American Maverick in Japan

I first met Richard Roa in the fall of 1989. I was in the middle of researching <I>Tokyo Underworld</I> and someone had suggested I interview him because he knew the main character of the book Nick Zapetti and also because he worked for a time as a consultant to the <I>Toa-Sogo Kigyo</I> a real-estate/leisure outfit based in Roppongi which was in fact a transmogrification of the infamous Tokyo gang the <I>Tosei-kai</I> a yakuza organization which occupied another major part of the book.<p>My scheduled two-hour interview with Rick Roa metastasized into several lengthy Q&A session because the stories this man had to tell were so damned interesting starting with the chilling tale he told of being caught in a Tokyo mob run clip joint and what he had to do to get his money back.<p>There was more--his hilarious tale of the American Train venture his experiences as a bartender in the Ginza's most exclusive (and expensive) hostess club his adventures with Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston in Japan. But unfortunately I could not use much of the material because it did not impact directly on the central thesis of Underworld which dealt with the corrupt side of the U.S.-Japan relationship. But I always thought that it would make a good book one day and lo and behold here it is.<p>I'm sure readers will enjoy this book as much as I did.<p><p align=right>Robert Whiting<br>Kamakura 2004 <br>Author of <I>The Tokyo Underworld</I><p><p align=right>