“There is no more bond. It’s not you that’s breaking it. They broke it.”

May 13, 2023 1:52 PM

The Last Gamble of Tokyo Joe by Dan O’Sullivan is the story of Ken Eto, who grew up the son of a fanatical Christian convert in California, was sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II, and after getting involved in illegal gambling, rose through the ranks of the Chicago mob. And then his story really started.
posted by Kattullus (14 comments total)

SIX HOLES IN HIS HEAD AND HE SURVIVED THAT?!? That is even more miraculous/implausible than Trevor Noah's mom.

"not only had he suffered no brain damage, but none of the bullets had even cracked his skull. "
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:07 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

This was a great read and amazing story, thanks for posting.
posted by mollweide at 3:31 PM on May 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

Wow, quite a story!
posted by larrybob at 3:32 PM on May 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

huh, it was only three bullets.
posted by clavdivs at 4:09 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

“I know what you’re thinking. Did he take six shots to the head, or three? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself.”
posted by mbrubeck at 4:33 PM on May 13, 2023 [4 favorites]

"Now, for something like this, you’re gonna need two guns: one you’re gonna use, and a backup. You want something with more stopping power than a .22. You definitely don’t want a silencer; you wanna make a lot of noise to make the witnesses run away so they ain’t gonna be lookin’ at you. But not the noise a .45 makes, ’cause that makes too much noise, and a patrol car can hear it a few blocks away, at least."
posted by clavdivs at 5:04 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

My father kept the .45 automatic he had in World War II. Those bullets looked like artillery shells.
posted by y2karl at 5:51 PM on May 13, 2023

This is so great.
posted by tftio at 6:39 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Amusingly, back when I worked in the Chicago library as a kid, a fellow worker lectured me about choosing a .22 pistol and specifically how to use it to kill someone.

…aside from muffling the noise by pressing it into the torso, a .22 is cheap enough that you can toss it down the nearest drain without a second thought.

His other option was to carry a gun fancy enough that the cop that finds it will want to keep it for themselves.
posted by aramaic at 6:55 PM on May 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was an undergrad at Northwestern when this happened, and remember the news coverage of it, as well as the hit on Allan Dorfman at the Lincolnwood Hyatt hotel (the one that was painted purple and white) that same year. It was a real turning point for the Chicago Mob.
posted by briank at 7:17 PM on May 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

About once a month or so, he would call up Solano at the union hall, saying it was “the pizza man,” and they’d meet at a nearby IHOP on the Northwest Side for Eto to update him on gambling operations.

I wonder if that was the IHOP on Lincoln? That's where I had my first cup of coffee, not long before the events of this story take place.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:23 PM on May 13, 2023

I blame Momo. My uncle grew up on the south side during the thirties. Same street as Louis Capone. Kids would go around digging bullets from trees and telephone polls. My uncle was shot down over Germany 6 months after Louis went to the electric chair. 6 months before that, he took Jake Gusiks daughter to prom.

his nickname in STALAG was Luftgangster.
posted by clavdivs at 7:42 PM on May 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

FBI agent Elaine Smith also wrote a book about her work with Ken Eto and the Chicago mafia.

A Gun in my Gucci
posted by freakazoid at 8:14 AM on May 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

Having finished the article, I’m half surprised there isn’t already a big-budget Scorsese movie based on this. Looks like there was a documentary produced in Japan. I’ll have to track down Smith’s book!
posted by mbrubeck at 8:23 PM on May 16, 2023 [1 favorite]