True Crime Japan: Thieves, Rascals, Killers and Dope Heads: True Stories from a Japanese Courtroom

Description

From Serial to The Jinx to Making a Murderer, true crime fever is sweeping America. But how does crime-and punishment-differ in other cultures? True Crime Japan offers a close-up look at this little-documented aspect of Japanese society through a year's worth of criminal court cases in Matsumoto, a city 140 miles west of Tokyo. "Paul Murphy's understanding of these processes shines through in his writing. He does not over complicate or throw statistics in to impress. He weaves such information effortlessly within the narrative resulting in welcome additions to case studies." -Crime Traveller

Paul Murphy is an award-winning journalist. His articles and reports about Japan have appeared in The Japan Times, International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Daily News, Irish Times and RTE's Prime Time television program, among others. He is currently a reporter for the RTE Investigations Unit in Dublin.

"Murphy has an admirable desire to educate: the stories are interspersed with discussions about broader Japanese social themes, including a fascinating discussion of life in Japanese prisons." --Asia Review of Books "Murphy never exploits his subjects. Instead, his deep research offers insights--at times instructive, at others sobering--into Japanese culture and how societal changes play out at the grassroots level." --Japan Times "Murphy creates a winning mix of irreverent and earnest observations in this snapshot of the underworld in modern Japan." --Publishers Weekly