Manabu Miyazaki


 * Manabu Miyazaki is also the name of a Japanese wildlife photographer. For that entry, see Manabu Miyazaki (photographer).

Manabu Miyazaki (宮崎 学 Miyazaki Manabu) is a Japanese writer, social critic and public figure known for his underworld ties.

While not a member of any particular yakuza syndicate, Miyazaki describes himself as a "freelance yakuza" and has the credentials to prove it. He was born in Kyoto, Japan; his father was a yakuza boss in Kyoto, and his mother came from an Osaka 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 but dropped out in 1969 to pursue an underworld life, including running his family's yakuza-connected demolition business.

In 1985, Miyazaki was named by the Tokyo police as the prime suspect in the Glico Morinaga case, 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)