Are Tokyo Vice's Yakuza Gangs Real? Tozawa And Chihara-Kai Explained
The immersive reality of Tokyo Vice might lead audiences to question whether the Yakuza gangs, including Tozawa and Chihara-Kai, are real or if they're made up for the show. Tokyo Vice is based on the memoir by journalist Jake Adelstein, which covered his time working for the biggest newspaper in the world, reporting on the police beat in the '90s. During that time, Adelstein, played by Ansel Elgort in the show, got deeply involved in investigating the criminal underworld, which was run by the Yakuza, an organized crime syndicate operating in Tokyo and throughout Japan.
Along with Elgort, the show stars Ken Watanabe as a police detective who mentors Adelstein, Rachel Keller as a fellow expat trying to make her way in Tokyo, and Rinko Kikuchi as an editor at the paper. Tokyo Vice also stars Shô Kasamatsu as Sato, a young Yakuza member, Shun Sugata as Ishida, a raspy-voiced oyabun leader, and Ayumi Tanida as Tozawa, a rival oyabun who goes to war with Isihida in Tokyo Vice season 1. Adelstein's involvement in reporting on the Yakuza exposes him in more ways than one as to how organized crime worked in that region during the '90s, eventually leading to him receiving numerous warnings, attacks, and death threats throughout his time there.
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While Tokyo Vice is based on Jake Adelstein's memoir, it's not a direct adaptation and operates as fiction, even if it accurately mirrors many of the events, characters, and time period. As a result, the Yakuza gangs in the series are fictional, but still a blend of real-world people and organizations that Elgort's Adelstein encountered and reported on, as well as those that were operating in the region
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