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What is Yakuza?

Well Yakuza is a Japanese organized crime group. They are very famous in Japan movies, and manga's and possibly in anime as well. To be very honest, I head of the name not that long ago, due to watching a YouTube video and wanted to do some research on them so here I am now!

By Ms. ThomasPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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What is Yakuza?
Photo by Osman Yunus Bekcan on Unsplash

The name Yakuza comes from a losing hand in a traditional Japanese card game. Ya ku sa — eight, nine, three. The group began in the Tokugawa period, also known as the Edo period, with the seemingly odd combination of gamblers and itinerant peddlers joining forces (Hill, 2004). The Yakuza have always kept to their roots as you will see by the end of this article.

During the formation of the Yakuza, the Tokugawa authorities used the group to help them control the populace and gather intelligence about the lords of each area. The fledging Yakuza also acted as labor brokers for government construction projects and even as festival organizers. They keep these same roles today (Hill, 2004; Adelstein, 2010).

Throughout their history, the Yakuza only hid underground during brief periods of persecution. They’ve long enjoyed if not government sanction, government tolerance. During the 1930s, they organization faced crackdowns until the near-total collapse of the economy during World War II provided them with black market opportunities. As the economy improved in the post-war years, the Yakuza shifted toward bars, clubs, restaurants, and sexual service businesses in addition to their old roles as labor brokers and construction firms (Hill, 2004).

The yakuza often feuded with their different branches vying for dominance. The violence rarely spilled to civilians and public officials, but during the 1960s and the 1980s, the conflicts required the Japanese government to intercede when the public felt threatened. Public perception of the Yakuza shifted between viewing them as rough diamonds with their own honor code to thugs, depending on the violence level of the gangs and their mix of legal and illegal actions.

During the 1960s, the government grew tired of the gang warfare and cracked down. The effort led to the disbanding of many high-end gangs and forced the Yakuza to move away from gambling and other crimes. They turned toward corporate blackmail, protection rackets, political intelligence, real estate, and stock trading. They got into debt collection and other services that had consumer demand.

The Yakuza would sometimes protect debtors from creditors during economic downturns. When both parties had Yakuza behind them, violent conflict sometimes broke out. But most of the time, the gangs would work out a settlement between the parties.

In the mid 1980s, the Yamaguchi-gumi split following a leader succession dispute. A 5-year conflict erupted that resulted in 25 deaths and 70 injuries—4 civilians were hurt—and over 500 arrests. When compared to US gang wars, this would be considered benign, by Japanese standards this was a major event (Hill, 2004). For perspective, in 1974 there were 70 gang-related homicides in Los Angeles alone. The 4 civilian deaths are unusual during the yakuza war. They typically don’t attack non-members (Adelstein, 2010).

As criminal gangs go, yakuza are genteel, especially compared to the Italian mafia. The Yakuza typically don’t get involved in theft, armed robbery, or other street crimes. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, they owned office buildings, their own business cards, and even fan magazines. An estimated 40% of all small business loans went to companies created by the yakuza (Adelstein, 2010). The organizations work as stock brokers and even as real estate agencies.

The Japanese government recognizes and regulates 22 Yakuza organizations. Some government officials have called on the yakuza to clean up scandals and take care of debt issues (Adelstein, 2010). They are thought of as fraternal organizations, and their leaders often appear as public figures. For example, each New Year’s day, the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Kiyoshi Takayama, gave envelopes filled with cash to the children of Kobe.

The Yakuza Hierarchy-

Think of Yakuza structure as a 3-tier pyramid,. Within each tier, recruits pledge allegiance to the oyabun, a father figure, and the oyabun reports to the oyabun in the tier above him. They command absolute loyalty.

The topmost tier receive membership dues from all lower tiers, and the headquarters uses the money to fund operations like stock market ventures or loan-shark shops. They headquarters can operate like a private equity group, putting money toward large-scale fraud.

An estimated 86,000 Yakuza members exist in Japan. While crime groups in the US have seen memberships decline, the yakuza grow (Adelstein, 2010).

Yakuza keep their tradition of getting tattoos. Tattoos in Japanese society associate with delinquency and crime. Many hotels and pools and spas bar tattooed people from visiting because of this association.

Political Influence

Since their founding in the Tokugawa period, the yakuza have influenced politics. Calling themselves Ninkyo Dantai, chivalrous organizations, they can shift political party power. In fact, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan couldn’t exist without the financial and political support of Yoshio Kodama, a right-wing activist and industrialist group with yakuza connections. In return, the yakuza enjoyed an agreement that no serious crackdowns on them would take place. The yakuza would remain legal for all purposes. As another example: in 2007, the 40,000 member Yamaguchi-gumi threw in their support of the Democratic Party of Japan in exchange for keeping a criminal conspiracy law from enacting for a few more years (Adelstein, 2010).

Finger Cutting

We can’t discuss the yakuza without discussing finger cutting. Yubitsume, or finger shortening, is self mutilation to atone for a mistake. It involves slicing off the little finger at the joint.

The act weakens grip on knives and swords and firearms, putting the member at a disadvantage in future fights. The offending kobun, soldier, would become more dependent on his boss for protection.

The act isn’t usually imposed. Rather, the offender decides for himself as a demonstration of repentance in the hopes of avoiding a more serious punishment. The boss may decide the Yubitsume isn’t enough. The offender may then be forced to commit seppuku or be expelled if the offense is serious enough.

Amputated fingers to avoid punishment are called shuniyubi¸or dead finger. When the finger is amputated to resolve a conflict it is called ikiyubi or loving finger. This finger is a symbol of sincere loyalty. The man isn’t necessarily an offender.

The desire of Yakuza to be less conspicuous has led to the decline of this practice. Financial penalties and expulsion are favored now (Bosmia, 2014).

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About the Creator

Ms. Thomas

Always wanted to be a writer since I was 10 years old and now that I am 22 now, I can able to write still and make my dream come true.

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