Mark Schilling is an ace movie commenter specialising in Japanese film. He's had a column in The Japanese Times for years. This book is exactly as captioned, A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films. The yakuza film (A yakuza is a Japanese gangster, somewhat similar to a mafioso) is a significant sub-genre is Japanese film and this book reviews 123 films, has pictures and actor/producer interviews and profiles. Some have complained that it is authoritative on what it includes but misses some significant items, overall it is very positively regarded.