Everything about Yakuza totally explained
, also known as
gokudō (極道), are members of traditional
organized crime groups in
Japan, and also known as the "violence group". Today, the Yakuza are one of the largest crime organizations in the world. In Japan, there are some 84,712 known members of Yakuza. In Japanese legal terminology, yakuza organizations are referred to as
bōryokudan, literally "violence groups", which Yakuza members consider an insult as it can be applied to any violent criminal.
History
Origins
Despite their notoriety in modern Japan, the precise origin of the Yakuza is still somewhat the subject of debate. The first historical interpretation of their derivation is from the
hatamoto-yakko or
Kabuki-mono of the
17th century Genroku Era, who were derivative classes of the low-rank
hatamoto, which resembled a quarter of the
shogun.
Other theories, suggested by the Yakuza members themselves claim their origins are from the
machi-yokko, who
policed villages by protecting them from the hatamoto-yakko that tried to steal from them, despite their being outmatched by the Hatamoto-yakko in training and strength. Despite their shortcomings, the machi-yakko were regarded as folk heroes similar to those in the stories of
Robin Hood, with some groups being made the feature of plays and dramas. The derivation from the hatamoto-yakko or Kabuki-mono known for their adoption of strange hair styles and outrageous dress manner refers to a relevant era of the Genroku Period in which
kabuki plays, and
onnagata were prominent.
Despite the different groups, the majority of the events which led to their inception occurred during the
Edo period. As peacetime brought about by the destruction of the
Toyotomi Clan ensured the
Tokugawa shogunate's role of maintaining peace, shogun retainers were no longer required in their role as soldiers and moved from their own catchment areas to live in feudal castles where their income was determined by their
daimyō.
Due to the isolation of Japan and restriction of foreign trade, Japan's agricultural production and domestic trade greatly improved which resulted in the increase of power in the merchant class and the financial dependency of the samurai upon them --
samurai retainers were paid with rice by their daimyō, and then sold it in markets as a means of generating their salary.
As natural disasters, famine and tax increases led to the destabilization of the social hierarchy and the decline of morals due to public dissatisfaction with the government, factions of wayward, leaderless samurai known as
ronin began to focus their attention from community service towards generating money through theft and violence towards smaller mercantile villages with disparate policing and little feudal control as they presented less-dangerous means of achieving iniquitous money. However, Yakuza that claim origin from the machi-yakko refute their origins from the hatamoto-yakko due to its association with thievery, which is supposedly unpracticed amongst modern Yakuza.
In larger towns, several of these groups often existed simultaneously, and they often fought for territory, money and influence much like modern gangs, disregarding any civilians caught in the crossfire. Again, this is the origin of a popular theme of Japanese film and television, made famous in the
West by an
Akira Kurosawa film called
Yojimbo in which a wandering ronin sets two such gangs against each other and eventually destroys them. Yakuza derived some practices from both machi-yakko and kabukimono. Their protection rackets can be seen as originating from machi-yakko, but their more colorful fashion and language are derived from the kabukimono tradition.
Divisions of origin
Despite uncertainty about the single origin of Yakuza organizations, most modern Yakuza derive from two classifications which emerged in the mid-
Edo Period: tekiya, those who primarily peddled illicit, stolen or shoddy goods; and bakuto, those who were involved in or participated in gambling.
Tekiya (peddlers) were considered one of the lowest of Edo castes. As they began to form organizations of their own, they took over some administrative duties relating to commerce, such as stall allocation and protection of their commercial activities. During Shinto festivals, these peddlers opened stalls and some members were hired to act as security. Each peddler paid rent in exchange for a stall assignment and protection during the fair. The Edo government eventually formally recognized such tekiya organizations and granted the "oyabun" (servants) of tekiya a surname as well as permission to carry a sword. This was a major step forward for the traders, as formerly only samurai and noblemen were allowed to carry swords.
Bakuto (gamblers) had a much lower social standing even than traders, as gambling was illegal. Many small gambling houses cropped up in abandoned temples or shrines at the edge of towns and villages all over Japan. Most of these gambling houses ran loan sharking businesses for clients, and they usually maintained their own security personnel. The places themselves, as well as the bakuto, were regarded with disdain by society at large, and much of the undesirable image of the yakuza originates from bakuto; This includes the name "yakuza" itself.
Because of the economic situation during the mid-period and the predominance of the merchant class, developing Yakuza groups were composed of misfits and delinquents that had joined or formed Yakuza groups to extort customers in local markets by selling fake or shoddy goods.. In early 1990s, 18 of 90 top bosses of
Inagawa-kai were ethnic Koreans.
National Police Agency (Japan) suggested Koreans comprised 10% along with 70% of
burakumin in
Yamaguchi-gumi. The Korean significance had been an untouchable taboo in Japan and one of the reasons that the Japanese version of Kaplan and Dubro's
Yakuza (1986) hadn't been published until 1991 with deletion of Korean-related description such as the component of
Yamaguchi-gumi. Although Japanese-born people of Korean ancestry are a significant segment of the Japanese population, they're still considered resident aliens because of their nationality. But Koreans, who are often shunned in legitimate trades, are embraced by the Japanese yakuza precisely because they fit the group's "outsider" image.
The man who paved the way for Korean-Japanese in Japanese by organizing
Tōsei-kai was the Korean-Japanese yakuza godfather
Hisayuki Machii. Born Chong Gwon Yong in 1923 in
Korea under Japanese rule, Machii was an ambitious street hood who saw opportunity in Japan and seized it. After the Japanese surrender, Machii worked with the
United States Counter Intelligence Corps, which valued his staunch
anti-communist beliefs. While leaders of the Japanese yakuza were imprisoned or under close scrutiny by the American occupying forces, the Korean yakuza were free to take over the lucrative
black markets. But rather than trying to rival the Japanese godfathers, Machii made alliances with them, and throughout his career, he remained close to both Kodama and Taoka.
Many Yakuza have full-body tattoos. These tattoos, known as
irezumi in Japan, are still often "hand-poked," that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made and hand held tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel. The procedure is expensive and painful and can take years to complete.
Yakuza in prison sometime perform
pearlings: for each year spent in prison one pearl is inserted under the skin of the
penis.
When yakuza members play
Oicho-Kabu cards with each other, they often remove their shirts or open them up and drape them around their waists. This allows them to display their full-body tattoos to each other. This is one of the few times that yakuza members display their tattoos to others, as they normally keep them concealed in public with long-sleeved and high-necked shirts.
Another prominent yakuza ritual is the
sake-sharing ceremony. This is used to seal bonds of brotherhood between individual yakuza members, or between two yakuza groups. For example, in August 2005, the Godfathers
Kenichi Shinoda and
Kazuyoshi Kudo held a sake-sharing ceremony, sealing a new bond between their respective gangs, the
Yamaguchi-gumi and the
Kokusui-kai.
Principal families
| Principal families |
Description |
Their Mon (crest) |
|
Created in 1915, the Yamaguchi-gumi is the biggest yakuza family with more than 39,000 members divided into 750 clans (thus making up 45% of all yakuza in Japan.) Despite more than one decade of police repression, the Yamaguchi-gumi has continued to grow. From its headquarters in Kobe, it directs criminal activities throughout Japan. It is also involved in operations in Asia and the United States. Shinobu Tsukasa, also known as Kenichi Shinoda, is the Yamaguchi-gumi's current oyabun. He follows an expansionist policy, and has increased operations in Tokyo (which hasn't traditionally been the territory of the Yamaguchi-gumi.) |
|
Sumiyoshi-rengo
(住吉会), sometimes known as Sumiyoshi-kai (住吉会) |
The Sumiyoshi-rengo is the second largest yakuza family, with 10,000 members divided into 177 clans. The Sumiyoshi-kai, as it's sometimes called, is a confederation of smaller yakuza groups. Its current oyabun is Shigeo Nishiguchi. Structurally, Sumiyoshi-kai differs from its principal rival, the Yamaguchi-gumi, in that it functions like a federation. The chain of command is more lax, and although Shigeo Nishiguchi is always the supreme oyabun, its leadership is distributed among several other people. |
|
Inagawa-kaï
(稲川会) |
The Inagawa-kaï is the third largest yakuza family in Japan, with roughly 7,400 members divided into 313 clans. It is based in the Tokyo-Yokohama area and was one of the first yakuza families to expand its operations to outside of Japan. Its current oyabun is Kakuji Inagawa. |
|
| Toua Yuai Jigyo Kummiai (東亜友愛事業組合), sometime called Tōa-kai (東亜会) |
Founded by Hisayuki Machii in 1948, the Tao Yuai Jigyo Kummiai yakuza family quickly became one of most influential yakuza groups in Tokyo. It is composed of yakuza of Korean origin, and numbers more than 1,000 divided into 6 clans. Its current oyabun is Satoru Nomura. |
|
|
Current activities
In Japan
Much of the current activities of the yakuza can be understood in the light of their feudal origin. First, they're not a secret society like their counterparts of the
Italian mafia and
Chinese triads. Yakuza organizations often have an office with a wooden board on the front door, openly displaying their group name or emblem. Members often wear sunglasses and colourful suits so that their profession can be immediately recognized by civilians (
katagi). Even the way many Yakuza walk is markedly different from ordinary citizens. Their arrogant, wide gait is markedly different from the quiet, unassuming way many Japanese go about their business. Alternatively, Yakuza can dress more conservatively and flash their tattoos to indicate their affiliation when the need arises. On occasion they also sport insignia pins on their lapels. One Yakuza family even printed a monthly newsletter with details on prisons, weddings, funerals, murders, and poems by leaders.
Until recently, the majority of yakuza income came from protection rackets in shopping, entertainment and red-light districts within their territory. This is mainly due to the reluctance of such businesses to seek help from the police. The Japanese police are also reluctant to interfere in internal matters in recognized communities such as shopping arcades, schools/universities, night districts and so on. In this sense, yakuza are still regarded as semi-legitimate organizations. For example, immediately after the
Kobe earthquake, the Yamaguchi-gumi, whose headquarters are in
Kobe, mobilised itself to provide disaster relief services (including the use of a helicopter), and this was widely reported by the media as a contrast to the much slower response by the Japanese government. For this reason, many yakuza regard their income and hustle (
shinogi) as a collection of a feudal tax.
Yakuza are heavily involved in sex-related industries, smuggling
pornography from Europe and America into Japan. They also control large prostitution rings throughout the country. In
China, where the law restricts the amount of children per household and the cultural preference is for boys, the yakuza can buy unwanted girls for as little as $5,000 and put them to work in the
mizu shōbai, which means 'water trade' and refers to the night entertainment business, in yakuza-controlled bars, nightclubs and restaurants. The
Philippines are another source of young women. Yakuza trick girls from impoverished villages into coming to Japan, where they're promised respectable jobs with good wages. Instead, they're forced into becoming prostitutes and strippers. Often the girls succumb to the demands of their pimps, since they're earning more money than they ever could in the Philippines.
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Yakuza frequently engage in a uniquely Japanese form of extortion, known as
sōkaiya (総会屋). In essence, this is a specialized form of protection racket. Instead of harassing small businesses, the yakuza harasses a stockholders' meeting of a larger corporation. They simply scare the ordinary stockholder with the presence of yakuza operatives, who obtain the right to attend the meeting by a small purchase of stock. They also engage in simple blackmail, obtaining incriminating or embarrassing information about a company's practices or leaders. Once the yakuza gain a foothold in these companies, that'll work for them to protect the company from having such internal scandals exposed to the public. Some companies still include payoffs as part of their annual budget.
The Yakuza have a strong influence in Japanese
professional wrestling, or
puroresu. Most of their interest in wrestling activities and promotions is purely financial. The Yakuza have mostly gotten involved by financially supporting wrestling promotions with fading fortunes, or simple business loans. Many venues used by wrestling (arenas, stadiums, and so forth) are owned by or connected to the Yakuza, and as such, when a promotion uses one of their sites, the Yakuza receive a percentage of the gate. The Yakuza as a whole is regarded as a great supporter of both puroresu and
MMA. It's not unusual for wrestlers to receive specific instructions on what to do in their matches so as to appeal just to Yakuza members in the crowd. It is thought in Japan that it's safe to say that none of the large wrestling promotions in Japan would fold, because they'd be rescued by the Yakuza. The pioneer of wrestling in Japan,
Rikidozan, was killed by the Yakuza. Former
WWE wrestler
Yoshihiro Tajiri was asked to start a Yakuza gimmick, an offer he quickly refused, fearing that he'd be targeted by the real Yakuza. Professional wrestler
Yoshiaki Fujiwara is often referred to as "Kumicho" (i.e, "Godfather") and his wrestling promotion was called the
Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. He often portrays Yakuza figures as an actor on Japanese television comedies and dramas.
Yakuza also have ties to the Japanese realty market and banking, through
jiageya (地上げ屋). Jiageya specialize in inducing holders of small real estate to sell their property so that estate companies can carry out much larger development plans. Japan's bubble economy of the 1980s is often blamed on real estate speculation by banking subsidiaries. After the collapse of the Japanese property bubble, a manager of a major bank in
Nagoya was assassinated, and much speculation ensued about the banking industry's indirect connection to the Japanese underworld.
Yakuza have been known to make large investments in legitimate, mainstream companies. In 1989 Susumu Ishii, the Oyabun of the Inagawa Alliance (a well known Yakuza group) bought
US$ 255 million worth of
Tokyo Kyuko Electric Railway's stock.
(External Link) Japan's
Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has knowledge of more than 50 listed companies with ties to organized crime, and in March 2008 the
Osaka Securities Exchange decided to review all listed companies and expel those with Yakuza ties. Another Yakuza racket is bringing women of other ethnicities/races, especially
East European and
Asian to Japan under the lure of a glamourous position, then forcing the women into prostitution.
Because of their history as a legitimate feudal organization and their connection to the Japanese political system through the
uyoku (extreme right-wing political groups), yakuza are somewhat a part of the Japanese establishment. In the early 80s in
Fukuoka, a yakuza war spiraled out of control and a few civilians were hurt. The police stepped in and forced the yakuza bosses on both sides to declare a truce in public. At various times, people in Japanese cities have launched anti-yakuza campaigns with mixed and varied success. In March 1995, the Japanese government passed the "Act for Prevention of Unlawful Activities by Criminal Gang Members" which made traditional
racketeering much more difficult.
In America
Yakuza activity in the
United States is mostly relegated to
Hawaii, but have made their presence known in other parts of the country. The Yakuza are said to use Hawaii as a way station between Japan and mainland America, smuggling
crystal methamphetamine into the country and smuggling back firearms to Japan. They easily fit into the local population, since many tourists from Japan and other Asian countries visit the islands on a regular basis. The Yakuza were estimated to control around 90% of the methamphetamine trade in Hawaii as of 1988. They also work with local gangs, funneling Japanese tourists to gambling parlors and brothels.
In California, the Yakuza have made alliances with local Vietnamese and Korean gangs as well as Chinese triads. Yakuza gangsters have also been spotted in
Los Angeles,
Las Vegas and
New York City, where they appear to collect finders fees from American mafiosos and businessmen for guiding Japanese tourists to gambling establishments, both legal and illegal.
The FBI suspects that the Yakuza use various operations to launder money in the U.S.
In Australia
Yakuza presence in
Australia at present is minimal, being restricted mainly to the
Gold Coast, Queensland, where Yakuza members go to launder money in Gold Coast Casinos, or to extort money from Japanese businesses (mainly tourism). As it stands, the Yakuza have no known permanent stakes in Australia.
In Mexico
Yakuza members can be found anywhere around the world, and also in
Mexico, most notably in the illegal immigration business. There then were cases in the 90's, a couple of employers recruiting young women across the country (mainly with diplomas of tourism and good English knowledge) promising them work in
Japan. But upon their arrival in the country, they were in put into a network of prostitution. Some succeeded in escaping and returning to
Mexico, where they then informed the authorities. The culprits were stopped and condemned, not for prostitution because of the lack of denouncers, but only for illegal immigration.A similar case occurred in
Peru. According to estimates of the Hispanic women Association (of which the seat is in
Miami), nearly 3,000 Mexican women prostitute themselves in
Japan, after being recruited by the various clans yakuza.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Yakuza'.
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