I first met Richard Roa in the fall of 1989. I was in the middle of
researching "Tokyo Underworld" 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 "Toa-Sogo Kigyo," a real-estate/leisure outfit based in
Roppongi, which was, in fact, a transmogrification of the infamous
Tokyo gang, the "Tosei-kai," a yakuza organization which occupied
another major part of the book.
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.
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.
I'm sure readers will enjoy this book as much as I did.
Robert Whiting,
Kamakura, 2004
Author of "The Tokyo Underworld"
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