Japanese

Modern Society
Yakuza in
How do the yakuza play a significant role
in Japanese society, by affecting politics,
daily life, policing, and the law, while
maintaining a public face?
GlobalStudies

Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.

ORGANIZED CRIME IN JAPAN: THE YAKUZA

How do the yakuza play a significant role in
Japanese society by affecting politics, daily life,
policing, and the law, while maintaining a public
face?

ABSTRACT:

Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, but is home to
debatably the most dominant organized crime gang, of all time. The
Japanese yakuza gang is said to have been around since the 18th
Century. Like all countries, organized crime is a part of the social
structure, but for Japan, the yakuza bring the gang culture to a whole
other level. In this study, I examine the role of the yakuza in modern day
Japan, and how they play an active role in shaping modern life and
society. I have examined how the yakuza obtain dominant roles in
mainly politics, the law, and policing. I will also incorporate how the
yakuza are seen amongst society. Through my analysis, I stand upon the
outlook that the yakuza gang is far too embedded in society to ever fully
be dismantled, because of their lack of desire to remain out of the
public eye.

Biography :

My name is Davina Bisaria, and I studied in Tokyo, Japan, this past

summer. I am a junior at Binghamton University, with a major in
sociology, and minors in art history and global studies. I thoroughly
enjoyed my time in Japan, and have decided to go abroad again in the
spring. I chose to study abroad in Japan, because of my long love and
curiosity of Japanese culture. Being a sociology major, I am constantly
learning about other societies, and one that has always puzzled me is
Japan’s. I wanted to go somewhere completely different from anything I
had ever experienced before. Throughout my time in Japan, I had
learned so much about the art and Japanese history, but also the
language, something I’d struggled with gravely upon arrival. My
capstone project has given me the opportunity to incorporate my major,
sociology, and my love of Japan, in a way which has made me more
aware of global issues, and life outside of Binghamton.

A picture of me at the Tokyo Sky Tower.

INTRODUCTION:

One of my friends, while abroad, had a very small tattoo on her wrist
of her Japanese Mother’s maiden name. While out one night, we met a
local Japanese couple. My friend, with the ability to speak fluent
Japanese, began to tell the couple that her grandparents were from
Yokohama, Japan. As she was speaking the man gasped and pointed to
her tattoo, the size of a pea. He said (in Japanese, I later had to get the
translation), “wow, I’m so surprised your Japanese mother let you get
that tattoo.” She replied back, “it’s not yakuza.” The man replied, still
clearly surprised, “yes, but still.” This interaction made me curious. What
was yakuza? Why did such a small tattoo matter enough to make a
comment about it?

A picture I took, late at night in Tokyo.

BACKGROUND:

The question isn’t what, but rather, who are the yakuza? The yakuza is, to
put it briefly, an extremely large criminal network in Japan. Yamaguchi-
gumi is the biggest yakuza family. Traditional activities of yakuza lie in
the area of illegal gambling. The term “yakuza,” originally referenced the
worst possible hand to have in a card game (Rank, M. 2014). Yakuza
dabble in drugs, prostitution, firearms, and importation, and
exploitation of illegal male and female sex workers. Yakuza have gone
from controlling traditional gambling and peddling, to their modern
front in legal and illegal enterprises such as drug trades, money
laundering schemes, and corporate fraud (Hill, P. 2003). They have
become so powerful that they appear to span nearly every aspect of
Japan’s economy. Although the yakuza perform countless illegal actions,
there is a belief that the cooperation between the criminal world, and the
formal social control agencies contribute to Japan’s low crime rates, than
is generally lead on. After the second World War, organized crime in
Japan took a main presence. Those joining the yakuza were returning,
disenfranchised soldiers, and Korean-Japanese, who had been brought
to Japan as slave laborers. All these people were pushed aside in
Japanese society, and labeled as outcasts. The United States had
declared the Japanese-Korean slave laborers as third-party nationals, so
the Japanese police were unable to arrest them. Yakuza took over the
black market and underworld. They in time, received police approval,
and functioned as a second police force, still dabbling in the black market
but keeping peace simultaneously, but using scare tactics to keep crime
low. The war on the yakuza, by the Japanese government, began in 1963,
but has been overwhelmingly unsuccessful (Global vice: The expanding
territory of the yakuza: An interview with Jake Adelstein 2012:66(1), 155-
161).

From: The Asia- Pacific Journal, “21st-Century Yakuza: Recent Trends in Organized
Crime in Japan.” This chart exemplifies what crimes the yakuza have committed.

At first, I was confused. The most known fact about Japan, is that it’s
highly a peaceful country, with a crime rate that is close to nonexistent. I
want to point out that although this topic may highlight one of the more
negative aspects of Japanese culture, it is still the most beautiful place
with the kindest people I have ever met.

Through this study, I learned about yakuza organized crime, and how it
differs from everywhere else in the world. What I will be answering is:
How do the yakuza play a significant role in Japanese society by affecting
politics, daily life, policing, and the law, while maintaining a public face?
YAKUZA’S PUBLIC FACE

Found on n4mb3rs.com, “Yakuza and Numbers” These are the Japanese

characters for Ya-Ku-Za.

To begin, what is meant by the “public face”, is the yakuza’s obvious

disregard of “laying low” (Rank, M. 2014) This public face is why they are
so dominant in society. The yakuza operate publicly, which puts them
apart from any other crime organization. Granted, the yakuza have been
around since the 18th century, but their lifespan isn’t what makes them
so powerful (Kersten, J. 1993:39(3), 277-295). No matter who you are in
Japan, Yakuza is common knowledge. When asking my professor in
Japan about the yakuza, she stated “they’re everywhere, and they want to
be everywhere”. The main focus is a look into how the yakuza affect the
legal and non criminal spheres of Japanese culture. They affect the
underworld, by controlling it, but the yakuza also practice dominance in
politics, the law, policing, and are present in the society not involved
with the criminal world. There stretch of involvement in legitimate
sectors, is what creates their domination, and enables their public face.

This is comparing the Italian Us Mafia to the most recent numbers of the “main
yakuza” In past years there were 110,000 active members of the total know yakuza, not
just the main full time members, divided in 25 hundred families as of 2 years ago. In
America, 2 years ago, only 20,000 organized crime members were in total, and the US
has twice the population that Japan does. As of 2015, Japan has 10x the mafia density
than in America, just by using the Yakuza as reference (Rank, M).
YAKUZA IN MODERN CULTURE

Reuters, T. (2011). “Yakuza among First with Relief Supplies in Japan.”

Although the yakuza helped gravely in these natural disasters, during
the Fukushima bombing, they helping in an uncivilized way. The yakuza made
homeless people enter the nuclear bombed location, even though radiation was
still present, to help the locals. This act had good intentions, but put many people
at grave risk.

The citizens in modern Japan are aware of the heavy organized crime
appearance, within their society. The yakuza, although the most popular
organized crime organization within Japan, is not the only one. Yakuza is
the most well known gang in Japan, but there are also youth groupings,
and the Bosokozu, usually identifiable by their motorcycles or
customized cars (Kersten, J. 1993:39(3), 277-295). Surprisingly many
people in society don't mind the presence of yakuza, because of their
charitable work. Although they give back to society, it doesn't cover up
the illegal activity they are known for.

The yakuza, even though a gang, seem to have a popular public

following. Although they are involved with criminal acts, they also often
fill the role of first respondents. In industrial disputes, yakuza have
frequently emerged as violent strike breakers and intimidators, by
intimidating union leaders. They are often portrayed in society as
misunderstood heroes, robin hoods, and being interested in the common
good. Yakuza, even refer to themselves as ninkyō-dantai, meaning
chivalrous group (Global vice: The expanding territory of the yakuza: An
interview with Jake Adelstein 2012:66(1), 155-161). Many people in
society view the yakuza as public servants, helping the community, but
on the other hand, there is still the view that these acts of servitude are
just a way for the yakuza to gain public support. Yakuza purchases the
community’s support, and that is why they are able to still remain a part
of a civil society.

The yakuza might be a volunteer organization in times of need, but they

still leave negative images of themselves in society. The yakuza in
modern society are known for chopping peoples fingers off, and
showcasing their nationalistic tattoos. This, amongst other practices,
makes them identifiable to the public, and it makes the divide from the
underworld to ordinary citizens clear in everyone’s daily lives.

A picture of yakuza tattoo’s. http://tattoo-journal.com.

In regard to tattoos, onsens are a traditional Japanese hot spring public
bathing areas, and are very common in Japanese society. Even today, if
you have a tattoo you’re not allowed in the onsens. In Japan, tattoos are
still to this day, viewed as a connection to organized yakuza crime. The
tattoos are seen as symbols of a dangerous person, involved with the
Japanese underground, and give off a sense of dismay, shame, and
disapproval. Additionally, those with tattoos are often not able to do
simple tasks such as going to the gym or beach. People with tattoos also
tend to have trouble finding a higher paying jobs. There are instances
where some politicians have made public servants confess whether or
not they have body art. Those who do, are encouraged to leave public
service (Ankirskiy, Alexander 2014). Tattoos are an intense part of the
modern culture. Unless you can hide the tattoo, you risk being shamed,
and seen as an outcast. Yakuza tend to have full body tattoos, that are in
dark pigment. All the yakuza tattoos resemble Japanese art and symbols.

Yubitsume, is a traditional action in which someone in leadership of the

yakuza cuts the pinky finger off a subject, as an act of punishment
(Tonry, M. 2000). In this practice, the goal is to bring a substantial
amount of shame to the victim. The amputation of a finger is something
one can’t hide, and even though it might seem like a painless alternative
to American Italian Mafia practices, the shame is worse than the pain.
The punishment is one that publicly shows disapproval, and your failure.

Due to yakuza’s openness, the common people of Japan know very well
what the yakuza tattoos look like. It’s hard for most people in society not
acknowledge the yakuza in relationship to tattoos. Yakuza, in modern
times are the criminal component of Japan, and probably always will be.
Tattooing and yubitsume are the two most well-known yakuza practices
by society.
https://youtu.be/M_b5jZG6JtQ This is a traditional
Japanese Yakuza ceremony. Yamaguchi-gumi is the strongest yakuza
organization among every single yakuzas. The succession ceremony of 6th
godfather is what is being captured in this video. The yakuza release clips from
ceremonies to show their dominance to other members of the underworld and to
society. This is a prime example of Yakuza keeping a high profile.

The yakuza are also able to establish a negative image amongst the
business world in Japan. Commonly, A public act of bribery, in which
they will buy a large amount of stock from a business, just enough for
them to get them into the shareholders meeting (Rank, M. 2014). Once
in the meeting, the yakuza will try and find, or even create fake claims on
the company. They then precede to tell the company owner that if the
company fails to pay them a large sum of money, they will the fake
knowledge they have gathered at the next share holder meeting. The
company always complies to avoid being shamed in front of the other
partners. For all of history, shame is the most awful thing have thrust
upon yourself in Japanese culture. On the other hand, some legitimate
sectors of Japanese society, such as large companies, have encouraged or
condoned yakuza as their instruments, using them for intimidation.

Jake Adelstein (2012: 66(1), 155-161), a specialist in yakuza culture,

states the yakuza members are recognized as “legal entities” in Japanese
society. They have the all same rights as any other corporate entity, and
the members of the yakuza are ordinary modern citizens. Adelstein
continues by addressing that the yakuza have been around for a long
time, and they know their rights very well. In cases where they do not
own their office property and are renters, the yakuza are aware of how
the law protects their rights to live, and operate where they wish,
knowing they can’t be removed. This new modern yakuza member is an
“innovative entrepreneur”, increasing their profits by extending their
operations.
One of the most legal realms of any society is the government. Politics
are to be just, and politicians are suppose to represent the common good.
It is not unusual for citizens in Japan to take part in Political parties.
This being said, what is unusual is how the yakuza and organized crime
are able to control an entire wing of political parties. The right wing is
strong in Japan. In 2014, 15 out of 19 of the elected members for the new
cabinet in Japan were Nippon Kaigi, the “Japan Conference,” a
nationalistic right-wing group, displaying a democratic pull for the right
wing. Right wing parties, or Uyoku Dantai, as of 2014, had around
100,000 members (Kato, Norihiro 2014). The link between yakuza and
uyoku dantai, and the link of organized crime to politicians, is what will
be addressed and understood.

POLITICS
VICE. Interview with Masaya Kudo.
VICE TV is a very popular TV news network, with broadcasts worldwide.
Upon doing my research I took to YouTube.com to hopefully find some
interviews or footage of the Yakuza in daily life. While searching I found
a very interesting and informative piece from VICE. This video clip
identified the Yakuza’s political power through the lenses of right wing
parties. It was made to be informative of the role yakuza play in politics
and was created in 2015. It shows how yakuza is still present in modern
times, despite being created in the 18th century. It includes news
coverage of the right winged party, Nihon-no-Kai, led by Masaya Kudo.
All of the footage is in Japanese, but is accompanied by subtitles. The
language used is direct and ultimately bias only showing the side of
Kudo. It follows right wing members in their daily lives, using slang
amongst each other in meetings, but it overall captures the intensity in
which right winged Japanese parties and yakuza function.

Kudo and his party are seen protesting in front of the Chinese, Korean,
and Russian embassies demanding ownership of their “invaded lands”,
such as Senkaku and KurilI. Their common form of protesting is
demonstrated by driving their vans around the embassies and using
microphones to say, “Drive them out!” This showcases their extreme
Japanese nationalism. It is known that yakuza pride themselves in
Japanese nationalism and tradition.

I wanted to use this video in my analysis of the yakuza in society, because

it portrays the dominance of the yakuza in society. The Nihon-no-kai
party may not be the yakuza, but everything they do must be overseen by
the yakuza. Vice is showing how even in a political protest realm the
Yakuza dominate. Sometimes, right winged groups play the part of a
right winged organization, but in reality, they’re just using is as a cover
for their Yakuza agenda, so often it is hard to differentiate between a
political party and a yakuza front. When Nihon No Kai drive around in
their vans protesting, the local yakuza will come and ask who gave them
permission to pass through. The yakuza make it certain they know what
is happening at every corner. Even if you’re just a sub group to the
yakuza you have to pay your respects and get permission, especially if
you’re not from that district’s organization.
Right wing politics in Japan have been increasingly present ever since
World War Two. Japanese nationalist believe that postwar Japan has
never stood on an equal footing with the United States, and have always
been taken advantage of. Japan to the right wingers, needs to be stronger
and take back lands that are theirs. Strength is growing in the right wing.

Right wing party’s protest vans Image from: Is right-wing Traditionalist in

Japan a Minority? https://goo.gl/images/W7fWsm

One thing the video left out is an outside perspective from Kudo. I’m
assuming an opposing view was left out due to the main point of the
video, being yakuza and their connection to the Right Wing. Kudo’s party
isn’t a subgroup of the yakuza and he claims that they don’t take part in
any of the yakuza activities, so hypothetically they shouldn’t have to have
any interaction with the yakuza. Kudo admits though that in reality
they’d never get away without asking permission from yakuza. The
yakuza are constantly looking after their territory. Nihon No Kai still pay
their respects and tell yakuza what they plan on doing. After informing
the yakuza, yakuza can grant them permission to proceed, but they must
protest according to their instructions.

The video opens with Kudo, and continuously flashes back to Kudo
under the tattoo gun. Tattoos are so often linked to being symbols and a
direct line to the yakuza, so it is interesting that they used those scenes of
being inked so commonly. These tattoo scenes may be a way of VICE
leading the audience to believe Kudo and Nihon No Kai may be more
yakuza then they lead on. It also serves as another way to link right wing
parties and politics to the yakuza. Kudo talks about his full body of
tattoos saying that they’re all Japanese art.

Kudo is openly speaking of the yakuza in this video, without any

noticeable fear of the yakuza punishing him for speaking of their tactics.
The yakuza are once again a transparent organization, using their
openness as a way to communicate their dominance with all people. They
want to have their control public.

Picture of Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Right wing parties no matter how separate they might think they are, are
still working alongside yakuza. The video does its job in communicating
nationalistic parties, and why even though Japan is a safe country,
people still get involved with authorities. I would want to hear from a
police officer as well. I want to see how he views these protests by the
Nihon No Kai, right wingers, and the yakuza.

Ultimately, if right wing parties choose not to work with the Japanese
yakuza they will be disassembled. I think the reason why Kudo did this
video was to show that the right wingers, in his eyes, are normal people
with nationalistic political agendas. They don’t do anything illegal and
they aren’t the yakuza.

To continue with politics, the Democratic Party of Japan is backed by

40,000 organized crime members. The DPJ promised members of
organized crime to keep a criminal conspiracy law off the books and
pledged to work to get voting rights for the Korean- Japanese, which
make up a portion of organized crime. Recently, the minister of justice,
Tanaka, was exposed and had to resign because of his ties with the
Yakuza. This being said, the underworld infiltrates politics from all sides,
not just the right wing (Global vice: The expanding territory of the
yakuza: An interview with Jake Adelstein 2012:66(1), 155-161).

The link between yakuza and right-wing organizations, along with their
supposed link to politicians, is at the core of the responsibility for the
influence and the involvement of organized crime members in politics.
POLICING

https://goo.gl/images/VMebYQ Yakuza members

2017 marked the 13 consecutive year of falling crime in Japan. The

murder rate in 2014 was a amongst a global low of 0.3 per 100,000. To
put it into perspective, America in 2014 had the murder rate of almost 4
per 100,000 people (Economist Magazine 2015). Putting crime into the
view of the yakuza gangsters, yakuza are not a malicious force on society
but if there is a murder committed, it is kept very hidden. This
analyzation will explain the legal zones of policing towards the yakuza.
In 1919, yakuza met with the minister of the state and formed the Dai
Nihon Kokusuikai, also known as the Greater Japan National Essence
Association (Siniawer, Eiko Maruko 2012:45(3), 623-641). This meeting
displayed the close relationship with the yakuza and the state and their
similar agendas. The two were both concerned with the upsurge in left
sided activism, including the upturn in labor union strikes that were seen
by the government as being unpatriotic threats to the societal stability.
The state encouraged capitalist production and yakuza were more than
happy to accept the payment of company management for their
assistance, allowing them to be hired as strikebreakers. Yakuza and the
state also came together in their common attribute of the purposeful use
of violence, as a way to exert and maintain their power. This meeting and
shared agenda is something that would never be seen amongst any other
Mafia group. Yakuza and the state became partners, establishing that
there was, and still is legitimacy within the yakuza violence. In Japan,
there was now a relationship between the legitimate and the illegitimate.
Because the Japanese officials were not contesting legitimate violence, it
allowed for a kind of violent legitimacy. In this violent legitimacy, the
state serves as a cover for yakuza’s public and often violent agenda,
which is usually unjust. The meeting was covered by media, yakuza
unbothered by the public display of their power.

https://goo.gl/images/Yf2Pbf Japanese Police.

Japanese policing is very different than that of America. If they want to

investigate the yakuza they can’t use wire taping, plea bargains, and
there is no witness protection program, creating no incentive for
someone to be a mole. What’s more, if a lower ranked yakuza member is
imprisoned and keeps his information to himself, he gets a large money
reward and protection of his family.

Recently, the police have used a of contract laws, civil laws, ordinances,
and criminal laws to arrest the yakuza more frequently. Additionally,
many banks, auto-dealers, and real-estate agencies have organized crime
exclusionary ordinances within their contracts. The police are making
things increasingly more difficult for yakuza. If a yakuza member even
tries to sign up for a credit card he has to check a box that says, “I’m not
a member of an organized crime group”. If he signs this, that’s fraud
(Global vice: The expanding territory of the yakuza: An interview with
Jake Adelstein 2012:66(1), 155-161).

In modern society, one can share information from the yakuza with the
police, but information one gets from the police can never be shared to
the yakuza. The reason for this aids in my argument of the yakuza public
face. The reason why yakuza want to share information with a reporter
even if they go to the police, is because they use information as a way to
hurt a rival gang. They even use this tactic to stop acts of fellow yakuza
branches. Yakuza still follow some level of an ethics code. If a branch of
yakuza is acting in child pornography or something of that sort, another
branch of yakuza that still stands by their traditional code will go against
a modern crime as such, and tell the media. There is a very low rate of
individual crime in Japan, almost all of it is organized. The yakuza can be
seen acting as a local boys and girls club for young misfits and school
dropouts, bringing them in and making them members.

Daily life activity for the citizens who work at a fish market.

The yakuza are able to eliminate a large amount of drug related crime
because of their tight, and long-standing control, of Japan’s illegal drug
market. Since the Yakuza families control most of the movement of
drugs, this creates an overall better situation. The drug trade is so
condensed by yakuza, that it removes the drug dealing from the streets.
Japan arrested 17 people for drug related crime in 2006. Just the
presence of the yakuza deters small scale crime. In 1990, Japanese police
officers were able to seize less than 70 kg of cocaine. In the US, the
amount of seized cocaine was 55 tons (Kersten, J. 1993:39(3), 277-295).
If one compares the Japanese drug crime situation to that of other
industrialized countries, it seems whatever the police are doing is
working, or maybe rather what the yakuza are doing.

The police force in Japan has been growing through the years, even
though the crime rate has been falling. To counter the claim of the
yakuza being the ones to rid crime from the streets, maybe there has
been a concentration of arrest for small crimes, because there are too
many police officers for too little crime in Japan. The possession of a
small amount of drugs, such as marijuana, is all it takes for police focus
to be centered upon you (The Economist 2017).

The police in Japan are inefficient. Within the small bracket of crime, the
police solve less than 30% of cases they receive (The Economist 2017).
The people of Japan and organized crime police themselves. Yakuza
know to be strategic with their underground work.

The yakuza are lawful criminals. they use their visibility to aid the state
and reap major benefits, ingraining them into the social ranked state.
Yakuza are channeling their efforts differently in the modern era. They
are putting less pressure on the commission of violent offenses, and the
provision of illegal services such as gambling, drugs, prostitution, to
control now legitimate businesses such as construction companies,
restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and finance companies.

Adelstein (2012:66(1), 155-161) contributes to this discussion by

claiming, the yakuza are identified under the idea that power is in
numbers. The main difference from the historical to the modern yakuza
man is that they now have gone international. Yakuza have capital, the
manpower, and the information network. They are expanding into every
industry where money is to be made. The yakuza used to work just in
Japan. After World War 2, the yakuza were far too nationalistic to be
involved with international business. Now though, they are working with
Chinese organized crime groups, expanding into casinos in the
Philippines and Macau, and setting up their front companies in
Singapore and the Cayman Islands. They are hiring bilingual henchmen
as they continue to manipulate the Japanese stock markets from
overseas accounts, and are now working in association with
foreign banks.

A shrine found walking through Japan.

THE LAW

To continue upon the realm of policing, there has been no serious

attempt to break up the yakuza gang by officials. As of 15 years ago, the
activities of the yakuza have become more of a burden for the Japanese
police and the criminal justice system. Yakuza members account for 30%
of the murders, 16% of the robberies, 22% of the serious assaults and
15% of the reported rapes. Within Japan’s total prison population,
yakuza members comprised approximately 30% of the total, making the
yakuza are the main source of trouble for prison officials (Kersten, J.
1993:39(3), 277-295). It brings into question what laws are being made
against them? What efforts are officials making? The law is what society
trusts, it is the legal standard. The yakuza have found a way to be so
public and so dense, that the government had to think of and are still
thinking of solutions to break them up.

Yakuza groups pose an enormous threat to civil affairs and corporate

transactions. They bring in their illegitimate practices to the corporate
sphere. Adelstein states that he thinks what happened in Japan, when
the government introduced the initiative to get hard on antimob
legislation in 1963, is that the initial crackdowns failed (2012:66(1), 155-
161). The legislation simply encouraged the yakuza to go underground.
This forced them to set up front companies that hide their activities
rather than simply work out in the open. Their collection of protection
money, doing small-scale loan-sharking, or running gambling dens, was
now more discrete. The yakuza kept their presence in society, they just
created ways to hide their activities not themselves. The weak laws Japan
put in place rather than dismantling the yakuza, simply pushed them
into new business arenas.

Singjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Taken by Davina Bisaria

An attempt at takedown was the law of Organized Crime

Countermeasures Act, which made it legal for victims of yakuza crime to
sue senior bosses for the crimes of a subordination. Two head bosses
Shinobu and Tadamasa were tried for murder under this law. The bosses
ended up paying the family of the deceased and continued to carry out
their actions. More than 20,000 cases in which violent interventions in
civil disputes were attributed to organized crime members (Tonry,
M. 2000).

A wave of “get tough of Japanese organized crime”, started in 1992, and

despite the get-tough policies, the yakuza have continued to exist ever so
visibly. The new laws on crime involve police raids on some offices of
major yakuza organizations.

Yakuza’s estimated income is 1.3 trillion yen by the national police

agency. An estimate of an overall yearly income of 7 trillion yen is
provided by American economists.New ruling also implies that the
yakuza can no longer operate, even in a semiofficial fashion, in a way
that is displaying their symbol outside of local offices. They also cannot
use bank accounts for illegitimate enterprises. Fines have been given for
businesses that choose to willingly associate with yakuza. These steps
may be working to a degree, being that membership has been falling in
the yakuza. There is currently a 50 year low in membership, and there
has been a decrease in full time members, and an increase in half time
members. Still, these changes aren’t going to completely dismantle the
yakuza. Yakuza’s estimated income is 1.3 trillion yen by the national
police agency. An estimate of an overall yearly income of 7 trillion yen is
provided by American economists (Adelstein, Jake 2015).

A Japanese citizen in daily life.

Yakuza exclusion ordinances are local laws that aim to diminish the
citizen to yakuza relationship, rather than the police vs the yakuza
relationship. Citizens are prohibited from making relations with the
yakuza. Punishments range through public exposure for companies to
bring them shame, a fine, or even imprisonment, but the range of
punishment isn’t very clear. All Japan’s prefecture’s follow this
ordinance as of 2011, including Tokyo. This is a ploy mostly to eliminate
acts that can be regarded as a payoff that assists the yakuza’s operation,
and any sort of close association with the yakuza. It is noted that the set
punishments remain somewhat unclear, even for the authorities. There
has been some suggestion that these ordinances violate freedom of
expression (Global vice: The expanding territory of the yakuza: An
interview with Jake Adelstein 2012:66(1), 155-161).

The Yakuza have the standardization that doesn’t exist in any other
mafia or organized crime group around the world. In 2009, during a
crackdown on crime, one branch of the yakuza created a 12-page exam
for its members. This was a tactical and strategic attempt to keep their
members from getting in trouble with the law. This branch of yakuza
decided this would be effective by showing the government that they
were aware of the law, and working through legal channels. This wasn’t
advertised to the public, but rather used as a way to mock the police
actions against them (Rank, M 2014).

As the yakuza continue to evolve in these modern times, they take on

more sophisticated crimes such as massive stock manipulation and
complicated fraud schemes. The Japanese police are going to struggle to
keep up. Police used to go have tea at the yakuza offices, chit-chat, and
exchange information. There was an exchange of knowledge between the
two sides but now with the underground world having to be more
creative with their crimes, that relationship has a short lifespan.

Meji Shrine, Tokyo, Japan. Captured by Davina Bisaria.

CONCLUSION
and Significance
The yakuza with their public face continue to play a significant role in
Japanese legal spheres of society. They affect politics, daily civil life, the
law, and policing. Yakuza’s visibility as a strength, and their ability to
infiltrate and be unstopped by the legal sphere, is what puts the yakuza
aside from any other organized crime group. It doesn’t seem feasible at
any point in the future for yakuza to be entirely disabled. Even the bosses
of the yakuza are viewed as celebrities amongst society. Bosses
sometimes grant interviews to publications and television, something the
American Italian Mafia would never do. Politicians have been seen
having dinner with assumed yakuza leaders. Politicians are suppose to
defend the law, and yet they meet with the yakuza. Due to the major
advantage the yakuza have, being that they are divided into multiple
families with long dynasties, dispersed around the country, the police
cannot monitor all of their activity. From having a presence in politics,
economics, and real estate to name a few, the yakuza are common
knowledge for the Japanese people. Yakuza don’t plague Japan, never
harming citizens. “Katagi nimeiwaku wokakenai,” which translates into,
“not causing ordinary citizens trouble,” is an important value for that
yakuza (Global vice: The expanding territory of the yakuza: An interview
with Jake Adelstein 2012:66(1), 155-161). Violating this noble way results
in expulsion from the yakuza and ultimate shame. The yakuza take note
of the communities around them, again being very strategic. If people in
the community don’t feel secure around areas where the yakuza are
doing business, including sex shops, illegal gambling parlors, strip and
hostess clubs, the yakuza know they will lose money. Yakuza are not just
tattooed makers, trying to cut off everyones fingers, while in disguise
with suits. The yakuza are normal citizens with illegal agendas.