John Rain 08: Graveyard of Memories (40 page)

http://www.bodyandsoul.co.jp

Also, as far as I know, the exterior of Kabaya Coffee in Yanaka is unchanged from at least 1938, when the shop opened in the tiny building it still occupies. The interior, however, has been updated. Accordingly, Rain’s description of the inside of the shop is a product only of my imagination. But I recommend the shop, the kind of
kissaten
—old-style coffeehouse—found only in Japan, and also recommend the entire Yanesen (Yanaka, Nezu, Sendagi) area where you’ll find it:

http://www.toothpicnations.co.uk/my-blog/?p=6778

And here’s some more information on the places that appear in the book…

Kamiya in Asakusa, where Rain meets with his case officer Sean McGraw after getting jumped in Ueno, is Tokyo’s oldest western-style bar. Big, boisterous, and unpretentious, with communal tables. If you’re a foreigner, you might be a bit of a novelty. Try the
denki buran
—electric brandy—or stick with the draft beer:

http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/drink/kamiya-bar-849180

http://www.kamiya-bar.com

A nice photo tour of contemporary Uguisudani, where Rain first meets Sayaka at one of the area’s numerous love hotels:

http://pingmag.jp/2013/03/25/welcome-to-uguisudani/

Taihō Chuuka Ryōri (Chinese Cuisine), the second place Rain meets McGraw:

http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1316/A131602/13001670/

Lion Coffee in Shibuya, where Rain retrieves a critical file:

http://blog.uchujin.co.uk/2010/09/lion-cafe-–-tokyo’s-worst-“best-kept”-secret/

http://www.tokyofoodlife.com/?p=1829

A wonderful photo tour of the Arakawa line, Tokyo’s last surviving public tram:

http://ldersot.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=25699252&AlbumKey=mLnMtm

And another:

http://lifetoreset.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/aboard-toden-arakawa-one-of-tokyos-remaining-street-car/

An article on some of Tokyo’s best
sentō
. This is where I learned of Daikoku-yu, site of the electrocution hit (and a great place to visit for an afternoon soak):

http://travel.cnn.com/tokyo/visit/sento-spectacular-tokyos-amazing-public-baths-199776

A nice article about a walk through Kita-Senju, home of Daikoku-yu
sentō
:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/01/09/environment/the-narrow-roads-of-senju/#.UdAtQhaHoUw

Café de l’Ambre, a classic Tokyo
kissaten
, and a good place for a dead drop, too:

http://www.tokyofoodlife.com/?p=323

Kabaya Coffee—another classic McGraw favors for dead-drop communications:

http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/venue/8951/Kabaya-Coffee

A very cool photo blog of the Nakagin Capsule Tower:

http://www.ignant.de/2013/09/05/1972-by-noritaka-minami/

And a report from two western architects who managed to secure and live in one of the apartments there:

http://www.domusweb.it/content/domusweb/en/architecture/2013/05/29/the_metabolist_routine.html

Here are some amazing photos of student demonstrations in Tokyo, 1968–1971:

http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=2TYRYDMD2HVR

For inspiration about the vibe of Tokyo’s 1972 jazz scene, I loved this photograph of a young Terumasa Hino, along with a few other legends of jazz—Shinjuku Dug, 1968:

http://openers.jp/culture/tips_event/artdish0617.html

And Hino’s “Alone, Alone and Alone,” the piece he and his quartet perform at Taro in the book, was wonderful to write to. Gorgeous, haunting music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn-LQpFhGIY

Politics

More on the CIA’s long-standing financial role in Japanese politics:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/09/world/cia-spent-millions-to-support-japanese-right-in-50-s-and-60-s.html

The CIA underwriting foreign politicians is nothing new. Here’s a recent revelation, this one from Afghanistan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/world/asia/cia-delivers-cash-to-afghan-leaders-office.html

A brief history of the Lockheed bribery scandal in Japan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_bribery_scandals#Japan

A brief history of the Church Committee. Senator Church said in 1975, “I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that [the National Security Agency] and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee

Today, for any overseas behavior the U.S. government might want import to America, it has only to cite Senator Lindsey Graham, scholar, savior of the Constitution, and inventor of the profoundly Jeffersonian slogan “The homeland is the battlefield”:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/04/19/sen-lindsey-graham-boston-bombing-is-exhibit-a-of-why-the-homeland-is-the-battlefield/

About the Author

PHOTOGRAPH BY NAOMI BOOKER, 2007

B
arry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, then worked as a technology lawyer and start-up executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center along the way. Eisler’s bestselling thrillers have won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, have been included in numerous “Best Of” lists, have been translated into nearly twenty languages, and include the #1 bestseller
The Detachment
. Eisler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and, when he’s not writing novels, blogs about torture, civil liberties, and the rule of law.
http://www.barryeisler.com