An American reporter spends 12 years covering the police beat and inevitably dealing with the Yakuza in 1990s Tokyo. That’s the premise of HBO Go’s latest series—and it’s based on a true story.

Ansel Elgort stars as journalist Jake Adelstein, alongside Ken Watanabe as police officer Hiroto Katagiri. In this special interview with series creator JT Rogers, they talk about the challenges and highlights of shooting a bilingual series in Japan, where “Tokyo Vice,” Adelstein’s book, has yet to be picked up by any publisher.