Tokyo Vice is an American crime drama television series created by J.T. Rogers and based on the 2009 book of the same title by Jake Adelstein. It premiered on April 7, 2022, on HBO Max. It stars Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe in lead roles. In June 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.
Premise
In 1999, American journalist Jake Adelstein has relocated to Tokyo and must pass a written exam in Japanese to have the chance to join the staff of a major Japanese newspaper. He succeeds in becoming their first foreign-born journalist and starts at the very bottom. Taken under the wing of a veteran detective in the vice squad, he starts to explore the dark and dangerous world of the Japanese yakuza whilst living under the city's official line that "murder does not happen in Tokyo".
Cast and characters
Main
Ansel Elgort as Jake Adelstein, an American journalist from Missouri who moves to Tokyo. The longer he stays, the more he delves into the corruption of Tokyo's seedy underworld, where no one is as they seem. Ken Watanabe as Hiroto Katagiri, a detective in the organized crime division. He is a father figure to Adelstein who helps guide him through the thin and often precarious line between the law and organized crime. Rachel Keller as Samantha Porter, an American expatriate living in Tokyo and former Mormon who makes her living as a hostess in the Onyx Club of the Kabukicho district. Her clients vary from salarymen to high-end clients and yakuza. Hideaki Itō as Jin Miyamoto, a vice squad detective who is Jake's first contact in the police department but who is secretly working with the yakuza Show Kasamatsu as Sato, an enforcer in the Chihara-kai yakuza clan who collects protection money and is Samantha's handler at the Onyx Club. He secretly has a crush on her and is disillusioned by the yakuza lifestyle which he sees as anachronistic. Rinko Kikuchi as Emi Maruyama, Adelstein's supervisor, a composite of the various colleagues and supervisors who worked with the real life Adelstein during his career Ella Rumpf as Polina, an Eastern European migrant, and a struggling new hostess at the Onyx Club with Samantha. A kind-hearted but naive woman, she came to Tokyo to work as a model but was pulled into the seedy underbelly of Kabukicho. Tomohisa Yamashita as Akira, Polina's boyfriend who works at a Host Club
Supporting
Kōsuke Toyohara as Baku, Jake's by-the-books, racist nationalist boss
Takaki Uda as "Trendy" Kurihira, Jake's handsome friend and coworker
Kosuke Tanaka as "Tintin" Shinohara, Jake's witty friend and coworker
Masato Hagiwara as Duke, the owner of the Onyx hostess club
Shun Sugata as Hitoshi Ishida, the leader of the Chihara-kai yakuza clan which includes Sato Eugene Nomura as Kobayashi, Ishida's right-hand man Koshi Uehara as Taro, a member of Ishida's organization Masayoshi Haneda as Yoshihiro Kume, Sato's direct superior within the organization who is later revealed to be a Tozawa mole Noémie Nakai as Luna, the most prestigious hostess at the Onyx club Ayumi Tanida as Shinzo Tozawa, leader of a rival yakuza organization who is trying to establish himself in Tokyo even though he has an unnamed incurable health condition Kazuya Tanabe as Yabuki, a senior member of Tozawa's organization Jundai Yamada as Matsuo, a cultured man who becomes one of Samantha's clients and then reveals that he was hired to track her down Yuka Itaya as Mrs. Katagiri, Hiroto's wife Sarah Sawyer as Jessica Adelstein, Jake's sister who sends him audio letters on tapes and has been in mental health treatment Jessica Hecht as Willa Adelstein, Jake's mother Fumiya Kimura as Koji, Sato's first recruit within Ishida's organization Nanami Kawakami as Yuka, a young woman Jake hooks up with while hanging out with Sato, later revealed to be a prostitute Ayumi Ito as Misaki, Tozawa's mistress Hiroshi Sogabe as Sugita, head of the Suzuno insurance company, which manipulates people into debt with Tozawa's organization Motoki Kobayashi as Ukai Haruki, a writer and meth user and publishes articles about Tozawa, with his approval