Drawing on more than five years of reporting in Japan and more than one hundred interviews with leading Japanese political figures, the author details the power and corruption of politics in 20th century Japan.

Kakuei Tanaka, 1918-1976 -- The "shadow shogun of Mejiro," 1976-1985 -- The "bubble politics" of Shin Kanemaru, Noboru Takeshita, and Ichiro Ozawa, 1985-1992 -- The machine collapses, 1992-1996.