wingedwalls's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Some chapters better than others - overall an interesting book.
highaction's review against another edition
2.0
it was entertaining enough but at the end of it all there wasn't much to take from it. Some people have difficult decisions.... in Japanese culture and in every culture. Maybe Japan itself isn't as interesting as we like to think it is or maybe the characters didn't seem that alive to me but it still held my attention for 20 minutes at a time... like the Reader's Digest might. drugs.. sex... corruption... expectations of family and society... The usual. I love Japan.
raoionna's review against another edition
5.0
This inside look at the seedy underworld of Tokyo is so compelling you can read it in one sitting (though you might want to grab a drink afterward.)
julcoh's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating exploration of Japan’s youth subcultures in the late 80s-90s. Structurally it is a collection of vignettes, each diving into a particular area— Yakuza money drinkers, bosozoku motorcycle gangs, teenage bike thieves and the Japanese youth prison system, the porn and hostess industries, far-right nationalist groups, and a final chapter touching on the nascent Otaku culture at the dawn of the internet age.
I find myself wanting a 25 year update exploring how these subcultures changes as the computer age blossomed, and of course with the past 15 years of smartphones and social media.
I find myself wanting a 25 year update exploring how these subcultures changes as the computer age blossomed, and of course with the past 15 years of smartphones and social media.
bachtalking's review against another edition
4.0
A fierce and fun read about Japan's underground culture. From the troubled teens to the culturally insensitive, the book flies from case study to case study, documenting the varied issues in the next generation of Japanese. Bold and unrelenting, Speed Tribes is a great anthropological look into the uncertain future of one of the world's most diverse cultures.
dokudanjou's review
2.0
On the one hand, it was interesting and kept me reading. On the other, the sensationalism and the numerous little "wrong" bits, whether due to editing or author error or both, made me read this entire thing while at the same time giving it a massive side-eye. It should definitely be read with a boulder-sized grain of salt, and an awareness of the intended audience.
I definitely would not recommend it to anyone who doesn't know anything about Japan, but I fear that IS the intended audience.
I definitely would not recommend it to anyone who doesn't know anything about Japan, but I fear that IS the intended audience.
julcoh's review
4.0
Fascinating exploration of Japan’s youth subcultures in the late 80s-90s. Structurally it is a collection of vignettes, each diving into a particular area— Yakuza money drinkers, bosozoku motorcycle gangs, teenage bike thieves and the Japanese youth prison system, the porn and hostess industries, far-right nationalist groups, and a final chapter touching on the nascent Otaku culture at the dawn of the internet age.
I find myself wanting a 25 year update exploring how these subcultures changes as the computer age blossomed, and of course with the past 15 years of smartphones and social media.
I find myself wanting a 25 year update exploring how these subcultures changes as the computer age blossomed, and of course with the past 15 years of smartphones and social media.
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