DOCSLIB.ORG

Wednesday, June 19 at 3:00 Pm Or Thursday, June 20 at 6:30

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Wednesday, June 19 at 3:00 Pm Or Thursday, June 20 at 6:30 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19 AT 3:00 PM OR THURSDAY, JUNE 20 AT 6:30 PM DISCUSSION GUIDE: PACHINKO By Min Jin Lee ABOUT THE AUTHOR Min Jin Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Queens, New York. A graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, she studied history at Yale College, then received a JD from Georgetown University Law Center. Lee is currently researching and writing her third novel, which explores the role of education for Koreans around the world for her diaspora trilogy The Koreans, which includes Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko. A New York Times best seller, Pachinko was a finalist for the National Book Award and was named to more than 75 best books lists globally, including the top-10 lists of the BBC, the New York Public Library, the New York Times, and USA Today. Lee’s debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, was a top-10 pick for NPR’s Fresh Air, the Times (London), and USA Today. Her writings about books, food, global affairs, and travel have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, the Guardian, the New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, the Times, the Times Literary Supplement, Travel + Leisure, Vogue, and the Wall Street Journal, and she served for three seasons as a columnist for the Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s leading newspaper. Lee, a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, received the 2000 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the 2002 William Peden Prize from the Missouri Review, and the 2004 NarrativePrize. IN THE AUTHOR’S WORDS Interview with Timothy Tau of Hyphen Magazine TIMOTHY TAU: I remember hearing about your plans working on Pachinko after Free Food for Millionaires ("Millionaires") was published, and before Millionaires was released, you wrote an award-winning short story, "Motherland.” Pachinko appears to be a continuation or an expansion of "Motherland" and seems to involve the same characters from the novel. When you were crafting the epic span of the canvas that eventually became the novel, did you start with this short story as a narrative kernel? Or did you end up creating the timelines of the novel first and realize that this story would fit in nicely within this larger world? What was your methodology and process in writing and building Pachinko? MIN JIN LEE: I had written a complete manuscript of Pachinko from 1996-2003 in another form, which I never submitted for publication. The story you mention, “Motherland,” is from that first manuscript. It is the only section which made it into the final version of Pachinko, which was eventually published in 2017. I have worked on this book off and on since 1996. I got the idea for the book in 1989. I had not meant to work on this for so long. It was trial and error and mostly error. TT: The extensive research you went through to accurately flesh out the historical periods rendered in the novel really shows. I feel as if I am transported to those eras in a very cinematic way when I am reading, yet taken beyond the visual realm because I also experience many other senses through your words. Can you describe your research methodology? MJL: I do extensive book research for all of my projects, both fiction and nonfiction. Also, I do a lot of personal interviews with dozens of subjects. I don’t think my way of working is smart or efficient, but I think my working style alleviates my personal anxieties about getting things right. TT: The characters are very memorable, and in some ways reminded me of some of the characters from Millionaires as well. Sunja, for example, appears to be the protagonist of the novel as we mainly follow her through most of the major story arcs. In many ways she is a contrast to Casey Han of Millionaires (primarily due to the chronological difference in the eras or time periods) but in some ways they share similar traits, perhaps resilience being the most apparent commonality. What made you decide to center the narrative around Sunja's point of view and her family/timeline? MJL: At the risk of sounding odd, for me, Sunja is not the central character because I work in an omniscient point of view. Sunja is an ordinary working class woman who becomes a matriarch of an ordinary family. She is not powerful in the world, but she is important to her family. I wanted to write about an ajumma who is unheralded in history books but who is so important in our daily lives. Moreover, I wanted very much to write about regular men and boys who make up so much of ordinary history. I explore the masculinity of oppressed minority men in this book, and that was one of my most important challenges in this work. I want to write community novels, and the interconnections of themes and multiple characters are far more important to me than one character. TT: Koh Hansu appears to be one of the most interesting characters I've encountered in literature and probably my favorite one in the entire novel — very compelling, charismatic, cool, but you later see his more villainous aspects — really not a character intending to be evil or criminal, but because he wields so much power and resources and is ambitious as well as disciplined, intelligent and talented, he just can't help it. I also found in Koh Hansu some similarities to the character of Sabine Gottesman from Millionaires, who was, quoting a line from that novel, "fairy godmother, mentor and bad cop" to Casey Han. Koh Hansu seems to be a gangster godfather, mentor and good cop/bad cop to many characters in the book as well. What were some inspirations in constructing both characters? MJL: Characters like Sabine and Hansu populate the upper echelons of the world. Strong and powerful people are remarkably similar because they have clear codes of behavior, which are often nonnegotiable. They also cannot exist without subjects to dominate. TT: Building on the last question, Koh Hansu wants so much to exert an influence over Noa and pave a promising future for him. However, I found it interesting that you made Hansu financially support Noa so he could wholeheartedly study English literature without distraction — which seems a bit at odds with the normally expected "useful/pragmatic/practical" degrees and careers that Asian immigrants want their children to pursue (e.g., the pachinko manager comments on the "uselessness" of an English degree before he hires Noa; I can also easily imagine Sabine Gottesman or even Joseph Han balking at this choice of academic path). Was the choice to make Noa study English deliberate? MJL: I think Hansu has none of the traditional immigrant anxieties because he is not someone who is obsessed with money and conventional security. He is an intellectual and a philosopher, and I think it delights him that his own blood has strains of genius with a strong work ethic. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. “History has failed us, but no matter.” How does the opening line reflect the rest of the book—and do you agree? 2. In a way, Sunja’s relationship with Isak progresses in reverse, as her pregnancy by another man brings them together and prompts Isak to propose marriage. How does Lee redefine intimacy and love with these two characters? 3. “Their eldest brother, Samoel, had been the brave one, the one who would’ve confronted the officers with audacity and grace, but Yoseb knew he was no hero…Yoseb didn’t see the point of anyone dying for his country or for some greater ideal. He understood survival and family.” What kinds of bravery are shown by different characters, and what motivates this bravery? 4. Compare Noa’s biological and adoptive fathers, Hansu and Isak: What qualities does each try to foster in Noa, and why? Whom does Noa most resemble? 5. What does “home” mean to each of the main characters? Does it ever change? In what ways does a yearning for home color the tone of the novel? 6. How do courting and marriage alter from one generation to the next? 7. How much agency and power do you think Sunja really has over her life? 8. Sunja tells Noa that “Blood doesn’t matter.” Do you agree? What parts of the novel support or weaken Sunja’s claim? 9. Yangjin and Kyunghee agree that “A woman’s lot is to suffer.” Do you think the women suffer more than the men in this book? If so, in what ways? How does the suffering of Sunja and Kyunghee compare to that of Yoseb? Noa and Mozasu’s? 10. Much is made of Sunja’s fading beauty, as well as the physical appearance of all the women who surround her. What does this reveal about society at this time? Do you see this emphasis on female beauty reflected in present-day culture? 11. Throughout the book, characters often must choose between survival and tradition or morality. Can you think of any examples that embody this tension? 12. Many of the main characters struggle with shame throughout their lives, whether due to their ethnicity, family, life choices or other factors. How does shame drive both their successes and failures? 13. The terms “good Korean” and “good Japanese” are used many times throughout the book. What does it mean to be a “good Korean”? A “good Japanese”? 14. “Both men had made money from chance and fear and loneliness.” Pachinko begins with the family of a humble fisherman that, through the generations—and through times of poverty, violence and extreme discrimination—gains wealth and success.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Dear READER, Winter/Spring 2021 SQUARE BOOKS TOP 100 of 2020 to Understate It—2020 Was Not Square Books’ Best Year
    Dear READER, Winter/Spring 2021 SQUARE BOOKS TOP 100 OF 2020 To understate it—2020 was not Square Books’ best year. Like everyone, we struggled—but we are grateful to remain in business, and that all the booksellers here are healthy. When Covid19 arrived, our foot-traffic fell precipitously, and sales with it—2020 second-quarter sales were down 52% from those of the same period in 2019. But our many loyal customers adjusted along with us as we reopened operations when we were more confident of doing business safely. The sales trend improved in the third quarter, and November/December were only slightly down compared to those two months last year. We are immensely grateful to those of you who ordered online or by phone, allowing us to ship, deliver, or hold for curbside pickup, or who waited outside our doors to enter once our visitor count was at capacity. It is only through your abiding support that Square Books remains in business, ending the year down 30% and solid footing to face the continuing challenge of Covid in 2021. And there were some very good books published, of which one hundred bestsellers we’ll mention now. (By the way, we still have signed copies of many of these books; enquire accordingly.) Many books appear on this list every year—old favorites, if you will, including three William Faulkner books: Selected Short Stories (37th on our list) which we often recommend to WF novices, The Sound and the Fury (59) and As I Lay Dying (56), as well as a notably good new biography of Faulkner by Michael Gorra, The Saddest Words: William Faulkner’s Civil War (61).
    [Show full text]
  • How a Family Tradition Endures
    SOCIETY SOCIETY Left, Min Jin Lee, in blue, and her sisters celebrate the New Year in Seoul, 1976; below, Ms. Lee’s parents, Mi Hwa Lee (left) and Boo Choon Lee, do likewise in New Jersey, 2005. MY KOREAN NEW YEAR How a family tradition endures By Min Jin Lee y finest hour as a Korean took According to Seollal tradition, a Korean has Upon the completion of a bow, we’d receive an practice of observing Jan. 1 as New Year’s Day, place on a Seollal morning, the to eat a bowl of the bone-white soup filled with elder’s blessing and money. A neighborhood when it’s called Shinjeong. Some Koreans still first day of Korean New Year’s, in coin-shaped slices of chewy rice cake in order to bowing tour to honor the elders could yield a do. Consequently the country now observes January 1976. age a year—a ritual far more appreciated early handsome purse. two different national holidays as New Year’s— I was 7 years old, and my in life. The garnishes vary by household; my My cousins and my older sister Myung Jin one on Jan. 1 and the other according to the Mfamily still lived in Seoul, where my two sisters family topped our soup with seasoned finished in a jiffy and collected their rewards. moon. When we moved to the U.S., Jan. 1 and I had been born. Seollal, the New Year’s Day shredded beef, toasted laver (thin sheets of Uncle and Aunt waited for me to bow.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020/02/05 FY Ending March 2020 3Q Results / Appendix
    FY Ending March 2020 3Q Results / Appendix February 5, 2020 [Disclaimer] The contents of this material and comments made during the questions and answers etc. of this briefing session are the judgment and projections of the Company’s managements based on currently available information. These contents involve risk and uncertainty and the actual results may differ materially from these contents/comments. © SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS INC. All Rights Reserved. Results Highlights 3Q Results Forecast Both sales and profit increased YoY Revised full-year operating results forecast Sales unit increased in Pachislot and Pachinko Sales 390.0 ⇒ 367.0 billion yen machines business Operating Income 27.0 ⇒ 27.0 billion yen Digital Games area in Entertainment Contents Consolidated Business performed solidly. While Pachislot and Pachinko Machines Business fell short of initial forecast due to a decline in sales units, Business Recorded extraordinary income associated Digital Games area in Entertainment Contents Business with transfer of non-current assets improved Net income increased due to the recognition of extraordinary income associated with the transfer of non-current assets and the decrease of tax expenses. Profitability improved YoY due to Revised the number of titles and sales units Pachislot and increased pachislot sales units forecast Pachinko Pachislot : "Pachislot Hokuto No Ken Tenshou" Pachislot : "Pachislot PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2" “Pachislot Psalms of Planets "Pachislot 〈Monogatari〉 Series Machines Eureka Seven 3 HI-EVOLUTION ZERO" Secondseason" Business Pachinko: “P GAOGAOKING 3” Pachinko: "P SOUTEN-NO-KEN Souryu," “P The Seven deadly Sins Elizabeth ver.” "P BIG DREAM2 GEKISHIN," etc. Digital Games area in Entertainment Several new titles are planned to launch for Entertainment Contents Business performed solidly.
    [Show full text]
  • Racism in Education: Discrimination Against Korean Schools
    Recent Events in Japan Racism in Education: making a final decision until the end of July. Discrimination against Korean Schools In any case, why must Korean schools Young Kim face discrimination simply because of the abduction cases? These abduction incidents The issue surrounding National are a truly serious national crime. However, University entrance exam qualifications for is discrimination justified because this is a ethnic school students is about to face the school supporting such a government? If so, Ministry of Education’s blatant discriminatory the Japanese government is doing the same tactics. thing as those who have repeatedly harassed In March of this year, the Ministry Korean students since the abduction issue came announced that graduates of ethnic schools, out into the open. The decisions of the except the 16 International Schools recognized Ministry hurt the children just as the burden of by US and British accrediting bodies, will be verbal and physical harassments. deprived of the right to apply directly for The children of the North Korean school admission to national universities. faced an enormous shock on September 17th, Presently, there are a number of ethnic when the abduction issue came out. Adults and schools, including Korean Schools, Korean teachers told them that abduction did not exist, Gakuen, Chinese schools, and Brazilian and until that day, the children believed what schools. Amongst these ethnic schools, there they had been told. Learning of the shocking are around 100 Korean schools including 12 reality that the abduction suspicion was true high schools. The true, hidden reason behind hurt the children tremendously.
    [Show full text]
  • Pachinko by Min Jin
    Pachinko Discussion Questions 1. The novel's opening sentence reads, "History has failed us, but no matter." What does the sentence mean, and what expectations might it establish for the reader? Why the tail end of the sentence, "but no matter"? 2. Talk about the thematic significance of the book's title. Pachinko is a sort of slot/pinball game played throughout Japan, and it's arcades are also a way for foreigners to find work and accumulate money. 3. What are the cultural differences between Korea and Japan? 4. As "Zainichi," non-Japanese, how are Koreans treated in Japan? What rules must they adhere to, and what restrictions apply to them? Author: Min Jin Lee 5. Follow-up to Questions 3 and 4: Discuss the theme of belonging, which is Originally published: pervades this novel. How does where one "belongs" tie into self-identity? February 7, 2017 Consider Mozasu and his son, Solomon. In what ways are their experiences Genre: Historical Fiction, Domestic fiction similar when it comes to national identity? How do both of them feel toward the Japanese? 6. How is World War II viewed in this novel—especially from the perspective of the various characters living in Japan? Has reading about the war through their eyes altered your own understanding of the war? 7. How would you describe Sunja and Isak. How do their differing innate talents complement one another and enable them to survive in Japan? 8. Are there particular characters you were drawn to more than others, perhaps even those who are morally compromised? If so who...and why? Author Bio • Birth: 1968, Seoul, South Korea; Raised: Borough of Queens, New York • Education: B.A., Yale University; J.D., Georgetown University • Currently: Lives in New York, NY Min Jin Lee is a Korean-American writer and author, whose work frequently deals with Korean American topics.
    [Show full text]
  • Pachinko.Pdf
    RESOURCES BOOK REVIEW ESSAYS Pachinko Like the pachinko balls themselves, the many By Min Jin Lee generations of the Korean family in the novel New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2017 bounce off the pins and bumpers of life, without 512 pages, ISBN: 978-1455563920, Paperback much say in the direction of their lives. Reviewed by Charles Newell achinko, a game of chance not skill, modern world that reject tradition for immediacy. Should tradition and is a rather curious Japanese amuse- family values be ignored for survival and success? This question runs as ment. It can best be described as a an undercurrent throughout the novel. This burden/question falls most Pcombination of pinball and a slot machine. heavily on the women in the family, who are the keepers and sustainers of Players purchase small silver balls that they family life and culture. drop or launch into the vertical pachinko Despite its focus on modern themes, such as the destruction of tradi- machine. The balls bounce off pins and tional values, this novel is written in a very conventional and linear narra- bumpers, and players hope the balls land tive style. Each chapter of the novel is a sort of vignette of a character’s life in cups or slots that will win them prizes at a moment in time. To cover a seventy-nine-year time period, Lee often or money. However, the game usually ends skips years ahead from one chapter to the next, focusing on the next major with the balls dropping out the bottom of conflict in a character’s path.
    [Show full text]
  • Fiction Catàleg
    Spring 2021 Fiction Rights Guide Creative Management 19 West 21st St. Suite 501, New York, NY 10010 / Telephone: (212) 765-6900 / E-mail: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS THE REDSHIRT THE ALMOST QUEEN RAFT OF STARS WHITE ON WHITE THE ROCK EATERS BEND YOU TO REMAIN IMPOSTER SYNDROME NEXT SHIP HOME SURVIVE THE NIGHT WALK THE VANISHED EARTH THREE WORDS FOR GOODBYE THE MAN WHO SOLD AIR IN THE HOLY LAND NOBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY WILD CAT THE BACHELOR CHEVY IN THE HOLE THE LAST MONA LISA THE COMMUNITY BOARD IMMEDIATE FAMILY FOR THE LOVE OF THE BARD THE BODY SCOUT THE WILD ONE O, BEAUTIFUL NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED... THE UNKNOWN WOMAN OF THE SEINE MORE OF EVERYTHING ALL HER LITTLE SECRETS FLIGHT THE LIGHT PIRATE ISLANDERS GO HOME, RICKY! EXOSKELETONS CAIRO CIRCLES THE MYTHMAKERS THE REDSHIRT A Novel By Corey Sobel NA October 2020 / University Press of Kentucky Final PDF Available Shortlisted for 2020 Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize Corey Sobel challenges tenacious stereotypes in this compelling debut novel, shedding new light on the hypermasculine world of American football. The Redshirtintroduces Miles Furling, a young man who is convinced he was placed on earth to play football. Deep in the closet, he sees the sport as a means of gaining a permanent foothold in a culture that would otherwise reject him. Still, Miles’s body lags behind his ambitions, and recruiters tell him he is not big enough to com- pete at the top level. His dreams come true when a letter arrives from King College.
    [Show full text]
  • Pachinko by Min Jin
    Pachinko by Min Jin Lee In early 1900s Korea, prized daughter Sunja finds herself pregnant and alone, bringing shame on her family until a young minister offers to marry her and move with her to Japan, in the saga on one family bound together as their faith and identity are called into question. Why you'll like it: Family saga. Authentic. Historical. Sweeping. About the Author: Min Jin Lee's debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, was one of the "Top 10 Novels of the Year" for The Times (London), NPR's Fresh Air, and USA Today. Her short fiction has been featured on NPR's Selected Shorts. Her writings have appeared in Nast Traveler, The Times (London), Vogue, Travel+Leisure, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Magazine, and Food & Wine. Her essays and literary criticism have been anthologized widely. She served as a columnist for the Chosun Ilbo, the leading paper of South Korea. She lives in New York with her family. Questions for Discussion 1. “History has failed us, but no matter.” How does the opening line reflect the rest of the book – and do you agree? 2. In a way, Sunja’s relationship with Isak progresses in reverse, as her pregnancy by another man brings them together and prompts Isak to propose marriage. How does Lee redefine intimacy and love with these two characters? 3. “Their eldest brother, Samoel, had been the brave one, the one who would’ve confronted the officers with audacity and grace, but Yoseb knew he was no hero….Yoseb didn’t see the point of anyone dying for his country or for some greater ideal.
    [Show full text]
  • Report by Nadine Willems Piece of Japan
    What’s in this issue Welcome Message Eye on Japan Tokyo Days – report by Nadine Willems Piece of Japan Upcoming Events General Links Editor: Oliver Moxham, CJS Project Coordinator CJS Director: Professor Simon Kaner Contact Us Header photo by editor Welcome Message CJS ニュースレターへようこそ！ Welcome to the fifth and final April edition of the CJS e-Newsletter – who knew there were five Thursdays in April? This week we bring you hopeful news from Japan as the initial spike in cases seems to be tapering off, although much remains to be done to flatten the curve. In this issue we take a look at the new raft of measures being brought in to fight the virus in Japan along with a new article from Nadine Willems on the ground in Tokyo. For our ‘Piece of Japan’ segment we have recommendations on the theme of historical figures following Shakespeare’s birthday last week and the Buddha’s birthday this week (according to the lunar calendar). You can find a message from CJS Director Professor Simon Kaner on the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures website and hear more from our SISJAC colleagues on their monthly e-bulletin. Editor’s note: Japanese names are given in the Japanese form of family name first i.e. Matsumoto Mariko Amendment: It has come to our attention that there were some errors with Japanese names in our third issue this month. It has since been amended and an updated version can be found in our online archives. We apologise to our readership for this oversight.
    [Show full text]
  • Pachinko: a Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface
    Pachinko: A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface Pachinko: A Case Study in Hybrid Physical and Virtual Interface Geoffrey Rockwell and Keiji Amano Abstract No discussion of play and leisure in Japan would be complete without acknowledging the place of pachinko, a game so popular that it dominates the leisure economy in a way no other medium does, not even videogames. Even in decline, pachinko generates more revenue in Japan than any other leisure pursuit and yet it is rarely discussed in game studies in the West or even in the Japanese literature around game culture. This is largely because of the gambling associated with pachinko and because it is unique to Japan – a national industry with no export potential. Pachinko is at the disreputable edge of gaming—economically, culturally, and mechanically. Above all, pachinko machines stand out as monstrous hybrids that combine the electro-mechanical apparatus of a pinball machine with the digital screen of a slot machine in a curious mixed interface that seems to be an anachronism of a pre-computing era. And that is what this paper is about – the hybrid interface of pachinko. Paradaisu Yokohama was crowded at eight o'clock in the evening. The volcanic rush of tinny balls, the clanging of tiny hammers across miniature metal bowls, the beeping and flashing of colorful lights, and the throaty shouts of welcome from the obsequious staff felt like a reprieve from the painful silence in his head. Haruki didn't even mind the thick swirls of tobacco smoke that hung like a layer of gray mist above the heads of the players seated opposite the rows upon rows of vertical, animated machines.
    [Show full text]
  • 5 Books by 5 Women Authors Selected for This Year's
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 4, 2019 Contact: Janet Allon | [email protected] | (212) 974-4002 5 BOOKS BY 5 WOMEN AUTHORS SELECTED FOR THIS YEAR’S “ONE BOOK, ONE NEW YORK” PROGRAM Coinciding with Women’s History Month, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and BuzzFeed News celebrate a slate of women authors for country’s biggest book club. 2500 copies of the nominated books will be available in libraries throughout the five boroughs. Voting starts April 1. NEW YORK – Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Acting Commissioner Anne del Castillo today announced the five finalists for this year’s One Book, One New York campaign, the country’s largest reading program designed to bring New Yorkers together to read the same book at the same time. Now in its third year, and in partnership with BuzzFeed Book Club, this year’s program features five acclaimed titles all written by women. The five nominated books by authors who call NYC home are: • A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza • Nilda by Nicholasa Mohr • Just Kids by Patti Smith • Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson • Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee Beginning on April 1st and continuing all throughout the month of April, New Yorkers will cast their votes at nyc.gov/onebook to determine the one book the whole city will read together. “We’re thrilled to offer books by such a diverse group of women authors for New Yorkers to read, discuss with each other, and vote on this year,” said Media and Entertainment Acting Commissioner Anne del Castillo.
    [Show full text]
  • Yakuza Vs the Police, & Foreign Crime Gangs
    Volume 10 | Issue 7 | Number 1 | Article ID 3692 | Feb 11, 2012 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Recent Trends in Organized Crime in Japan: Yakuza vs the Police, & Foreign Crime Gangs ~ Part 2 ２１世紀のやくざ ―― 日 本における組織犯罪の最近動向 Andrew Rankin evidence, forced confessions, beatings of suspects, drug abuse by police officers, Recent Trends in Organized Crime embezzlement from police slush funds, and in Japan: Yakuza vs the Police, & much else. Senba’s sensational conclusion: ‘The Foreign Crime Gangs ~ Part 2 ２１ largest organized crime gang in Japan today is the National Police Agency’ (Senba 2009:73). 世紀のやくざ ―― 日本における組織犯 罪の最近動向 As a case study of the sort of situation that Senba describes we might consider the recent Andrew Rankin history of the pachinko industry. The yakuza first infiltrated peripheral areas of the pachinko II The State, the Police and the Yakuza: industry during the 1970s. Supplies of gifts to Control or Symbiosis? pachinko hall stores, for example, provided effective camouflage for extorting security The Yakuza and the NPA payments. In the 1980s the police announced their intention to eliminate these yakuza The popular status of outlaws logically relates rackets. They accomplished this with great to the integrity of the legal system outside success. Today pachinko business owners need which they operate. Putting it simply, for not placate the yakuza. Instead they must villains to look bad, the police need to look placate the Security Electronics and good. Tamura Eitarō has shown how the Communications Technology Association chivalrous image enjoyed by nineteenth- (SECTA; referred to in Japanese as the century yakuza stemmed in part from public Hōtsūkyō).
    [Show full text]