Sokaiya– Extortion, Protection & the Japanese Corporation

Evening Lecture

Read the Event Summary.

Speaker
Ken Szymkowiak, Associate Professor, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii

Presider
John Wheeler, Vice President, Japan Society

The sokaiya extortionists who plague Japanese corporations have a curious relationship with the executives they prey upon, and have made themselves indispensable to those whose scandals and secrets they threaten to expose. Dr. Szymkowiak’s book documents the history of sokaiya since the enactment of the Japanese commercial code and examines its role through interviews with police, lawyers and executives as well as sokaiya and yakuza gangsters. Followed by a reception and booksigning.

Ken Szymkowiak is a journalist and scholar based in Hawaii. He received his doctorate in sociology at the University of Hawaii, and did his research on sokaiya under a Fulbright Fellowship.

Tickets: $10, Japan Society members and seniors $8, students $5.