I have been a reporter in Japan since 1993, where I worked more than twelve years for Japan’s largest newspaper, covering everything from crime, court cases, to high school baseball, but much of it devoted to covering Japan’s mafia, the yakuza. I am the author of a true-crime memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter On the Police Beat in Japan and co-author of the forthcoming Pay The Devil In Bitcoin. I’m also a low-ranking Zen Buddhist priest, far, far, far from enlightenment (satori). I’ll be covering Japan’s popular culture (products, fads, new businesses), the shady subculture, crime, politics, social issues and gadgets for Forbes, with an emphasis on popular culture.