Yakuza
2=ヤクザ, also known as 2=極道, or simply the Japanese Mafia, are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media call them 2=暴力団, while the yakuza call themselves 2=任侠団体. The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization.
The yakuza are known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature, and several unconventional ritual practices such as yubitsume, or amputation of the left little finger. Members are often portrayed as males with heavily tattooed bodies and wearing a fundoshi, sometimes with a kimono or, in more recent years, a Western-style "sharp" suit covering them.
At their height, the yakuza maintained a large presence in the Japanese media, and they also operated internationally. In 1963, the number of yakuza members and quasi-members reached a peak of 184,100. However, this number has drastically dropped, a decline attributed to changing market opportunities and several legal and social developments in Japan that discourage the growth of yakuza membership. In 1991, it had 63,800 members and 27,200 quasi-members, but by 2024, it had only 9,900 members and 8,900 quasi-members. The yakuza are aging because young people no longer readily join, and the average age of members at the end of 2022 was 54 years. Of that, only 5% were in their 20s, while 13% in their 30s, 26% in their 40s, 31% in their 50s, 13% in their 60s, and 12% in their 70s or older. More than half of the members were at least 50 years or older.
The yakuza still regularly engage in an array of criminal activities, and many Japanese citizens remain fearful of the threat these individuals pose to their safety. There remains no strict prohibition on yakuza membership in Japan today, although many pieces of legislation have been passed by the Japanese government aimed at impeding revenue and increasing liability for criminal activities.
Etymology
The name yakuza gives status and originates from the traditional Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu, a game in which the goal is to draw three cards adding up to a score of 9. If the sum of the cards is 10 or more, the second digit is the score. So a sum of 13 is a score of 3, a sum of 14 is a score of 4, etc. A sum of 10 or 20 is a score of 0. If the three cards drawn are 8-9-3, the sum is 20 and therefore the score is zero, making one of the worst possible hands that can be drawn. In Japanese, the word yakuza is commonly written in katakana.Origins
Despite uncertainty about the single origin of yakuza organizations, most modern yakuza derive from two social 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 ranked as one of the lowest social groups during the Edo period. 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 tekiya were a highly structured and hierarchical group with the oyabun at the top and kobun at the bottom. This hierarchy resembles a structure similar to the family – in traditional Japanese culture, the oyabun was often regarded as a surrogate father, and the kobun as surrogate children. During the Edo period, the government formally recognized the tekiya. At this time, within the tekiya, the oyabun were appointed as supervisors and granted near-samurai status, meaning they were allowed the dignity of a surname and two swords.
Bakuto 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 edges 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. Society at large regarded the gambling houses themselves, as well as the bakuto, with disdain. 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-Edo period and the predominance of the merchant class, developing yakuza groups were composed of misfits and delinquents who had joined or formed the groups to extort customers in local markets by selling fake or shoddy goods.
Shimizu Jirocho is Japan's most famous yakuza and folk hero. He was born Chogoro Yamamoto, but changed his name when he was adopted, a common Japanese practice. His life and exploits were featured in sixteen films between 1911 and 1940.
The roots of the yakuza survive today in initiation ceremonies, which incorporate tekiya or bakuto rituals. Although the modern Yakuza has diversified, some gangs still identify with one group or the other; for example, a gang whose primary source of income is illegal gambling may refer to themselves as bakuto.
Kyushu
The island of Kyushu has a reputation for being a large source of yakuza members, including many renowned bosses in the Yamaguchi-gumi. Isokichi Yoshida from the Kitakyushu area was considered by some scholars and political watchers as one of the first renowned modern yakuza. Recently Shinobu Tsukasa and Kunio Inoue, the bosses of the two most powerful clans in the Yamaguchi-gumi, originate from Kyushu. Fukuoka, the northernmost part of the island, has the largest number of [|designated syndicates] among all of the prefectures.Organization and activities
Structure
During the formation of the yakuza, they adopted the traditional Japanese hierarchical structure of oyabun-kobun where kobun owe their allegiance to the oyabun. In a much later period, the code of jingi was developed where loyalty and respect are a way of life. The oyabun-kobun relationship is formalized by ceremonial sharing of sake from a single cup. This ritual is not exclusive to the yakuza – it is also commonly performed in traditional Japanese Shinto weddings, and may have been a part of sworn brotherhood relationships.The structure of yakuza organizations is characterized by a multi-layered hierarchical structure. The of an organization become and run their own subsidiary organizations, and the kobun of the subsidiary organizations also become oyabun and run their own subsidiary organizations. A large yakuza organization such as the Yamaguchi-gumi is made up of five or six layered organizations. In other words, the heads of subsidiary organizations are often executives of the parent organizations.
The oyabun of the organization is generally called a or, the person corresponding to pseudo younger brother of the kumichō is called a, and the person corresponding to pseudo child of the kumichō is called a or. means younger brother, and its status varies greatly depending on whose brother it is. From the perspective of the organization as a whole, shatei generally refers to the younger brother of an oyabun, and thus to a high-ranking person in the organization, but it is also possible for a lower-level member to refer to his pseudo younger brother as a shatei.
Although positions in yakuza organizations vary from clan to clan, the three most important yakuza positions are kumichō,, and.,, and, are also important positions. In general, the of an organization is run by the wakagashira, shateigashira, and honbuchō. Since the shatei are the pseudo-younger brothers of the kumichō, they are generally older and have higher nominal positions but relatively little real authority. In the Yamaguchi-gumi pecking order as of 2024, the order is kumichō, wakagashira, shateigashira, and honbuchō.
Yakuza groups are headed by an oyabun who gives orders to his subordinates, the kobun. In this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Japanese senpai-kōhai model. Members of yakuza cut their real family ties and transfer their loyalty to the oyabun. They refer to each other as family members—,, and. Among brothers, it is common to refer to a person equal to oneself as kyōdai, a younger brother as kyōdai or shatei, and an older brother as. The yakuza is populated almost entirely by men and the very few women who are acknowledged are the wives of bosses, who are referred to by the title ane-san. When the 3rd Yamaguchi-gumi boss died in the early 1980s, his wife took over as boss of Yamaguchi-gumi, albeit for a short time.
During the World War II period in Japan, the more traditional tekiya/bakuto form of organization declined as the entire population was mobilised to participate in the war effort and society came under the control of the strict military government. However, after the war, the Yakuza adapted again.
Rituals
, also referred to as otoshimae, or the cutting off of one's finger, is a form of penance or apology. Upon a first offence, the transgressor must cut off the tip of his left little finger and give the severed portion to his boss. Sometimes an underboss may do this in penance to the oyabun if he wants to spare a member of his own gang from further retaliation. This practice has started to wane amongst the younger members, due to it being an easy identifier for police.Its origin stems from the traditional way of holding a Japanese sword. The bottom three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword tightly, with the thumb and index fingers slightly loose. The removal of digits starting with the little finger and moving up the hand to the index finger progressively weakens a person's sword grip.
The idea is that a person with a weak sword grip then has to rely more on the group for protection—reducing individual action. In recent years, prosthetic fingertips have been developed to disguise this distinctive appearance.
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 handheld tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel. The procedure is expensive and painful, and can take years to complete.
When yakuza play Oicho-Kabu cards with each other, they often remove their shirts or open them up and drape them around their waists. This enables them to display their full-body tattoos to each other. This is one of the few times that yakuza display their tattoos to others, as they normally keep them concealed in public with long-sleeved and high-necked shirts. When new members join, they are often required to remove their trousers as well and reveal any lower body tattoos.