Tokyo Vice Author Speaks Out Against National Geographic Television

I normally don’t post too far out of the site’s content target, but this merits an exception. Investigative journalist and “Tokyo Vice” author Jake Adelstein is warning the public about a planned special he worked on for National Geographic Television about the Yakuza as a consultant for the following reasons spelled out below.

I have been working as a consultant on a National Geographic Television documentary on the yakuza since the summer of last year. I resigned on February 24th. I also asked that my name be removed from the program.

I did this for two reasons. I was not given full access to the materials that would allow me to verify the factual accuracy of the program and thus unable to do my job properly. There are also issues of the program being seen as yarase (やらせ).  Since I can’t verify the factual accuracy, taking the money and continuing would be perfidious. Also, after seeing a rough cut of the program, I now have serious concerns about the safety of all Americans and Japanese sources, friends, and the staff of National Geographic Channel Japan who are involved with this program. There is a chance that the yakuza that have been betrayed by NGT will use violence against those residing in Japan to express their anger. I am even concerned about the safety of the yakuza that agreed to appear in the documentary, probably under false pretenses and false promises. They will face retaliation from their superiors if the program is aired as it is now. Yakuza are people too, a small minority of them are good people in their own right, and once they cooperate with the program, they are also sources. And sources have to be protected. That is the good faith that is demanded in responsible journalism.

Adelstein’s Japan Subculture blog post also features the heavily redacted resignation letters sent off to National Geographic Television explaining his reasons for his resignation. I wish Jake the best of luck in this situation as the fallout won’t look too good after all is said and done.