Mob Big in Japan - Washington Post

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]This Mob Is Big in Japan
WashingtonPost.com > by Jake Adelstein
Sunday, May 11, 2008; Page B02
I have spent most of the past 15 years in the dark side of the rising sun. Until three years ago, I was a crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest newspaper, and covered a roster of characters that included serial killers who doubled as pet breeders, child pornographers who abducted junior high-school girls, and the John Gotti of Japan.
I came to Japan in 1988 at age 19, spent most of college living in a Zen Buddhist temple, and then became the first U.S. citizen hired as a regular staff writer for a Japanese newspaper in Japanese. If you know anything about Japan, you'll realize how bizarre this is -- a gaijin, or foreigner, covering Japanese cops. When I started the beat in the early 1990s, I knew nothing about the yakuza, a.k.a. the Japanese mafia. But following their prostitution rings and extortion rackets became my life...
....Tadamasa Goto -- a notorious Japanese gang boss, the one that some federal agents call the "John Gotti of Japan" -- to be flown to the United States for a liver transplant. ...I didn't bargain on the contents [exposing Goto's transplant] leaking out before my book was released, which is what happened last November. Now the FBI and local law enforcement are watching over my family in the States, while the Tokyo police and the NPA look out for me in Japan. I would like to go home, but Goto has a reputation for taking out his target and anyone else in the vicinity... more...

[Takechanpoo]

[Greji]

[floatl][/floatl]This Mob Is Big in Japan
[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902544.html]WashingtonPost.com > by Jake Adelstein
Sunday, May 11, 2008]
I have spent most of the past 15 years in the dark side of the rising sun.

Gotta call bull shit on this story. It outlines a true story that was to happen (the liver transplant) but it didn't come to pass because the oyabun in question would not cooperate and his name was not Goto. Jim Moynihan, the Legal Attache, who was approached to broker the deal served the government ultimatum, talk or no waiver for crimes past and thus no visa and no liver (has a nice touch, don't you think?). At any rate, the oya-bum would not agree and there was no operation. Moynihan is a mate of mine who has retired and, being married to a local rice cooker, is still living in Tokyo working as the VP for Security for Asia for a major western company.

The guy who wrote this story has got to be living in never-never land. Assigned to the crime beat for Yomiuri? You gotta be shitting me. Since when has Gomiuri started hiring FG as investigative reporters? The dud(e) sounds like a former proof reader with illustions of grandoo'er...

Marvin what's your take on this? I know they're a competitor rag, but you need to keep up with their work in the field.

BTW, why don't you get assigned to the prostitution beat and hire me as a paid confidential source...

[Catoneinutica]

The WP has really hit the skids. This reads like a WaiWai piece. Since Moynihan is a mate of yours, perhaps you could ask him about the case, Greji.

Gotta call bull shit on this story. It outlines a true story that was to happen (the liver transplant) but it didn't come to pass because the oyabun in question would not cooperate and his name was not Goto. Jim Moynihan, the Legal Attache, who was approached to broker the deal served the government ultimatum, talk or no waiver for crimes past and thus no visa and no liver (has a nice touch, don't you think?). At any rate, the oya-bum would not agree and there was no operation. Moynihan is a mate of mine who has retired and, being married to a local rice cooker, is still living in Tokyo working as the VP for Security for Asia for a major western company.

The guy who wrote this story has got to be living in never-never land. Assigned to the crime beat for Yomiuri? You gotta be shitting me. Since when has Gomiuri started hiring FG as investigative reporters? The dud(e) sounds like a former proof reader with illustions of grandoo'er...

Marvin what's your take on this? I know they're a competitor rag, but you need to keep up with their work in the field.

BTW, why don't you get assigned to the prostitution beat and hire me as a paid confidential source...

[omae mona]

You gotta be shitting me. Since when has Gomiuri started hiring FG as investigative reporters? The dud(e) sounds like a former proof reader with illustions of grandoo'er...

No, that part is true, I believe. Actually he's the cousin of a friend of mine in the U.S., so I heard about him back in the late 90s. Never met him, though. I don't read the Yomiuri (at least the paper version) so I've never seen his articles firsthand.

But if his job is imaginary, then he's been perpetuating this same fake story to his relatives for at least 10 years.

[Captain Japan]

That story rambles so much I wasn't sure if it was about him, the yakuza, or the liver transplant. Here's a similar story by him.

[Taro Toporific]

No, that part is true, I believe. Actually he's the cousin of a friend of mine in the U.S., so I heard about him back in the late 90s...

I posted this op-ed piece because I was surprised the story and that any gaijin survived the Yomiuri so long (FG rewriters and reporters there seldom survive as full-time employees for more than 5 years).

Jake Adelstein

Adelstein is former crime reporter for Yomiuri Shinbun (Tokyo), author of TOKYO VICE: An American on The Police Beat in Japan...resume follows....

[Taro Toporific]

[jim katta]

First off, the article's author is definitely not lying about his work experience. The Washington Post (one of the top newspapers on the planet) wouldn't publish the story if he couldn't prove his background. And it's on the Foreign Corresponds Club website, that org is full of many big media figures. The writer isn't lying about his work experience. So let's drop the silly "is this guy for real" stuff. He's real.

About the article...well that is just an amazing tale. This guy probably knows more about Japan than even "he" realizes. The fact that he wishes he had stuck to writing about sakura blossoms is proof that he's seen too much. And that's probably exactly why his bosses put him in that position, so he could do what a Japanese reporter would not.

[Greji]

No, that part is true, I believe. Actually he's the cousin of a friend of mine in the U.S., so I heard about him back in the late 90s. Never met him, though. I don't read the Yomiuri (at least the paper version) so I've never seen his articles firsthand.

But if his job is imaginary, then he's been perpetuating this same fake story to his relatives for at least 10 years.

I wouldn't doubt him being with Yomiuri, but the way the media work, getting on to the police beat is not an easy thing, especially right out of the U. We have a press club afiliated with my organization and I asked a couple of them who also found it hard to believe, in that with an exception of the young golfers (go for this and go for that) that's a pretty closed club for reporters. I suppose he could have been a "token" rep. But at any rate, that's why I asked for Marvin's take on this.

As far as Caton's note about my mate, that's where I first heard the story as well as about the actually individual yak involved. This was for a reason relating to business and not postable, but there are some other questions I would have although they may well be explainable. I note that he claims attendance at Jochi and Sophia at the same time. As I'm sure you know it is the same school, Jochi is Japanese language and Sophia is English language. I don't know if simultaneous attendance is possible. My daughter goes to Jochi and it sounds strange to her unless he was monitoring or just taking an extra class or two, as compared to being a student at both at the same time and graduating from both at the same time. I suppose it could be possible, but it sounds strange.

I'd still like to be a paid snitch for the prostitution stories...

[CrankyBastard]

I have no idea how real his story is, but it probably will help sales of his book.

[Kuang_Grade]

First off, the article's author is definitely not lying about his work experience. The Washington Post (one of the top newspapers on the planet) wouldn't publish the story if he couldn't prove his background.

The Post has been trading on its watergate rep for several decades now but its recent work over the last decade has been increasingly piss poor, esp in the last few years.

To any regular reader of the Post, it is pretty clear that editors are either phoning it most of the time while they wait for a buyout offer or the reporters are constantly doing stories along the lines of 'putting metal forks in electrical plugs is kool' and the editors are just making the best of a shit sandwich.

But back to the piece at hand...This piece is the opinion section of the Sunday paper, so the level of review is likely to only be along the lines of 'make sure the writer doesn't use the C word in it'. The Post has a tendency to drop in one or two color pieces in this section on non common topics when things are slow (stuff along the lines of 'gosh, I miss gummed postal stamps') which is hopefully one of the reasons why this piece got through, given its poor structure...what's it about?...the reporter?...Child porn?.... the mob guy?...US policy failuries?...yeah, like Japanese organized crime is a big priority for US federal agencies...shit, US organized crime has gotten mostly a free pass since 9/11 as the feds focus 85+% of their efforts on the terrorism front.

Christ, even the headline is weak..."this mob is big in japan"..."this mob" has no context value (unlike "the mob" would)...and with no context value, the US idiomatic meaning of "big in Japan" (which is a Spinal Tap joke--- washed up band supported by nutty J folks) become the context focus point...so he undercuts his own supposed personal peril with a headline that will be read by most folks in the US as joke.

A google search of "Jake Adelstein" pulls up 463 hits, although I find it interesting that it starts to list links to a 6 year old playwright in Cleveland with the same name on the third page. Amazon US lists no publication info for his book (although Amazon Canada says its the end of this month)

But a wish list on amazon under the name of Adelstein Joshua/real name identity Jake Adelstein is an interesting list

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=cm_pdp_profile_full_reg?ie=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=22XBNQRWCUGBH

But his linkedin page is pretty interesting (wow, 34 connections...this guy is mad connected).

I spent twelve years as a reporter at the Yomuiri Shinbun, the largest newspaper in Japan with a circulation of ten million a day. I am currently writing a book for Kodansha International about the experience, in English, with a Japanese version to follow.
I wrote all my articles in Japanese and was the first American to be hired as a regular staff writer for a Japanese newspaper.
I spent the last two years covering organized crime, vice, drugs, and credit card fraud as a reporter assigned to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police

This year, my magnum opus, TOKYO VICE: AN AMERICAN ON THE POLICE BEAT IN JAPAN, on being a police reporter in Japan (for the Yomiuri Shinbun) from 1993 to 2006 is scheduled to be published by Kodansha International. It should be followed by a Japanese edition, assuming that I don't get shot in the head after the English edition appears.

And he might at least get the date when left the Yomiuri consistant...was it in 2005 or 2006?

Interestingly, Amazon Japan has a pub date of last year but no info on the book
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/switch-language/product/4770030568/ref=dp_change_lang/249-8113574-6189903?ie=UTF8&language=en%5FJP

[Catoneinutica]

The Washington Post slid into complete irrelevance years ago. It now seems to spend an inordinate amount of ink trying to gild that Dark-Ages mohammadism cult, giving column space to porcine Holocaust-denying, Nazi-worshipping spokesmen for it. Case in point:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/29789_A_Holocaust_Denier_at_the_Washington_Post-Newsweek_Site

catone
-obligatory fatwa-earning PS: mohammad, you mad ham-slammer, you!

[Kuang_Grade]

Actually, they haven't spent any ink as you suggest since that's an online only thing, and given its focus is religion, I'm not surprised that they have controversial folks espousing their views...and nice that blog you site doesn't actually link to any of the stories it is actually complaining about. The Post has no shortage of faults, but somehow being Anti-Semetic or Pro Islamic is certainly not one of them.

[Catoneinutica]

Actually, they haven't spent any ink as you suggest since that's an online only thing, and given its focus is religion, I'm not surprised that they have controversial folks espousing their views...and nice that blog you site doesn't actually link to any of the stories it is actually complaining about. The Post has no shortage of faults, but somehow being Anti-Semetic or Pro Islamic is certainly not one of them.

The link is right there in the referenced blog entry]Hiz-Balla-Balla[/I]?). I haven't read a print copy of the WP in years; if they're not spending ink on Holocaust deniers, then they're spending pixels. Whatever. My point is that the threshold for getting published in the WP, whether in print or on-line or both, seems to be pretty low, which is why the shiat-astic quality of Adelstein's story shouldn't really come as any surprise. I agree that the WP, and the NYT for that matter, peaked in the Vietnam/Watergate era.

[jla]

First off, the article's author is definitely not lying about his work experience. The Washington Post (one of the top newspapers on the planet) wouldn't publish the story if he couldn't prove his background. And it's on the Foreign Corresponds Club website, that org is full of many big media figures. The writer isn't lying about his work experience. So let's drop the silly "is this guy for real" stuff. He's real.

About the article...well that is just an amazing tale. This guy probably knows more about Japan than even "he" realizes. The fact that he wishes he had stuck to writing about sakura blossoms is proof that he's seen too much. And that's probably exactly why his bosses put him in that position, so he could do what a Japanese reporter would not.

Jim,
Thank you very much. As a print journalist for most of my life, I confess to not spending much time on the blogosphere--but wow, people are pretty savage.
Here's an article that mentioned what a weirdo I am in the New York Times. Of course, it's possible that I faked the New York Times website--setting up an elaborate fake web site and this article as well. Anyway, I appreciate you rising to my defense.
The FCCJ article came out about three or four days before the Washington Post article. You can see that Goto is not mentioned by name nor or there are any details of what happened. I wrote that for my fellow journalists and I was semi-serious. Being a foreign reporter here does not turn your skin to Teflon.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E4D9163AF930A1575AC0A9679C8B63

[jla]

No, that part is true, I believe. Actually he's the cousin of a friend of mine in the U.S., so I heard about him back in the late 90s. Never met him, though. I don't read the Yomiuri (at least the paper version) so I've never seen his articles firsthand.

But if his job is imaginary, then he's been perpetuating this same fake story to his relatives for at least 10 years.

Which cousin? Well, I was a regular hire. I took the same test as all the other reporters and well started out on the police beat. I happened to like the job.

[jla]

Gotta call bull shit on this story. It outlines a true story that was to happen (the liver transplant) but it didn't come to pass because the oyabun in question would not cooperate and his name was not Goto. Jim Moynihan, the Legal Attache, who was approached to broker the deal served the government ultimatum, talk or no waiver for crimes past and thus no visa and no liver (has a nice touch, don't you think?). At any rate, the oya-bum would not agree and there was no operation. Moynihan is a mate of mine who has retired and, being married to a local rice cooker, is still living in Tokyo working as the VP for Security for Asia for a major western company.

The guy who wrote this story has got to be living in never-never land. Assigned to the crime beat for Yomiuri? You gotta be shitting me. Since when has Gomiuri started hiring FG as investigative reporters? The dud(e) sounds like a former proof reader with illustions of grandoo'er...

Marvin what's your take on this? I know they're a competitor rag, but you need to keep up with their work in the field.

BTW, why don't you get assigned to the prostitution beat and hire me as a paid confidential source...

Google a little deeper next time.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E4D9163AF930A1575AC0A9679C8B63

[jla]

[jla]

Gotta call bull shit on this story. It outlines a true story that was to happen (the liver transplant) but it didn't come to pass because the oyabun in question would not cooperate and his name was not Goto. Jim Moynihan, the Legal Attache, who was approached to broker the deal served the government ultimatum, talk or no waiver for crimes past and thus no visa and no liver (has a nice touch, don't you think?). At any rate, the oya-bum would not agree and there was no operation. Moynihan is a mate of mine who has retired and, being married to a local rice cooker, is still living in Tokyo working as the VP for Security for Asia for a major western company.

The guy who wrote this story has got to be living in never-never land. Assigned to the crime beat for Yomiuri? You gotta be shitting me. Since when has Gomiuri started hiring FG as investigative reporters? The dud(e) sounds like a former proof reader with illustions of grandoo'er...

Marvin what's your take on this? I know they're a competitor rag, but you need to keep up with their work in the field.

BTW, why don't you get assigned to the prostitution beat and hire me as a paid confidential source...

Yes, it was certainly hard fooling the New York Times as well. My entire life in Japan is fictional. I can't even speak a word of Japanese and have never been to Tokyo.
Before writing, google a little bit more. Just a suggestion.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E4D9163AF930A1575AC0A9679C8B63

[jla]

First off, the article's author is definitely not lying about his work experience. The Washington Post (one of the top newspapers on the planet) wouldn't publish the story if he couldn't prove his background. And it's on the Foreign Corresponds Club website, that org is full of many big media figures. The writer isn't lying about his work experience. So let's drop the silly "is this guy for real" stuff. He's real.

About the article...well that is just an amazing tale. This guy probably knows more about Japan than even "he" realizes. The fact that he wishes he had stuck to writing about sakura blossoms is proof that he's seen too much. And that's probably exactly why his bosses put him in that position, so he could do what a Japanese reporter would not.

I'm so behind the times that it takes me forever to try and post on these things.
Jim, thanks again for rising to my defense.
This is from the New York Times, which should establish the fact that yes, there really was an insane foreigner working for the Yomiuri Shinbun as a regular reporter. Of course, I'm sure that someone will decide that I've faked the New York Times web site and this article. Who knows?
Maybe I've never even been in Japan and speak no Japanese at all, let alone write in the language.
Well, you're right, the sarcastic advice about writing about sakura etc, does reflect some burn out. But I was only half-kidding. Being a journalist in Japan doesn't mean you have kevlar skin. Ask Mizoguchi Atsushi. or his son.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E4D9163AF930A1575AC0A9679C8B63

[Captain Japan]

I'm so behind the times that it takes me forever to try and post on these things.

Cool! One question: Why didn't the Yomiuri ever run your stories in the English edition?

[jla]

Cool! One question: Why didn't the Yomiuri ever run your stories in the English edition?

Here's one. Generally, speaking reporters at Japanese newspapers don't get bylines, unless it's kind of a feature story. I am kind of proud of the reporting I did on the human trafficking problem. The ILO wrote a scathing report about Japan's human trafficking problem and then was asked not to release it by the Japanese government. Getting ahold of a copy and writing about it on the front page of the paper was one of the few things I did as a reporter that I felt had some kind of impact. Actually 99% of the work you do as a reporter doesn't mean much. It's that 1% that makes it worth all the hassle.


http://www.vitalvoices.org/desktopdefault.aspx?page_id=148
Trafficking Blots Nation's Repute

Jake Adelstein Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
November 23, 2004

The recently completed International Labor Organization report on the plight of foreigners victimized in the Japanese sex industry was a scathing indictment of the government's antitrafficking efforts, pointing out that Japan is hard on victims and easy on perpetrators and brokers.

Titled "Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation in Japan," the report states bluntly, "Victims should receive proper protection and rehabilitation--in practice they are often arrested, detained and deported--(they) frequently bear all the costs of the deception they have undergone, while the traffickers retain their profits and are rarely prosecuted."

The ILO is not the only organization critical of Japan's measures. Earlier this year the U.S. State Department, in its annual report on "Trafficking in Persons 2004," considered ranking Japan among the worst offending countries, along with North Korea.

As Japan tries to gain a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, this report from a U.N. body can be taken as both an admonition and a warning.

Human trafficking can be defined in several ways. It is thought to encompass the trade in African slaves once conducted in the United States, and it covers the selling of children by their parents for financial gain.

According to the Palermo Protocol, trafficking in persons includes cases where victims are threatened, deceived or coerced into working as prostitutes or unpaid workers. The term "modern-day slavery" also is used.

The ILO report focuses on the plight of foreign women who came to Japan, regardless of their original intentions, and were forced to work in the sex trade. These women are identified as human trafficking victims, and the report devotes much space to case studies of them. It said, "The Japanese government's efforts to tackle the problem of trafficking have not been sufficient."

The State Department released its report on human trafficking in June. It ranked nations in four categories. Japan was severely criticized in the report and placed on the watch list, the second-to-worst category.

John Miller, ambassador of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, spoke with The Yomiuri Shimbun earlier this month and revealed that earlier in the year, Japan was being considered for the worst rank possible, together with such countries as North Korea.

"When I visited Japan in February of this year, I indicated that there was a possibility that Japan might be ranked in the lowest tier. I came in February and I was very blunt and I said that the gap between the size of the problem and the amount of resources being devoted to the problem was huge. There was a very quick response," Miller said.

The government pledged to strengthen a crackdown on traffickers, revise the Penal Code and examine the misuse of entertainment visas, among other things. In response to the government's newfound enthusiasm and promises to deal with the problem, Japan was put on the watch list, and not on the bottom tier.

"In the last year Japan has done a lot preparing the foundations for punishing the traffickers," Miller said.

"Unfortunately, there's been very little done to protect the victims or set up a system to do so. That's an essential part of fighting this despicable crime. The three P's of fighting trafficking are prevention, prosecution and protection. There's got to be protection, too."

The ILO report asserts the protection and rescue of victims are important challenges for Japan.

Even police officers on the streets support that viewpoint. A Metropolitan Police Department detective lamented: "The protection of trafficking victims isn't enshrined in Japanese law. It's one reason they fear for themselves, their families, and their friends, and they won't talk to us. Even if they do, they're usually forcibly deported and can't be witnesses for a trial, if an arrest has been made in the first place."

In reality, the majority of cases successfully investigated by the police begin with tip-offs from the embassies of the victims. Most women do not escape to the police, they escape to the Tokyo embassies of their homeland.

According to the ILO report, the Immigration Bureau did a study of 3,157 deportees in February. Based on those hearings, 53 people were found to be victims as defined in the Palermo Protocol. That same month, the number of victims given provisional permission to remain in Japan numbered only 10.

The report touched on the illegal profits made by organized crime groups involved in the trade, pointing out that "the development of antitrafficking legislation would include appropriately severe penalties that might include lengthy jail terms, fines and the confiscation of traffickers' assets, for example, the profits of crime, as outlined in the Palermo Protocol."

Yoko Yoshida, a lawyer and representative of the nongovernmental group Japan Network Against Trafficking in Persons, also believes that stripping the criminals of their profits is important in preventing this crime.

"The Anti-Organized Crime Law wasn't meant to deal with human trafficking. Therefore, it's hard to use that law to seize profits from the traders and the employers," Yoshida said. "If they're going to make a new law, there should be a provision to allow the ill-gotten gains of those involved to be seized by the government. But perhaps the most important things are rescuing and protecting the victims, and setting up a witness protection system."

Many Japanese take a harsh view of the victims of trafficking. "They get in trouble because they came here trying to make money" is a refrain often heard.

The ILO noted: "An enormous number of individual government officials from various agencies may come into contact with perpetrators and/or victims of human trafficking. At times it may be possible to underestimate the criminal nature of the actions of traffickers and employers, and to misconceive a victim of trafficking simply as an illegal migrant. It is vital that all officials are fully equipped with the training and resources necessary to deal appropriately with this complex matter."

In short, the ILO points out that there needs to be revolution in the way the government and Japanese people look at this problem. The world is paying attention to just how Japan realizes that "revolution."

[gkanai]

jla, welcome to FG and thank you for sharing your incredible story with the WaPo. Do you plan to continue to live/work in Japan?

[CrankyBastard]

I have no idea how real his story is, but it probably will help sales of his book.

jla, I apologize for the above remark, and wish you and your book do well.

[Catoneinutica]

Jim,
Thank you very much. As a print journalist for most of my life, I confess to not spending much time on the blogosphere--but wow, people are pretty savage.

Heh - it's a jungle out there. Hey, bienvenue!

One of the alleged advantages of Corporate Media over internettin' fools like us is editorial oversight. Alas, it wasn't much in evidence in your piece, and that's a damn shame, because it robbed your story of a great deal of credibility and impact - this when more reporting about the yakuza is desperately needed. I really don't think Japan stands any chance of maturing into something approximating a true civil society until the taboo on discussing organized crime here is decisively broken.

Takechan takes a lot of heat, but he seems to be pretty well-informed about the Mob, and willing to discuss it; I'm intrigued by his reference above to a Soka Gakkai connection.

-catone

-not denying that your piece had a great hook, though
-you can never go wrong with liver (or fava beans)

[Marvin Feltcher]

Though it seems the matter has already been cleared, I'll vouch for Jake 100%.
He was my inspiration for joining the media in the first place. I worked briefly for the Yomiuri and aspired, like Jake, to cover stories for the Japanese media (My ignominous stay at the Yom ended when I was effectively sacked after a few weeks of inept checking of the Engrish on the Daily Yomiuri).
Jake is widely esteemed within the Japanese media and others have confirmed his story's veracity for me.
He's a top-class journalist. And, on the one occasion I managed to talk to him briefly, seemed to be a fine person as well.

[nottu]

[Marvin Feltcher]

He's earned his book pitch - I mean that sincerely.

He sure has...he's definitely done the hard yards. And gone where no-one has ever gone before (to my knowlegde at least).

[Greji]

Yes, it was certainly hard fooling the New York Times as well. My entire life in Japan is fictional. I can't even speak a word of Japanese and have never been to Tokyo.
Before writing, google a little bit more. Just a suggestion.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E4D9163AF930A1575AC0A9679C8B63

I'm not saying your life is fictional and if Marvin vouches for you that's not only okay, but that's heavy with me.

I am still in doubt about the information you received identifying Goto. I have no way to verify that and probably your are at the mercy of your source/sources also.

I do know of a story that involved Jim Moynihan and the need for a liver transplant. Goto was not the oyabun in question. My agency at that time was also approached to facilitate this operation in the US and I was advised on its status of Jim's ops interest. BTW, you may possibly know Jim is retired and working back in Japan. I will be seeing him in a few days and see what I can post back on this, if it is of interest.

It is not beyond the world that elvolves around the Yaks and J-society to have mis-information delt out.

Could there have been the need for two such transplant operations? Your guess is as good as mine.