Tokyo Vice: Creator J.T. Rogers & Producer Alan Poul on Making a Crime Series in Japan

I know you keep hearing about new series that you need to watch. I constantly hear about new shows from friends and colleagues almost every day. And while I know you are being bombarded all the time…you need to add Tokyo Vice to your list asap. Written by Tony Award-winning playwright J.T. Rogers and inspired by the 2009 memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein, the series stars Ansel Elgort as a young American journalist (based by Adelstein) who moves to Japan to work for a major newspaper in Tokyo in the late 90s. While trying to figure out how everything works before losing his job, he becomes friendly with a detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (Ken Watanabe), who refuses to be bought in a city where many are corrupted by money. Filmed entirely on location in Tokyo, the crime drama series will keep you guessing. Tokyo Vice also stars Rinko Kikuchi, Rachel Keller, Ella Rumpf, Hideaki Ito, Sho Kasamatsu, and music star Tomohisa Yamashita. In addition, Michael Mann directed the pilot episode, and it’s his work is fantastic.