always searching for that borderline between the absurd and the pathological, but it's a moving target. He seems unsure of how to present some of the characters he meets (and how did he meet them anyway? Are they real? Does it matter?) and he plainly feels like an outsider in their world. The funniest moments in the book come from his frustration. You can laugh with him, but you'll taste his bile.

[Rand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creative Non Fiction should be recognized as a genre by the US Library of Congress. Calling this book a collection of "case studies" denigrates the work of historians and sociology. That being said, this book is entertaining, some of the pieces moreso than others.

I wanted it to be Fruits in prose but it's not. At least not entirely. The story of the Map Maker and the one about Choco Bon Bon make the book worth picking up (for anyone interested in reading about smuggling and porn, respectively).

The last one on otaku is interesting but seems to make some generalizations about that subculture. Otaku Spaces is probably a better representation of that.

[Corto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting series of vignettes about people at the margins of Japanese society. Sometimes this "names of been changed" style of journalism felt false, but on the whole it was an interesting glimpse into Japanese sub-cultures on the cusp of the 21st century. Of particular interest was the final passage on the "otaku", and their experience with the burgeoning technology of the internet. It seems quaint in retrospect. Also interesting were the young Nationalist (if you've read any Yukio Mishima, it will make a striking contrast between this young man and the protagonist of "Runaway Horses"), the Bosozuku, and other petty Yakuza. The portrait of the young 20-something "body-con" girl was well written, as a woman struggling against the strict social structure of her culture. In the hands of a gifted film director, this would've been a great Japanese version of "Trainspotting". Quite a missed opportunity there.

[pridna katoliška punca · Rating 4 out of 5]

this collection of short vignettes was a really interesting read, it definitely does transport you back into the 'after the bubble popped' japan. it serves as an excellent time document of a generation, and it's certainly very fascinating to read about. i wouldn't recommend it to people who want to learn more about the current japan though since things as 'body-con girls' have long been replaced with the newer trends.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling copy about underground subcultures, crime and disaffected youths in late 80s-early 90s Japan, in a series of vignettes following a person each. To me, this is the non-fiction version of Ikebukuro West Gate Park by Ishida Ira and its TV adaptation, down to the very subjects and topics covered.
The way the book itself is constructed is very cool: it starts at the top of the food chain, with a yakuza entrepreneur, moves on to the head of a biker gang - yakuza recruitment ground -, then to the teenage motorcycle thieves who sell bike parts to the gangs, and so on and so forth - each vignette is in that way connected to the one before.
The downside is that not all vignettes are of equal quality - some are much, much better than others. I especially liked the Money-Drinkers (about yakuza), the Perfect Tuna (the porn industry), the Early Breakfast Club (bored middle-class young women), Homestay (you'll see) and the Otaku - these were particularly well-written, with intriguing narratives and a good dose of caustic humour. Other chapters can be sluggishly slow, or dump a lot of numeric information on you about, say, the cost of specific car parts. At times the writing is clumsy and doesn't flow. It's a bit hit and miss.

I will say this though - this book has the merit of covering its topics in a way that avoids being voyeuristic and judgemental, and instead gives a true voice to its subjects. Take note, VICE!

[Forrest Norvell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seamy is all right when it's backed up by gritty detail, but this entertaining but slight sociological foray into many of Japan's disaffected youth scenes wants all of the grime with none of the shoe leather. In its style and narrative, it's more William Gibson than Donald Richie. I love William Gibson, but he's a fiction writer, not an anthropologist or journalist, and is also informed by a pulp crime aesthetic that's at odds with some of the stories Greenfeld is trying to tell in this book. I can't tell if I'm supposed to pity or disapprove of the characters in the book, and that distance seems to be what the author wants. And the stylish prose is full of tricks used to boost authorial authority without really convincing me I should read it as fact.

Still, if you want to get some dated but entertaining insight into what it meant to be young and Japanese after the bottom fell out of Japan's economy in the 90s, this is probably about as good as you're going to find in English. If you want an equally biased but more informative look at what ails Japan, Alex Kerr's Dogs and Demons will do the trick, but if you want a slickly-written true-crimey book about being young, dumb, and wasted on speed in Japan, this book's for you.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting. I loved seeing this side of Japan. The writing style was also very captivating. Greenfeld did a fantastic job creating the setting and building up theses real characters. This books is more like journalistic approach but it reads like fiction. I'm also curious to know if things are still very similar ten years later. It's a book I think anyone should read if you're at all interested in Japan.

[unevendesk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thing about this is that bikers and otaku and such are just as much sensational material as geisha and mt fuji.
And if that's the vibe you're looking for you can dig this one, even if it deserves the canning I have observed it to recieve from serious Japanologists.
It's interesting how the pieces are mostly written like short stories, but only work because we understand them to be real in some way.
Also, I like the title. I think it's a good translation 'cause it works well in English.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting (if dated) book, but I suspect many events and some behavior chronicled were manufactured or complete fabrication.

[Eskil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about illegal and legal-but-non-mainstream Japanese subcultures right as the bubble is bursting. The author worked as a journalist (though I'm unsure if he's a journalist by training) and alternately describes himself on the back of another book as a "failed writer". While he clearly seems to enjoy writing about people living on the margins of society in a sort of quasi-legal state, the quasi-reliability of his book really weakens it.

There's nothing to indicate whether Greenfeld is retelling a story one of his informants told him, whether he witnessed it, or whether he fact checked any of it. There's the occasional "so and so at this and this place said ..." or "I asked her if she knew this, and she didn't", but the author is so self-effacing that I don't know whether he even met half these people. The stories they tell usually make them seem pretty pathetic, like the kid making fake drugs and getting beat up by gang members and abandoned by his friends, and I don't know why anyone would tell him this, or how he got in touch with them. He'll often refer to people's thoughts verbatim, which only novelists do. There's no "I remember thinking 'ABC'" or "X said he had thought 'YZ'". It's "He thought ÆØÅ." When the story being told also took place a year before current time it becomes increasingly difficult to take his reporting seriously. I understand that sources should be kept anonymous, but I simply don't know what we can and can't trust, which seriously undermines the book.

The next problem is Greenfeld's editorial inserts. He'll often refer to gay people by the F slur, he loves to word himself like a tough guy so you'll think he's a cool badass in Tokyo's underbelly, rather like another American writer who's pretty big these days. When there's practically no indication whether something is a direct quote, a paraphrasing, or something Greenfeld thought of, things get very murky. There's a scene where a male porn actor goes to buy meth in Ueno Park from some Iranian guys. Their music is described as sounding like "cats in heat", the place as "[stinking] like some kind of nauseating spice" and the men are described as all having terrible body odor. In the same scene, there ARE indications that we know who's talking. "He didn't know why they were there. He had heard they were all there illegally," or "He thought some heroin sounded nice," but that's it for the entire scene.

It's simply sloppy work. I'm sure Greenfeld DID do lots of research, and I'm sure he MIGHT have been able to interview bosozoku and hostesses and hackers and adult movie industry people. But I wish he were a more professional writer. He might have improved in the 31 years since this book came out, but for all the interesting stories the book left me frustrated and with a bad taste in my mouth.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Japan: The word usually conjures up images of kimonos, Mount Fuji, robots, ninjas, and sushi. All nice, safe, polished images that the highly image conscious Japanese public would want you to think of. This collection of vignettes subverts that squeaky clean reputation by spotlighting a hidden Japan, one of thugs, drugs, punks, and prostitutes; the seedy underbelly that no one Westerner ever talks about when writing about their funny, magical year in the Land of the Rising Sun. One critic called it a "grippingly fresh portrait" and I couldn't agree more. The thrill of re-discovering Japan, in a sense, was what pushed me past the sometimes unsavory content (admittedly I struggled a lot with the "perfect tuna" chapter and would suggest most people skip it).

Stylistically, each chapter followed a "character," sometimes pausing for a didactic aside but for the most part it read almost like a novel. (In fact it strongly reminded me of Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell.) The only downside to this approach is that the endings always felt somewhat unsatisfying, though it probably has more to do with the book's genesis as longforms in various magazines than authorial decision.

Most of the time, the fact that the book is over 20 years old didn't bother me, but it seemed particularly hard to ignore in the final chapter on "otaku" (which Greenfeld describes as a hacker obsessed with trivia). I'm sure that was true at one time, but the word has definitely collected other connotations now and what he's describing seems more like "hikikomori". Quibbles, I know, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention it at least in passing.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun and eye-opening book. It's too bad many of the reviews focus on how dated this is, it's not the author's or the book's fault. This must have been pretty shocking when published in the mid-90s before the boom of the internet when our visions of Japan probably were a lot different. I'm pretty happy this was written in what I think is called narrative non-fiction rather than just giving facts and figures. Of course you then wonder how much is true but when it's a very readable, engaging book, I say "who cares". It would be great to get an updated version somehow to see how much things have changed and how much things have stayed the same.

[Ellroy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this book is now 27 years old, but did readers really believe this was non-fiction when it came out? It’s very clearly fiction bolstered with a bit of reporting - and not great fiction, either. So many of the made-up quotes are way too perfect and too polished, saying exactly what the author wanted them to say in a way that real quotes rarely do. They don’t read well as fiction or as reporting. It’s mostly entertaining, but to pretend this is a piece of reportage about real people is just silly.

[Felipe · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the one hand, it was interesting and kept me reading. On the other, the sensationalism and the numerous little "wrong" bits, whether due to editing or author error or both, made me read this entire thing while at the same time giving it a massive side-eye. It should definitely be read with a boulder-sized grain of salt, and an awareness of the intended audience.

I definitely would not recommend it to anyone who doesn't know anything about Japan, but I fear that IS the intended audience.

[Samuel Rhodes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and quick read. Some of the information is probably a bit dated – take with a grain of salt if using as a reference. Some interesting insights, but if you're already somewhat familiar with Japanese subcultures you might not find too much that's new to you.

[Ian Mccausland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I started this as an artIcle in Details magazine back in 1994. Wicked photos with it. The line from Björk’s Bigtime sensuality comes from this “I don’t know my future past this weekend...”

[Andrew Ceyton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, well written vignettes

[jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the e-friend who gifted me this book because I was obsessed with ZI:KILL age 19. It's good but I only read it for Tusk

[Julien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating exploration of Japan’s youth subcultures in the late 80s-90s. Structurally it is a collection of vignettes, each diving into a particular area— Yakuza money drinkers, bosozoku motorcycle gangs, teenage bike thieves and the Japanese youth prison system, the porn and hostess industries, far-right nationalist groups, and a final chapter touching on the nascent Otaku culture at the dawn of the internet age.

I find myself wanting a 25 year update exploring how these subcultures changes as the computer age blossomed, and of course with the past 15 years of smartphones and social media.

[Bill Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karl Taro gave the reader a glimpse of the Japanese youth in a fascinating way. He crafted several stories to highlight the different aspects of Japan’s new youth. This made for an interesting read that opened me up to a fascinating world. There was a lot that I did not know about Japan and what it was like to grow up there. Speed Tribes stands as a unique book that highlights an important topic. It also highlighted how many of the Japanese youth fall through the cracks of a well-balanced society. This is a great book that I really enjoyed.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

...More like three and a half stars...
Slightly dated ('94) by now, but still well stocked with fascinating material about Fringe Japan, from the motorbike-punks to the salaryman-bar hostesses, from the yakuza wiseguys to the otaku, the computer hackers. Each chapter a different outing with a different subgroup, all of whom the author seems to have befriended for at least a while.

There is no doubt an unresolved question with a project like this one, resting on the ethics of representing a (fairly conservative) nation via it's most flamboyant outliers. I'm not sure I'd like to be reading a report about my own country that takes up the flag of the most dazzlingly flakey subsets; or to have such an account seen as reprentative of the whole "pie". But I suppose if a wide range is covered, tilting toward all extremes, it's somewhat characteristic, on average, at least of those thinner slices of the national pie.

This is more a compilation of essays that it is a coherent thesis, but: each and every one is a compelling read... which is no mean feat.

Modern-day Tokyo is a society in symbiosis with the machine. Exactly where human beings end and technology begins can become confusing in a city that resembles, more than any other city on the planet, a neon-lit circuit board writ gigantic.
Grandmothers in kimonos bow in gratitude to their automated banking machines. Young couples bring hand-held computer games along for romantic evenings out. Workers on a Toyota assembly line vote their robot coworkers into the auto workers union. A woman calls the Matsushita-Denko kitchen design showroom to complain because her kitchen doesn't look like the model kitchen she saw in a virtual reality walkthrough demonstration. "I was expecting more vivid oranges and pinks. Something more cartoony," she complains.
Voice-activated elevators. Cars that tell you to slow down. Houses that adjust internal temperatures themselves. Vacuum cleaners that alert you when it's time to clean ...

In many respects, Japan is itself an absorbing case-study for where modern world culture may be travelling. The point may be made that no other singular culture in the world has been through such drastic upheaval, and consequent evolution, in the last hundred or so years. Even though this collection is written before universal cellphones & blackberries, and more interestingly, before the Internet-- it's well worth the read.

[Yupa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dall'"Oriente" con furore...

Accozzaglia sensazionalistica di storiacce ad effetto sul Giappone come luogo dell'apocalisse postmoderna, della distruzione dell'individualità, della morte della cultura (qualunque cosa sia la "cultura"), delle perversioni psicosessuali più bizzarre e via sclerando.
Taglio molto giornalistico per soddisfare la mai sopita brama voyeuristica verso un'esotismo ributtante e seducente al contempo, tristemente inconsapevole della propria caricaturalità, a metà strada tra "mioddio, ma cheschifo quanto sono incivili 'sti selvaggi dagli occhi mandorla per fortuna noi non siamo come loro ma se non stiamo attenti rischiamo di diventarlo non dobbiamo perdere i nostri Valori" e "beati gli orientali così liberi di godersi la trasgressione estrema non come noi occidentali castrati dal fallogocentrismo piacerebbe tanto anche a me ma solo nei fine settimana e possibilmente senza che nessuno mi sgami".

Libro assai poco utile per capire cos'è "realmente" il Giappone, libro al solito molto utile per capire come, al passaggio tra anni Ottanta e Novanta, è cambiato il modo in cui l'"Occidente" (si compiace di) immagina(re) il "Giappone".
Nulla di più, nulla di meno.

[David Bonesteel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An occasionally awkward blend of reportage and fact-based fiction about Japan's own Generation X. I lived in Japan for three years, and although I never encountered any people of the type revealed in these vignettes, nothing I read in these pages conflicts with my own understanding of Japanese society.

The final section, about a computer-obsessed otaku, is an unfortunate way to end the book. It's speculations on the melding of man and machine are overdone; furthermore, it falls back on the old cliche of attributing whatever aspect of Japanese culture is under discussion to the Japanese' lack of a strict prescriptive system of morality. However, Greenfeld's book is very strong when his focus is narrowed to the motivations and activities of individuals.

[David B · Rating 4 out of 5]

An occasionally awkward blend of reportage and fact-based fiction about Japan's own Generation X. I lived in Japan for three years, and although I never encountered any people of the type revealed in these vignettes, nothing I read in these pages conflicts with my own understanding of Japanese society.

The final section, about a computer-obsessed otaku, is an unfortunate way to end the book. It's speculations on the melding of man and machine are overdone; furthermore, it falls back on the old cliche of attributing whatever aspect of Japanese culture is under discussion to the Japanese' lack of a strict prescriptive system of morality. However, Greenfeld's book is very strong when his focus is narrowed to the motivations and activities of individuals.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has it all: Sex, violence, drugs, nerds, hostesses, thiefs, mob-enforcers, radical-nationalists.. the list goes on and on. The author (who had the distinct advantage of being a half-Japanese gaijin, fluent in Japanese) provides a glimpse of the flipside of model Japanese-citizenry through a mosaic of short stories whose characters reside on the outer-rims of their society. These “tales from the darkside” almost made me sell my sampler, quit my job, and hop on a plane back in the day, until I realized that the author had an “in” that I could work a lifetime for and not achieve. Inspirational, fun , and Highly Recommended