Japan's Yakuza

Writing about the gangs and characters of the underworld has been great. I learned a few things about their criminal activities and their structure. How fascinating it is to just imagine how these groups thrive and sometimes are even untouched by the power of the law and by the government. The last crime group that I will feature is the Yakuza organization based in Japan with operations in Asia and the US. The following write-up below about the Yakuza are excerpts from "The Yakuza" by writer Anthony Bruno, featured in truTV's website.

Here it is, excerpts from The Yakuza by Anthony Bruno.

The origin of the yakuza is a matter of some debate. Some feel that its members are descendents of the 17th-century kabuki-mono (crazy ones), outlandish samurai who reveled in outlandish clothing and hair styles, spoke in elaborate slang, and carried unusually long swords in their belts. The kabuki-mono were also known as hatamoto-yakko (servants of the shogun). During the Tokugawa era, an extended period of peace in Japan, the services of these samurai were no longer needed, and so they became leaderless ronin (wave men). Without the guidance of a strong hand, they eventually shifted their focus from community service to theft and mayhem.

Modern yakuza members refute this theory and instead proclaim themselves to be the descendents of the machi-yokko (servants of the town) who protected their villages from the wayward hatamoto-yakko. The official yakuza history portrays the group's ancestors as underdog folk heroes who stood up for the poor and the defenseless, just as Robin Hood helped the peasants of medieval England.

Current yakuza members fall under three general categories: tekiya (street peddlers), bakuto (gamblers), and gurentai (hoodlums). The peddlers and gamblers trace their roots back to the 18th century while the hoodlums came into existence after World War II when the demand for black market goods created a booming industry. Traditionally the tekiya, medieval Japan's version of snake-oil salesmen, worked the fairs and markets while the bakuto worked the towns and highways. The gurentai, by contrast, modeled themselves on American gangsters of the Al Capone era, using threats and extortion to achieve their ends. After World War II, in the governmental power void caused by the Occupation, the gurentai prospered, and their ranks swelled. They also brought organized crime in Japan to a new level of violence, replacing the traditional sword with modern firearms, even though guns were now officially outlawed in the country as a result of the surrender.

The yakuza's tentacles reach into many different areas, principally corporate extortion, gambling, smuggling, loan sharking, money laundering, narcotics, real-estate, sports, entertainment, stock manipulation, tourist scams, sex tours, prostitution, slavery, pornography, and gun running.