Manabu Miyazaki
Encyclopedia
- Manabu Miyazaki is also the name of a Japanese wildlife photographer. For that entry, see Manabu Miyazaki (photographer)Manabu Miyazaki (photographer)Manabu Miyazaki , born in Nagano Prefecture in 1949, is a Japanese wildlife photographer.His work Fukurō / Ural Owl won the Domon Ken Award in 1990. In 1996 two of his books won the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for a work of photography.-External links:...
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is a Japanese writer, social critic and public figure known for his underworld ties.
While not a member of any particular yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
syndicate, Miyazaki describes himself as a "freelance yakuza" and has the credentials to prove it. He was born in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
; his father was a yakuza boss in Kyoto, and his mother came from an Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
yakuza family. In September 1986, he was almost killed in a yakuza shootout at a Kyoto restaurant.
As a teenager and college student, Miyazaki became involved in the left-wing politics of the Japanese Communist Party
Japanese Communist Party
The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
but dropped out in 1969 to pursue an underworld life, including running his family's yakuza-connected demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
business.
In 1985, Miyazaki was named by the Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
police as the prime suspect in the Glico Morinaga case
Glico Morinaga case
The , also known by its official designation , was a famous extortion case in 1980s Japan, primarily directed at the Japanese industrial confectioneries Ezaki Glico and Morinaga, and currently remains unsolved...
, a 17-month saga of kidnapping and corporate extortion. He was later cleared.
Miyazaki is the author of several best-selling books in Japan, where he is considered a "celebrity criminal". His autobiography Toppamono sold 600,000 copies and has since been translated into English.
Translated work
- Manabu Miyazaki; Toppamono: Outlaw. Radical. Suspect. My Life in Japan's Underworld (2005, Kotan Publishing, ISBN 0-9701716-2-5)