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  • Tokyo Junkie

  • 60 Years of Bright Lights and Back Alleys... and Baseball
  • By: Robert Whiting
  • Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
  • Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

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Tokyo Junkie cover art

Tokyo Junkie

By: Robert Whiting
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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Publisher's Summary

Tokyo Junkie is a memoir that plays out over the dramatic 60-year growth of the megacity Tokyo, once a dark, fetid backwater and now the most populous, sophisticated, and safe urban capital in the world. 

Follow author Robert Whiting (The Chrysanthemum and the BatYou Gotta Have WaTokyo Underworld) as he watches Tokyo transform during the 1964 Olympics, rubs shoulders with the Yakuza and comes face to face with the city’s dark underbelly, interviews Japan’s baseball elite after publishing his first best-selling book on the subject, and learns how politics and sports collide to produce a cultural landscape unlike any other, even as a new Olympics is postponed and the COVID virus ravages the nation. 

A colorful social history of what Anthony Bourdain dubbed, “the greatest city in the world”, Tokyo Junkie is a revealing account by an accomplished journalist who witnessed it all firsthand and, in the process, had his own dramatic personal transformation.

©2021 Robert Whiting (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing and Skyboat Media
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

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What listeners say about Tokyo Junkie

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable read

Robert Whiting well brings to life Japan, from a foreigner's perspective. Many tidbits about Japanese life, culture and evolution over decades. Having lived in Japan in the mid-2000s, I felt nostalgic, while learning more about this wonderful country and its people. I'm keen to check out his other books and return to Japan!

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fantastic listen

what a fantastic adventure life story in Tokyo, would recommend this to anyone Interested in Japan!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

An interesting tale of a Gaijin's time in Japan

Tokyo Junkie was filled with interesting stories that portray the inner workings of Japan from the 20th century onwards. His tales with the Yakuza, baseball and his early political days were particularly captivating and flowed well. It was interesting to hear about the transformation Japan went from being US occupied post WWII to a global economic superpower through the eyes of a gaijin (alien). His treatment as a gaijin throughout this period was entertaining and provided key insights into the Japanese way of life.

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Amazing book. Spoilt somewhat by the poor pronunciation of Japanese words and places.

Fantastic book as always from Robert Whiting.

Unfortunately the audiobook is read by someone with no knowledge of Japanese pronunciation, which detracts greatly from the listening experience.

Probably not a big deal for most listeners, but for anyone that lives or has lived in Japan it is grating.

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    1 out of 5 stars

interesting, but

An American perspective of post war Japan. unfortunately misogynistic and lacking in cultural and social sensitivity.

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