Speaker:

• Robert Whiting (Best Selling Author)

Moderator:

• Kyle Cleveland, ICAS Co-Director

Overview

In this rare insider's book at Japan through the eyes of foreigners, critically acclaimed author and longtime Tokyo resident, Robert Whiting, turns his attention to the fascinating stories of the 'outsiders' who made waves and achieved notoriety in post-World War II Japan. Based on original research and reporting by the author himself, the book provides an unvarnished look at Japanese history from the immediate postwar period up to the 2022 assassination of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Join us on 14 June where Robert Whiting, a 60-year resident of Tokyo, will tell the fascinating stories of the gamblers, dreamers, and other chancers who made their mark in modern Japan, including US servicement running Vegas-style gambling dens, hostesses, bar managers and wannabe yakuza gangsters.

Speaker:

Robert Whiting

Best Selling Author

Robert Whiting is the author of You Gotta Have Wa (1989), named as one of Esquire's Best Baseball Books Ever Written in 2021; and Tokyo Underworld (2000). He has lived in Japan since 1962 and is regarded as one of the foremost experts on the country. The California native has written for many publications in his long career, including the New York Times, The Smithsonian, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News and World Report. His first book, The Chrysanthemum and the Bat, was named Time's Sports Book of the Year in 1977. He is also a recipient of the 2023 Henry Chadwick Award, which honors those who research and write about baseball.

Moderator:

Kyle Cleveland

Co-director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS) and Associate Professor in Sociology at Temple University, Japan Campus

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