Hot Neighbour

Super-sexy New Zealand model, Phoenix, 26, is an exotic dancer at Showgirls in Auckland. When she’s not stripping up a storm, she rides horses competitively and hopes one day to make it to the Olympics. Giddy up!

Photography: Richard Arthur
Continue reading “Gallery: Phoenix” »

SOLOMON KANE

DIRECTOR: Michael J. Bassett

STARRING: James Purefoy, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Pete Postlethwaite, Alice Krige, Mackenzie Crook, Max von Sydow, Jason Flemyng

ROADSHOW

If you like your historical fantasy steeped in mud, rain, blood, fire, steel and black magic, then this is the flick for you. It’s no dumb-arse actioner, though—the title character was created by Robert E. Howard, who also gave us Conan, so there’s a mythic feel to the whole thing. You might even call it epic, with plenty of story packed into the 100-odd minutes.

It is the 1600s and, after a life of murder and plunder, privateer Solomon Kane (Purefoy) is confronted, inside an Ottoman fortress, by a minion of the Devil sent to claim his rotten soul. He narrowly escapes the creature, returns to his native England and seeks refuge in a monastery, renouncing violence and scarifying his body with holy symbols. However, when the Abbot decides the order can no longer harbour him, Solomon is turned out into a country enslaved by the forces of a sorcerer named Malachi (Flemyng). Mugged and left for dead soon after, he is nursed back to health by a puritan family (which includes Hurd-Wood, Postlethwaite and Krige) and begins travelling with them, relishing their gentle ways. Inevitably, Malachi’s forces, led by the mysterious, mind-controlling Masked Rider, attack the group and Kane is forced to choose between watching his new friends die or taking up arms again and thereby ensuring his soul remains damned.

As you can see, the cast is strong, with cool cameos from Crook as a priest with some warped ideas about religion, and von Sydow as Solomon’s estranged father. Purefoy is perfect in his role as a mercenary redeemed, and the same level of care with which the players have been chosen extends to the rest of the movie—the music, CGI, titles, etc. are all above average. As for the DVD extras… they’re only OK, but the deleted scene (a battle the director couldn’t quite squeeze in) and especially the gallery of production art are worth a gander.

IS THAT THING DIESEL?

PAUL CARTER
ALLEN & UNWIN

CARTER’S previous autobiographical efforts—2005’s Don’t Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs… She Thinks I’m a Piano Player in a Whorehouse and the 2007 follow-up, This is Not a Drill (Just Another Glorious Day in the Oilfield)—are two-fisted tales about wild men in wilder locations, sometimes outright warzones, that should be compulsory reading for any young Aussies thirsting for adventure.

Is That Thing Diesel? (One Man, One Bike and the First Lap Around Australia on Used Cooking Oil), while possessing an equally beaut and self-explanatory title, isn’t quite as rollicking. It starts out all domestic, with Carter and his amazingly tolerant missus having their first kid and ‘nesting’ in Perth, then after taking a little too long to get going, it rushes to its conclusion.

To be fair, though, the author’s attempts to settle into domestic life are amusing and the guts of the book—the quest to do the ‘Big Lap’ of Oz on an environmentally friendly bio-diesel motorbike created by the boffins at Adelaide Uni—is as good as any of his prior work, with larger-than-life characters, ill-advised piss-ups and tricky situations, not to mention a major bingle.

If you enjoy stuff like Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s TV series Long Way Round (which crops up throughout Is That Thing Diesel?) and 2005 tome Not All Ringers and Cowboys by Drew Radford, you’ll eat up the journey component like bio-bike ‘Black Betty’ eats up the kays… when she’s not breaking a non-standard part or pulling over to avoid a road train doing 130.

While the motorcycle proves its worth as a possible cheaper, cleaner alternative for everyone from farmers to city commuters, the star of the show is Carter himself, who could go to the servo for bread and milk and end up in an adventure (it’s no surprise he was considered to host the local version of Top Gear). Book number four, whose central challenge seems to have been set up during this one, can’t come soon enough!

Is That Thing Diesel? is in bookstores now.

DEVIL

DIRECTOR: JOHN ERICK DOWDLE

STARS: CHRIS MESSINA, BOKEEM WOODBINE, BOJANA NOVAKOVIC

“FROM the mind of M. Night Shyamalan” boasts the poster, but although he came up with the plot, the wannabe Hitchcock left directing duties to Dowdle (Quarantine), with Brian Nelson (Hard Candy) penning the screenplay. And is Shyamalan’s name that much of a drawcard these days, anyway? After early successes with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, there was a critical backlash against his reliance on big twist endings that sometimes undermined what had come before. Thankfully, Devil is a movie that plays fair—it establishes a set of rules, then sticks to them. Which is not to say there aren’t unforeseen bends along the way…

Say what you like about M. Night, he can come up with a catchy premise. In this case, five strangers are stuck between floors in a malfunctioning lift. The chaos caused by a suicide elsewhere in the Philadelphia high-rise, an electrical storm outside and the resident maintenance man going AWOL mean it’ll be a while before they can be freed. Then the blackouts start and, under cover of darkness, those in the elevator begin to die. The guards and cops watching via security camera can’t believe what’s happening and the theory is put forward that one of the surviving passengers may literally be the devil in disguise.

There are no big-name stars in the flick, though many will recognise Messina (Julie & Julia), Woodbine (TV’s Saving Grace) and Serbian-Aussie beauty Novakovic (Edge of Darkness), who play the investigating detective and two of the unfortunates trapped in the lift, respectively. While not entirely original—it borrows key elements from an Agatha Christie novel—Devil is a satisfying B-grade thriller that doesn’t outstay its welcome or leave you groaning at the end. It’s also reportedly the first part in a trilogy called The Night Chronicles, each of which will be a standalone tale based around a supernatural situation. Get in on the ground floor now.

Devil opens in cinemas on December 2.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS:

* Craig Jones, Springmount, Vic

* Anna Perejma, Lane Cove West, NSW

* Diana Ozelis, Wantirna South, Vic

* Nic White, Metford, NSW

* Alex Super, address awaiting confirmation

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Thanks to the videogame wizards at SEGA, Australian Penthouse is giving readers the chance to win one of five Vanquish PS3 packs.

Each pack contains a copy of the awesome new third-person shooter Vanquish (released October 21 in Australia and October 22 in New Zealand) for PS3, a very cool Vanquish figure, and a voucher (valid for 12 months) to download the Vanquish pre-order tri-weapon pack on PlayStation Network. That last one means you’ll have even more ways to obliterate enemies!

For those who haven’t read the interview with Vanquish director Shinji Mikami in our November issue (on sale today!), the game is set in a future where mech-suited US marines are attempting to wrest control of a space station from Russian forces planning to turn its weapons on American cities. It’s the Cold War all over again, but this time in space!

Vanquish is also available on X360, but PS3 owners shouldn’t miss this opportunity to snag a copy for free.

Your Name (required)
 

Your Email (required)
 

Subject
 

Your Question: “What luxury item would you take to a space station and why?”

COMPETITION CLOSED

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Game of Skill

Competition commences on 20/10/10 and concludes on 17/11/10 at 12:00pm. Entry is open to all residents of Australia, but excludes all employees of Australian Penthouse. Entrants must provide their contact details and an answer to the question, “What luxury item would you take to a space station and why?” in 25 words or less. This is a Game of Skill which contains no element of chance, and which will be judged by members of the Australian Penthouse staff on 17/11/10. Five winners will receive a pack containing the Vanquish PS3 game, a figurine and a voucher. The prizes will be mailed to winners at the address nominated in their entry. The promoters take no responsibility for lost or misdirected entries, and no correspondence will be entered into.

HOTTEST OF THE HOT

When the Australian Penthouse Pet of the Year for 2010 was announced at Men’s Gallery in Melbourne recently, no-one could dispute the result. Model and exotic dancer Jewell has it all: beauty, brains, class, a sense of humour and a desire to give her fans exactly what they want. Here, she tells us about her trip to the top

PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD ARTHUR

HAIR & MAKE-UP: TROY FOLLINGTON

How did it feel to be voted Australian Penthouse Pet of the Year?
I don’t think there’s one single word that can describe it. It was just a rollercoaster of emotions and an overwhelming achievement.

Do you see it as your responsibility to be even sexier than usual for the next 12 months?
Of course! I won’t let you guys down. I also see it as an opportunity to show other models who aspire to be Pet of the Year that if you work hard, it will pay off. I want to set a high standard for the next girl.

As the ambassador for an international brand, what qualities should a Pet embody?
I think the most important one is an outstanding personality. You have to have the tits and arse and all of that, but none of it matters if you’re not pretty on the inside. People tell me they like me because I’m down to earth and a nice person.

What’s been the reaction from your family to you winning?
You know, my family only recently found out about my glamour career, but they were very supportive regarding Pet f the Year—and they told me, “If you’re going to do it, make sure you win!”

For the readers who are meeting you here for the first time, give us a quick rundown on your modelling history.
I’ve been in the industry for 10 years and have gone from fully covered up—not even showing my collarbones—to fully nude. Along the way, I’ve been everything from Miss Caribbean to Miss Fitness NSW.

And then there were your memorable appearances for us, eg. as one of a bunch of babes dressed as air hostesses…
Oh, yeah. I’ve been working for Australian Penthouse since 2006 and have done heaps of stuff, including manning your stand at Sexpo. And that’s something I want future Pets of the Year to understand as well, that you really have to earn it.

You’re also an exotic dancer. Where can fans watch you perform?
I started out in a club, but I’m an entertainer not a table dancer. Which is why I prefer doing private parties, where I can put on a proper performance. That girl you see in the magazine—you can have her come to you! For details of where I’m appearing, check out my web site, www.thejewell.com.

Will you be dancing at venues around the country as part of your POTY duties?
Definitely. I’m just corresponding with everyone via Facebook at the moment, but it looks like I’ll be doing an Australian tour.

Do other women ask you for advice on how to be sexier for their man?
A lot of them do, yes, but not just for their man—they also want to feel sexier for themselves. It’s a constant battle, as I know myself. It’s flattering that they look up to me.

Who are your modelling idols, Jewell?
When I was 12, I idolised Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra—and I still love them! I’m not interested in their lifestyles, only the amazing pictures they produce.

For many men, models and dancers are extremely intimidating. If they’re interested in one, how should they approach her?
Honestly, just smile at her. Smile and say hello. And if the girl responds snobbily or rudely, then she’s not worth your time. If she smiles back, have a chat. It’s not hard to ask, “How’s your day been?”

How can they show her they’re genuine–not just a horny punter trying his luck?
You don’t have to shower her with compliments about her beautiful teeth or hair or boobs. Sometimes that actually turns a girl off. ’Cos on a normal day, you’re not going to see a chick walking across the road and go, “Hey, I like your tits.” Be yourself, be real, be normal.

Let’s talk about sex… Would you describe your personality in the bedroom as dominant or submissive?
I think I’m somewhere in between, but I definitely don’t like a guy who’s, “Yes, Jewell. No, Jewell. Three bags full, Jewell.” I’m not interested in that. I like someone who can take charge in bed. Who can go, “Nah, it’s your turn, mate!”

What’s something that’s guaranteed to drive you wild?
Getting straight in there. I’m not all about foreplay—just give me what I want. No mucking around.

Are you into experimenting with new locations, positions, toys, etc.?
Of course I am. I think that’s healthy. I’m willing to try different things, which helps keep the spark in the relationship. My favourite sex toy? There’s a product called the Lelo vibrating cock ring. It keeps the guy harder for longer and, at the same time, when he’s thrusting in, the girl gets this vibrating sensation that’s like, “More! More! More!” So it works for him, and for her it takes things to the next level—and you’re both happy.

Men imagine strippers must give their partners private shows all the time, but other dancers have told us they don’t like to do that because it feels too much like work. Where do you stand on this issue?
I made the mistake of trying it on my partner when we first started going out. And I got the rude awakening of, “Can you stop that?” The person who really loves you and wants to be with you, they’re not interested in that side. It might be a novelty, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to be yourself. Audiences get to see the glamorous side of me every day—he wants something they don’t get.

In that case, when you come up with a new move or routine, how do you test it out? In front of the mirror or a fellow dancer?
Usually, you test it out when you wing it on stage. At least, that’s what I do! Because, really, what drives me to perform—and come up with new routines—is the crowd reaction. And that’s only way you can tell if something works or not.

What do you think about when you’re posing for hot pics like these?
I think, “This fucking shoot better look amazing!” Haha. No, it’s more about thinking of the fans you have out there and how to satisfy them. You don’t want the shoot to be a letdown. You want them to go, “I need to see more of this girl.”

Tell us what, in your opinion, makes for a great pictorial.
Believe it or not, I find it’s what the model is emanating through her eyes. When you ask a guy to choose between a couple of photos of different girls, he might not even realise why, but he’ll generally go for the girl with the come-hither look. Factors like having a great location matter, but if the model can’t communicate to you that she feels great about herself, then it doesn’t work.

What are your memories of this Pet of the Year shoot?
For some reason, Mother Nature did not want us to be outside! Every time we were ready to go, it just poured with rain. In the end, we went with a glamorous, golden setting in a penthouse suite in the city, which really worked. I believe girls are gonna want to become Pet of the Year after looking at a shoot like this.

Got a message for the fans who voted you to the top?
Oh my God, I want to thank every single person out there. When I was at the final (at The Men’s Gallery, Melbourne), I met so many people I’d only known through Facebook—who came to support me, who were screaming my name, who were telling me they voted for me. And it was all because I took the time to answer each of them and say thank you. Saying thank you is what got me where I am today.

You can’t beat the personal touch.
That’s right. I don’t want to be the girl in the magazine who you can never even get an autograph out of. I want to be the girl in the magazine who you can have come to your function and perform.

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME

DIRECTOR: MIKE NEWELL

STARS: JAKE GYLLENHAAL, GEMMA ARTERTON, BEN KINGSLEY, ALFRED MOLINA

WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENT.

FILMS based on videogames tend to be diabolically bad—Street Fighter, House of the Dead, Wing Commander, BloodRayne… Thankfully, Prince of Persia is one of the rare exceptions. It’s not The Lord of the Rings, but it’s a decent action adventure that remains true to its platform-gaming roots—which is to say there’s plenty of running, jumping and hitting things in a pseudo-historical Arabian setting. It helps to have a competent director at the helm and Mike Newell has experience with both magical mumbo-jumbo and desert locales, having previously made Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire plus a bunch of Young Indiana Jones episodes.

The suitably ancient plot sees the Persian king murdered and his adopted son, Prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal), blamed for the deed. The prince goes on the run in an attempt to clear his name, reluctantly joined by political pawn Princess Tamina (Arterton). Initially, she can’t stand the sight of him, so you know where that’s gonna lead. As for why someone would commit regicide, could it have anything to do with Dastan’s sneaky Uncle Nizam (Kingsley) or the strange dagger that it’s Tamina’s duty to protect? Of course it could, but this movie is less about the destination than the scenery and colourful characters encountered along the way, such as the ostrich-racing Sheik Amar (Molina) or the mystical killers known as the Hassansins.

For a Disney release, you may be disappointed to learn that the DVD of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time contains but a single extra—a making-of documentary. (The Blu-ray version is only slightly better, adding a deleted scene.) That said, if you missed this one at the cinema, are in the mood for non-taxing derring-do with a big budget and a quality cast, or you’re a fan of the videogame series on which it’s based, then there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours. Super Mario Bros., Alone in the Dark, Double Dragon, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within…

LET ME IN

DIRECTOR: Matt Reeves

STARS: Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas

ICON

VIEWED in isolation, Let Me In is a competently made movie that offers an unusual take on the vampire tale. Here, the bloodsucker is an eternally 12-year-old girl who, although supernaturally fast and strong, still has the emotional dependence of a child—craving companionship and allowing herself to be cared for. The central human character is no mighty monster-slayer but an introverted boy powerless to avoid the daily torments of the class bully.

When vamp Abby (Kick-Ass’s Chloe Moretz) meets wimp Owen (The Road’s Kodi Smit-McPhee) in the snowy courtyard of their apartment complex one night, he offers her someone she can relate to more than her grizzled guardian, while she gives him a secret happiness and strength. As friendship turns to innocent love, the inevitable happens and Abby’s need to feed threatens to expose her, forcing Owen to choose just how far he will let her into his life.

Unfortunately, however, Let Me In can’t be viewed in isolation because it is a remake of the 2008 Swedish flick Let the Right One In, and besides dumbing down the title and changing the character names, Hollywood’s alterations are all for the worse. Attempts to inject extra action into what is essentially a mood piece are jarring, and “colour” such as the video arcade make the setting less believable as a sleepy community where a vampire might go unnoticed.

Worst of all, the made-for-each-other strangeness of Oskar and Eli in the original just isn’t there with Owen and Abby. Kodi and Chloe may be fine young actors, but in these roles their words and pauses never seem meaningful. In fact, their very presence smacks of studio-exec logic—take a Euro hit, add the up-and-coming stars of two American hits and you’ve got a guaranteed winner, right? Oh, wait, and let’s make it more of a cop story… people can’t get enough cop stories…

The only conceivable reason to see this in preference to renting/buying Let the Right One In on DVD is if you flat out refuse to read subtitles.

Let Me In opens in cinemas on October 14.

BEST OF WWE: REY MYSTERIO

DIRECTOR: N/A

‘CAST’: REY MYSTERIO, EDDIE GUERRERO, KURT ANGLE, RANDY ORTON, CHAVO GUERRERO

SHOCK

WHEN the WWE toured Australia in July/August with SmackDown Live, the superstar who received the biggest cheer was Rey Mysterio. Admittedly, The Undertaker and CM Punk were absent, but still, it’s no surprise the Mexican ‘luchador’ was chosen to be the subject of the first volume of the new budget-price Best of WWE range.

For $12.99, this disc gives you four of Rey’s classic battles from 2005-07: his ladder match against Eddie Guerrero, supposedly for custody of Mysterio’s son Dominick; a three-way heavyweight title bout in which he takes on Kurt Angle and Randy Orton; and two of his in-ring tussles with Chavo Guerrero, one of them under ‘falls count anywhere’ rules.

Despite the age of the footage, there’s no denying the quality of the wrestling, and it’s hard to complain about the price when you get 90 minutes of the masked marvel in action. According to the press release, the Best of WWE range isn’t available in the US, so for that reason alone Aussie Rey Mysterio fans may want to add this DVD to their collections.

MISTER VICE GUY

Model: Lu Nagata (aerial arts instructor). Photo: Anna Przeplasko

Back in July, we published a review of the excellent Tokyo Vice, Jake Adelstein’s memoir of his time as a crime reporter—and very much an outsider—on Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. Recently, we were fortunate enough to be able to speak to Jake and ask him some follow-up questions…

Would it be more or less difficult now for a Westerner to break into Japanese crime reporting?

It’d be harder because I touched on so many taboos that I think people there would look at hiring another Westerner as a potential lightning rod for controversy and trouble. It wasn’t my intention to make it more difficult. There were things I wrote about in Tokyo Vice that I thought were obvious, but they were such taboos that no Japanese publisher will touch the thing.

If you could go back in time, is there anything you’d do differently?

Yes. I wouldn’t have asked Helena to look into that [Yakuza] front company. I wouldn’t have even mentioned it to her. Part of being a good reporter is knowing the limitations of your assets. Hindsight is 20/20, but I realise, looking back, that she wasn’t very stable, and it was a bad idea to ask her—even though she wanted to help. She was capable, but she had a lot of emotional turmoil in her life, and she had a drug problem as well. I should have picked up on that.

Have the sorts of crimes taking place in Japan changed much?

Let me say something nice about the Japanese government—they’ve done a wonderful job of cracking down on human trafficking since the book came out. They’re much better at enforcing the laws, and the flow of foreign women into Japan to be exploited in the sex industry has definitely diminished. Other than that, crime remains what it always was, although the Yakuza have moved into much more white-collar crime—massive fraud, stock-market manipulation, venture capital. Areas where you usually didn’t see them before.

Is it dangerous these days for, say, Australian girls to get work as hostesses in Tokyo?

You cannot be a hostess in Japan on a working visa. So not only is it a potentially dangerous thing to do, it’s also illegal. If they raid the club where an Australian girl is working, there’s a good chance that her holiday will be terminated and she’ll be forcibly repatriated on her own dollar. However, if it was an “English conversation salon”, which is a thinly disguised hostess club where women sit and chat with the customers in English, that might be okay. And not that I want to encourage Australian girls to break the law, but technically you have to repeatedly engage in this work to violate your visa. So if you are an illegal hostess and the police do raid your club, I suggest telling them that you only started working there that day, and insist upon that. In Japan, you can be held in custody for up to 23 days, with no access to a lawyer, so it’s a long time to have to stick to your story. But if you deny, deny, deny, they will be unlikely to prosecute you. But the smartest thing is: if you go to Japan, don’t work as a hostess. There’s always the risk of going home with the wrong customer and not coming back. And when a girl vanishes on an outside date, I can guarantee you that the hostess club will not talk to the police.

And yet we still hear strippers talk about going over…

Classically, when strippers go over, they arrange a fake marriage, which costs about $3000 on the black market. Once you’re a Japanese spouse living in Japan, even while that’s pending, you can pretty much do any job you want. I’m not advocating that—it’s still a crime; it’s a fake marriage.

How about a dude who wanted to go over and be a host—would he find the situation any different?

That would also be illegal. Host clubs, like hostess clubs, are adult entertainment venues. However, there are these weird places called butler bars where men serve women tea and coffee, and sometimes even feed them with a spoon, while dressed as English butlers. The pay can be good, but the job is apparently really horrible.

What can you tell us about the scandal happening in the world of sumo?

Recently, there’s been a huge scandal about the fact that many of Japan’s sumo wrestlers and officials were placing bets on baseball with a bookie operation run by the Yamaguchi-gumi [the largest Yakuza group]. What isn’t reported in the papers is that the lawyer who was placed on the Sumo Association to clean up the committee is allegedly closely tied to the Yakuza and, in the past, was on the board of what was exposed as one of their front companies. It kinda makes you wonder how serious they are about cleaning up their operations.

Where do you see that case ending up?

I think they’ll arrest a couple of members of the Yamaguchi-gumi and maybe some sumo wrestlers for gambling. For the Yakuza, there’s a small amount to be made on baseball betting, by taking a percentage from the wagers. But the real money is made by getting sumo wrestlers heavily in debt from this, then having them throw a match on which you’re betting. But if the police pursue it to that logical conclusion, then everyone is going to lose faith and interest in sumo. As a matter of fact, a senator in the ruling party has had a secret meeting with one of the Sumo Association chairmen, so it looks like the fix is in.

Do you think sumo is a dying art?

It’s losing a lot of popularity because many of the wrestlers who are now on top are foreigners. Japan is a fairly xenophobic country and without a home-grown sumo winning, people lose interest. Sumo is also old, it’s not flashy and there’s no cute, young Japanese sumo wrestler who other young people can identify with. Honestly, if you remove the Yakuza presence from sumo, I think it will seriously suffer because the base pay is horrible and many wrestlers are subsisting on handouts given to them by their Yakuza sponsors (who are often from the same home town). So unless they completely nationalise the sport and do it on tax-payer money, removing the Yakuza will cause many people to quit and may be the ruin of sumo. It’s ironic, but that’s the reality.

On that note, is it true traditional Yakuza tattoos are disappearing because the members no longer want to be easily identified?

Yes, it is. One of the brightest Yakuza I know has no tattoos or missing fingers. And a former college classmate of mine, who left a very lucrative job to go and work for them, he also has no tattoos or missing fingers. Those things aren’t an asset anymore. Nowadays, if you screw up, you pay a huge amount of money—and if you can’t afford to pay, you just vanish. Occasionally, you’ll still have an old-school yakuza tell an underling, “Chop off your finger and bring it in atonement,” but that’s pretty rare.

We love your idea of getting real Yakuza members to review the videogame Yakuza 3 (for boingboing.net). Was it hard to arrange?

You’re Penthouse magazine, so I can tell you the story. One of the reviewers was very reluctant to do it, but he made me an offer. In a roundabout way, he said he’d review the game if I did him a favour, which was to have sex with his girlfriend while he watched, because that really got him off. I’m not gonna say what my reply was, but we worked out a compromise and he did help with the review.

Tokyo Vice was an absolute page-turner. Any plans for a follow-up?

I have two books under way. The first is going to be called The Last Yakuza. It’s the biography of my bodyguard and driver, who was a Yakuza member for 25 years and a boss for 10-15 years. He’s an incredible guy with a fascinating story. His mother is actually a Japanese American who came back to Japan rather than be put in an internment camp [during WW2]. He wants me to write it as a testimony for his son—because he’s actually very proud of being a Yakuza—so I’m going to try to tell the past 30 years of Yazuka history along with it. The second one is more obscure. Called The Nine-Fingered Economy, it’s about how the Yakuza went from being gamblers and drug-runners to the “Goldman Sachs with guns” model that they are now.

When can we expect The Last Yakuza?

I’ve got about three chapters to go. I think it’ll take me another year to complete it. I’m talking to cops who arrested him in the past, his mother, his father… Obviously, I could just speak to him, but it’s more interesting to talk to other people who know him, both inside the organisation and out. The agreement that I’ve made—and he didn’t ask for it—is I’m giving him half of whatever royalties there are for the book, and hopefully that’ll be a nice retirement plan for him.

Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein, Scribe Publications (www.scribepublications.com.au), RRP$35.00.