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The Yakuza
Background
In Japan, organized crime and criminals come under the general
heading of Yakuza. According to tradition, the name is derived
from the worst possible score in a Japanese card game. It comes
from Japan's counterpart to Black Jack, Oicho- Kabu. The
general difference between the cardgames is that in Oicho- Kabu
is that a winning total of the cards is 19 instead of 21. As you see,
the sum of 8, 9 and 3, is 20, which is over in Oicho-Kabu. In a
hand resulting in a score of 20, the worst possible score, a player's
final score would be zero. Among the losing combinations, the
phonetic sound of an 8-9-3 sequence is ya - ku - sa. It's from there
the name, yakuza is derived... without worth to society. This
doesn't mean that they have no use for the society, it means that
the members are people that somehow do not fit in the society, in
other words societies misfits.
The Yakuza were itinerant gamblers, peddlers, renegade warriors
and roving bandits. They served shoguns and municipalities and
their legend includes a distinct Robin Hood quality that recently
emerged during the recent Kobe Earthquake. The Yamaguchi-gumi Yakuza clan quickly mobilized providing on the scene
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assistance to Kobe's earthquake victims long before the national
government resolved to act. Yakuza form a central theme in
Japan's popular culture and trace their origins to at least the 17th
century. Therefore, among the world's criminal organizations the
Yakuza are older than the Sicilian Mafia.
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Yakuza strength rises and falls according to the tides of Japanesesociety, with estimates of core membership ranging from 80,000
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to more than 110,000 in the years from 1945 to 1996. Some
authorities believe Japan's National Police routinely undercount
the Yakuza, numbering only those names found in confiscated
membership rolls, or recorded from routine police intelligence
reports. Like the Sicilian Mafia and other underworldorganizations, the Yakuza are formed into families, but in Japan
other distinctions emerge including that of the oyabun - kobun
(father role - child role) relationship, between Yakuza chiefs and
their underlings.
The Yakuza evolved into their current form late in the 19th-
century under figures like Toyama Mitsuru. This son of a
Samurai founded the Genyosha (Dark Ocean) Society, and later
Toyama's top aide Ryohei Uchida founded the Amur River
Society (Black Dragons). Like organized crime in other cultures,
the Yakuza began to control construction labor and docksidelabor, adding to traditional areas of enterprise in the vices,
prostitution, gambling, liquor distribution, and entertainment. In
the late 1960s or early 1970s the Yakuza moved into the lucrative
narcotics trade and in recent years have stepped up their trade in
firearms and other contraband. According to various sources,
Yakuza have formed alliances and working relationships with
Chinese Triads, Sicilian and American Mafia, Columbian drug
cartels, Jamaican Posses, and assorted other criminal
organizations throughout the world.
Because of their unique role in Japan's history and popular
culture, and their usefulness in providing muscle to control labor
unions, and providing anonymous services to the public for a
variety of typical underworld products in vice and contraband
accommodations between Yakuza, police, ultranationalists,
government, political parties, and secret societies seems to be an
accepted fact of life in Japan. Yakuza are active worldwide,
wherever criminal enterprises flourish. The Yakuza have been
very skillful in the employment of intermediaries and the absence
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of Japanese within a community does not mean an absence of
Yakuza.
Kabuki-Mono
Yakuzas origin can be followed far back as to the year 1612, when
men known as kabuki-mono (the crazy ones). Their odd clothing
style, the distinct haircuts and bad behavior, longswords quickly
got everybody's attention. They were known as masterless
samurais, ronin, and several of them began to wander around in
Japan as a band of robbers, plundering villages and small cities.
Machi-Yakko
Yakuza however not see kabuki-mono as their "ancestors"
instead they feel that they are machi-yakko(City servant), Machi-
yakko became the people's heroes, praised by the citizens for
their help against kabuki-mono. The Machi-yakko were often
weaker, far less trained and equipped than kabuki- mono.
Therfore they were compared with England's Robin Hood.
Kabuki-mono were known for their ruthless behavior and
terrorizing all the surrounding areas. They were well known for
stabbing people for pleasure. Kabukimono were gave their
groups scary names and spoke in vulgar slang. The currentyakuza did not evolve until about the middle of the 17th century.
Its members were bakuto (gamblers) and tekiya (street vendors).
Something that was remarkable were their loyalty to each other.
They protected each other regardless even if it meant going
against their own family.
Kabuki-mono generally came from shoguns or samurais whom
during long peaceful times were forced into unemployment.
Almost all yakuza have the same type of background poor,
criminals and misfits. The Yakuza became a family for them.
They got help with problems, got attention and could feel acertain saftey.
The Industrialization of Japan
When Japan began to industrialize, the yakuza followed Japan's
deploying society. They began to recruit employees within the
construction business and people working at the docksides. They
began to check the rickshaw business. The gambling side of the
Yakuza was at this time sorta put to the side, because the policewere cracking down roughly on the bakuto- gangs. Tekiya on the
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contrary flowered and expanded since most of their activities
were not considered illegal but more importantly not on the
surface of society. Yakuza began to develop an interest for policy
and started affiliations with certain political officials. They began
to cooperate with the authorities in order to get certaincontributions and to ease the harassment from the authorities.
About up until the year 1925 Japan had an Emperor. But the
course of events in the world was proving that a democratic rule
was better than aristocratic, therefore Japan initiated a public
vote for all men 1925. Within a few years the communist and
socialist parties were found. Around then the prince, that became
emperor 1926, existed however his staff of military and some
other officials did not agreed with democracy. The economical
depression at the end of 20th century created suspicion against
the western worlds liberalism. They took advantage of this anddifferent secret organizations were created that trained its
members in warfare, languages, assassination, blackmail etc. The
ultranationalism terror lasted on into the 1930s. They murdered
two prime ministers, two finance ministers, attacked several
politicians, and industrialist. The Yakuza supplied them with the
muscles and men in order to help and train these underworld
organization. This type of yakuza is called the unyoke (political
right).
The Occupation Years
After WWII when the American troops occupied Japan they saw
the yakuza as the biggest threat against their forces. They began
to watch the yakuza's activities. The American troops rationed
out food and as a result the black market flowered and made the
gangs rich and powerful. It were during the occupations that a
new sort of yakuza began to grow, gurentai (street hustler). They
were for the most part involved in robbery and black market.
Yakuza became influenced by the American gangster movies andbegan to dress in black suits with white shirts, black sunglasses
and cropped hair. They became tougher and more violent, the
sword became history, now it was firearms. It was about this time
that not just gamblers and storekeepers became exposed to
violence but also the ordinary person was becoming more of a
victim. Between about the years of 1958 and 1963 the number of
yakuza- members increased with over 150%, to 184,000
members, now are they well below that. There are an estimated
5,200 different gangs in Japan. Also during that time they began
to mark out their territories and wars started between the gangs.
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It is believed that the wars between the gangs were settled by a
man named Yoshio Kodama. Kodama was Japan's underworld
counterpart to America's Al Capone.
The Yakuza OrganizationFor the yakuza it doesn't matter were you came from, which
country or from which class of society you belonged to, you can
become a member anyway. Yakuza takes care of the misfits in the
society. Yakuza members can be youth that been abandoned by
their parents, youths seeking refuge from the high pressures of
school, refugees from Korea, China etc. The boss becomes their
father and their comrades as brothers. The Yakuza offers not only
companionship but also money, status, and authority. A part of a
group were you feel useful and needed. There are no thresholdsor requirements in order to become a member. But when you are
inside strict obedience to the superiors is demanded. The yakuza
sees himself, as Machi-yakko, the people's rescuer and helper. Far
before any working courts existed in Japan the yakuza existed. If
your clans chief couldn't or wouldn't help resolve a dispute you
could turn to the local yakuza for help. They solved the problem
in return for money. The solution however was more brutal than
if you had turned to the police. The yakuza structure exists in two
types of yakuza, clan yakuza and freelance yakuza.
Freelance Yakuza
Freelancing yakuza are generally wanna be's yakuza that don't
commit serious crimes and they are usually little more than a
group of hustlers. They have however some difficulties surviving
since the clan yakuza do not afford them any protection or
assistance and generally doesn't allow them to operate within
their territories. Clan yakuza can tip the police about crimes that
the freelance yakuza commit. If the freelance yakuza earns tomuch money, the clan yakuza kills the freelancing yakuza or
makes him disappear without a trace. The clan yakuza however
have certain uses for a freelance yakuza. If the clan yakuza needs
something done that they not want the clan to be associate with,
they can turn to a freelancing yakuza that, for a sum of money,
does the job for them. A freelance yakuza can also be used as a
scapegoat for crimes. A freelancer is truly a genius if he can
manage to begin his own clan and stay alive. Usually a freelance
yakuza becomes a clan member unless he gets killed.
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Clan Yakuza
The clan have been compared to the Sicilian mafias "family".
The clan is structured much like a common family in traditional
Japan. The clan has a hierarchy structure. The clans head chief iscalled Oyabun, that means Father. Beneath him he has his
children(Wakashu) and brothers(Kyodai). These are not his real
children and brothers, only designations of rank and position
they have within the clan. All the members in the clan obey the
Oyabun and in return he protects them against all dangers.
Oyabun is almighty within the clan and his words is the law. All
obey him without hesitation or concern for their own life. Beneath
him, oyabun has an adviser that is called Saiko-komon and he has
a staff of advocates, accountants, secretaries and advisers. The
children's (Wakashu) boss called Waka gashira. He is numbertwo in the clan after Oyabun, not in rank but in authority. He
acts as a middleman to see that the oyabun's orders are being
accomplished.
The children leaders over their own (sub) gangs and over time
can move up in the structure. In that way the clan becomes a
ramification with several sub families. The oyabun's "brothers"
or Kyodai, boss is called Shatei gashira. Shatei gashira is of
higher rank than Waka gashira but doesn't have more authority.
"The Brothers" have their own "children" or "youngerbrothers"(Shatei). Shatei, has its own sub gangs etc. Everyone
obeys its gangleader, but it's always the oyabun's word that
counts.
Tattoos
It's usual within yakuza circuits to tattoo themselves, usually is it
their clan's badges that they have all over their body. The origin
of the yakuza tattoo comes from the Bakuto. They usually
tattooed a black ring around the arm for each crime they
committed. Finally it became a symbol of strength. It can take
over 100 hours to do an entire back tattoo. The tattoo was to
illustrate you were unwilling to accommodate yourself to societies
rules and norms. Now is it to illustrate your clan affiliations.
Yubitsume
The manner comes originally from the Bakuto. If a gambler
couldn't pay back a debt or something like that the persons tip of the little finger got cut off, which damage the hand and the
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person could not hold his sword as well as before. Also that way
other people could see if a person haven't paid a debt, which
could bring certain problems, since gambling always been
prohibited in Japan. Yubitsume is when you cut of one of your
fingers and send it to the Kumicho. This is done as an apology fordisobedience. It can be done to atone for a wrongdoing but can
also be done to spare one of your "children". When you have
done something that your Kumicho dislikes you take a sharp
item, cut off a fingertip, wrap it in paper and send it to the
Kumicho and beg for his forgiveness. If it's the first time you cut
off the little fingertip there after it becomes the next little finger
and so on. Because of that you may see yakuza members that are
without several of his fingers. This helps often at wrongdoings,
but if you've done something all to seriously, as e.g betray the
entire clan, there´s nothing that can help you from becoming astatistic.
NOTE: Reprinted from "Okinawa Japan Virtual Ginza Your Door
to Okinawa Japan". Available on-line at
http://www.virtualginza.com/yakuza.htm. Virtual Ginza is an
excellent source of all things Okinawan