Two books out of Japan

A couple of weeks ago, in China, two recently translated, Japanese to English, books hit the stores. Both these books received much press coverage, for various reasons.

Princess Masako, Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne:
yakuza moon, memoirs of a gangster's daughter:

I just finished "yakuza moon", interesting story, but sadly did not resonate the level of shock claimed by the Japanese/Asian press. I must be be a product of overexposure.
About half way through, "Princess Masako" by Australian investigative journalist, Ben Hills. Thus far I'm sadly disappointed, actually boring, and "stuffed" with a lot of filler.
A journalist, maybe, a story teller he is NOT.