yakuza

Origins and Traditions

2009-03-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Origins and Traditions

In a private club in Tokyo's neon-lit Ginza entertainment district, men in dark pinstripe suits drink, smoke and play cards. A few of the men are huddled together in a corner, involved in hushed but animated conversation. Others puff their chests out for the accommodating "comfort women" who adorn the smoke-filled room like well-placed flower arrangements.

The club is on the second floor of a small building where the constant whir and clang of a busy pachinko parlor on the ground floor can be heard upstairs. Pachinko is the Japanese national obsession, a slot machine that sends tiny chrome balls through a vertical maze, like a pinball machine set on end but smaller in size. The relentless chatter of hundreds of moving pachinko balls is softened by the club's sound system, which plays the theme from The Godfather, performed on traditional Japanese instruments, koto (Japanese banjo) and wood flute.

A squat older man sits toward the back of the room at a table surrounded by bowing young associates, who respond to every order and request he makes with an unvarying hail of "Hai! Hai!" ("Yes! Yes!"). The older man is flanked by two women—one in a short black cocktail dress, the other in a schoolgirl's pleated plaid skirt and white blouse. Both women cover their mouths and giggle at the man's every gruff word.

A young man in a shiny sharkskin suit enters the room, his head bowed. The other men immediately take notice and stop talking. The young man approaches the older man's table. He does not dare lift his eyes. Without a word he formally presents an artfully wrapped object to the older man. The package is no bigger than a small piece of candy, but the young man sets it down on the table ceremoniously with both hands. His left pinky is heavily bandaged. The old man stares at the offering, then stares at the young man's damaged hand. The moment is tense until the older man nods, his face relaxing a bit, and orders one of his minions to remove the offering without opening it. Everyone in the room knows what it is, the severed last joint of the young man's finger. The gift is an act of appeasement. Several men in the room have also lost parts of their pinkies. It is one of the telltale signs of the Japanese yakuza.

Yakuza members also favor tattoos, but theirs are elaborate body murals that often cover the entire torso, front and back, as well the arms to below the elbow and the legs to mid-calf. Naked, a fully tattooed yakuza looks like he's wearing long underwear. Dragons, flowers, mountainous landscapes, turbulent seascapes, gang insignias and abstract designs are typical images used for yakuza body art. The application of these extensive tattoos is painful and can take hundreds of hours, but the process is considered a test of a man's mettle.

To a Westerner's eye, the yakuza's 1950s rat-pack style of dress can seem comically retro. Shiny tight-fitting suits, pointy-toed shoes and longish pomaded hair—long out of style in America—are commonplace among the yakuza today. They also favor large flashy American cars, like Cadillacs and Lincolns. Unlike other organized crime groups around the world, the yakuza have no interest in keeping a low profile. In fact, in most Japanese cities, yakuza social clubs and gang headquarters are clearly marked with signs and logos prominently displayed.

But despite their garish style, the yakuza cannot be taken lightly. In Japan there are 110,000 active members divided into 2,500 families. By contrast, the United States has more than double the population of Japan but only 20,000 organized crime members total, and that number includes all criminal organizations, not just the Italian-American Mafia. The yakuza's influence is more pervasive and more accepted within Japanese society than organized crime is in America, and the yakuza have a firm and long-standing political alliance with Japan's right-wing nationalists. In addition to the typical vice crimes associated with organized crime everywhere, the yakuza are well ensconced in the corporate world. Their influence extends beyond Japanese borders and into other Asian countries, and even into the United States.

Oyabun-Kobun, Father-Child

Like the Mafia, the yakuza power structure is a pyramid with a patriarch on top and loyal underlings of various rank below him. The Mafia hierarchy is relatively simple. The capo (boss) rules the family with the assistance of his underboss and consigliere (counselor). On the next level, captains run crews of soldiers who all have associates (men who have not been officially inducted into the Mafia) to do their bidding.

The yakuza system is similar but more intricate. The guiding principle of the yakuza structure is the oyabun-kobun relationship. Oyabun literally means "father role"; kobun means "child role." When a man is accepted into the yakuza, he must accept this relationship. He must promise unquestioning loyalty and obedience to his boss. The oyabun, like any good father, is obliged to provide protection and good counsel to his children. However, as the old Japanese saying states, "If your boss says the passing crow is white, then you must agree." As the yakuza put it, a kobun must be willing to be a teppodama (bullet) for his oyabun.

The levels of management within the yakuza structure are much more complex than the Mafia's. Immediately under the kumicho (supreme boss) are the saiko komon (senior adviser) and the so-honbucho (headquarters chief). The wakagashira (number-two man) is a regional boss responsible for governing many gangs; he is assisted by the fuku-honbucho, who is responsible for several gangs of his own. A lesser regional boss is a shateigashira, and he commonly has a shateigashira-hosa to assist him. A typical yakuza crime family will also have dozens of shatei (younger brothers) and many wakashu (junior leaders).

A successful candidate for admission into the Mafia must participate in a ceremony where his trigger finger is pricked and the blood smeared on the picture of a saint, which is then set on fire and must burn in the initiate's hands as he swears his loyalty to the family. In the yakuza initiation ceremony, the blood is symbolized by sake (rice wine). The oyabun and the initiate sit face-to-face as their sake is prepared by azukarinin (guarantors). The sake is mixed with salt and fish scales, then carefully poured into cups. The oyabun's cup is filled to the brim, befitting his status; the initiate gets much less. They drink a bit, then exchange cups, and each drinks from the other's cup. The kobun has then sealed his commitment to the family. From that moment on, even the kobun's wife and children must take a backseat to his obligations to his yakuza family.

The Yakuza Godfathers

2009-03-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Yakuza Godfathers

In the years following World War II, yakuza membership increased dramatically to 184,000 members divided into 5,200 gangs throughout the country, making it larger than the Japanese army at the time. Inevitably these gangs encroached on one another's territories, which resulted in bitter and bloody gang wars. The man who brought peace to the warring factions and unified the yakuza was the group's first 20th-century godfather, Yoshio Kodama.

Kodama's gift was his ability to balance his affiliations to both right-wing political groups and criminal gangs, using each to keep the other in check. He was a political fixer who served his government through corruption, espionage and other dirty dealings, which the Japanese simply call kuroi kiri (black mist). In the 1930s and 1940s, he maintained an extensive network of spies in China, feeding information back to the Japanese government. He procured large shipments of materials, such as nickel, cobalt, copper, and radium, for the mounting war effort, sometimes bartering for these supplies with heroin. A grateful Japanese government awarded him the title of rear admiral for his patriotic efforts, and by the time the war was over in 1945, Kodama was worth the equivalent of $175 million.

After the Japanese surrendered to the Allied powers, he was classified a Class A war criminal—a distinction reserved only for cabinet ministers, ultra-nationalists and high-ranking military leaders—and served two years in prison before being released as part of a general amnesty. A fervent anti-Communist with access to valuable information regarding Communist movements in China and Japan and an army of street criminals at his disposal, Kodama became an attractive asset for the occupying forces. Just as Lucky Luciano provided the Mafia's services to the invading Allied forces in Sicily during World War II, Kodama acted as go-between for the G-2 section of the occupational forces and the yakuza, and was able to mobilize battalions of gangsters to carry out his political will. The CIA paid him $150,000 in 1949 to use his underworld connections to smuggle a shipload of tungsten out of China, a shipment that never arrived, although Kodama kept his fee.

Taoka first came to power in the port city of Kobe, where his gangs rounded up unskilled laborers and sold their services cheaply to shipping companies. Other yakuza clans competed for this lucrative racket, but under Taoka's guidance, the Yamaguchi-gumi took the lion's share of the labor business.

Unlike Yoshio Kodama, who disdained street-level violence, Taoka had lived with it all his life and had no problem using it to his advantage. Orphaned as a boy, Taoka was forced to work on the Kobe docks where he was taken in by a local gang leader named Noburu Yamaguchi. As a young man, Taoka proved to be a fierce street fighter. His signature move was to claw his opponents eyes with his fingers, which earned him the nickname Kuma (The Bear). In 1936, at the age of 23, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for murdering a gang rival.

Upon his release in 1943, he was welcomed back into his old gang, and in 1946, at the age of 33, he became the new oyabun after the death of Yamaguchi. Police arrests and the military draft had reduced the Yamaguchi-gumi to just 25 loyal kobun, but under Taoka the gang's ranks would soon swell. His organizational genius and natural aggressiveness helped to make the Yamaguchi-gumi Japan's premier yakuza clan. The cunning Bear made a pact with Kobe's largest bakuto gang, the Honda-kai, but in fact he was uncomfortable with sharing power. The traditional gamblers were no match for his soldiers, and soon the Honda-kai was devoured by the Yamaguchi-gumi.

A Korean gang from Osaka, the Meiyu-kai, was Taoka's next target, and its defeat gave the Yamaguchi-gumi a controlling share of the Osaka rackets. Operating like a wartime commanding general, Taoka moved in on the Miyamoto-gumi next and swallowed their ranks into his own. In the 1960s even the great Kodama had to negotiate with Taoka to keep the Yamaguchi-gumi from muscling into Yokohama

In 1972 Kodama brokered a historic pact between the Yamaguchi-gumi and Tokyo's powerful Inagawa-kai. The deal was sealed at Taoka's home in a traditional sakazuki ceremony in which blood brotherhood was sworn over elaborately poured cups of sake. After the sake was consumed, the empty ceremonial cups were wrapped in paper and put away inside the representatives' kimonos. The men then clasped one another's hands, and a go-between declared the ceremony completed. The Yamaguchi-Inagawa alliance created a yakuza behemoth with only four of Japan's prefectures free of their control.

In July 1978, at the age of 65, Taoka survived an attempt on his life. He was enjoying a limbo performance at the Bel Ami nightclub in historic Kyoto when a young man named Kiyoshi Narumi walked up to the godfather's table, pulled out a .38-caliber pistol, and started shooting. Despite the presence of five bodyguards, Taoka was hit in the neck, and the assassin managed to escape. Taoka was rushed to the hospital in his bulletproof black Cadillac.

Narumi was a member of the Matsuda syndicate, whose boss had previously been killed in a skirmish with the Yamaguchi-gumi. Several members of the Matsuda gang, including Narumi, had eaten their oyabun's ashes, vowing to avenge his murder. Taoka eventually recovered from his gunshot wound, but his attacker was found dead several weeks later in the woods near Kobe.

Three years later Taoka succumbed to a heart attack. His funeral was a grand affair attended by high-ranking Yamaguchi-gumi members from all over the country, as well as a number of well-known celebrity entertainers. Thirteen hundred police officers were on hand to maintain order. The National Police Agency took advantage of the customary three-month mourning period and arrested 900 Yamaguchi-gumi members in the hope of weakening the gang after the godfather's death. Taoka had chosen a successor before he died, a man named Yakamen, but he was in prison at the time of Taoka's death. In the chaos created by the power void, Taoka's widow Fumiko grabbed the reigns and prevented a divisive power struggle within the gang. She was mainly a figurehead, as one would expect in a male-dominated society, but her strong presence nevertheless maintained order until a permanent successor was selected.

The Korean yakuza are a powerful presence in Japan, despite the fact that Koreans suffer discrimination in Japanese society. Although Japanese-born people of Korean ancestry are a significant segment of the Japanese population, they are still considered resident aliens. 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 Koreans in Japanese organized crime was the Korean yakuza godfather Hisayuki Machii.

Born Chong Gwon Yong in 1923 in Japanese-occupied Korea, 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 anticommunist 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.

The yakuza in america

2009-03-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

The yakuza in america

On October 3, 1991, William Sessions, then-director of the FBI, testified at a hearing on Asian organized crime before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "The Boryokudan," he said, referring to the yakuza, "have built one of the world's largest criminal organizations ... According to a publicized report of the National Police Agency of Japan, the Boryokudan, in 1988, grossed almost 10 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, one-third from crystal methamphetamine, a relatively new and powerful stimulant known on the street as 'ice.' The Boryokudan control an estimated 90 percent of the 'ice' flow into Hawaii. The Boryokudan also smuggle guns from the United States into Japan "

The yakuza have made their presence felt in the United States principally in Hawaii, but also in California, Nevada and even New York.

Hawaii has a natural appeal for just about everyone, but criminal opportunities attract the yakuza there more than the exquisite beaches and lush flora. Yakuza members blend in easily in Hawaii because tourists from Japan and other Asian countries flock there. They invest in high-priced real estate, one of their favorite enterprises, and use the island state as a way station for crystal meth headed for the American mainland and firearms head back to Japan. They also work with local crime gangs, funneling tourists from Asia to gambling parlors, sex shows and bordellos in exchange for kickbacks from locals.

The yakuza have also put down roots in California where they have made alliances with Korean and Vietnamese gangs and furthered their traditional partnerships with the Chinese triads. Los Angeles is particularly attractive because of the influx of young actresses desperate to get their big break in the film industry. Yakuza shills have become adept at luring these vulnerable women into porn films and prostitution. Japanese men, whether on sex tours or at home in Japan, often desire western women, particularly blondes.

Like most American organized crime groups, the yakuza love Las Vegas, where gambling—both legal and illegal—is everywhere. Showgirls and hookers are also plentiful in Vegas, and the yakuza are instrumental in steering Asian tourists to establishments owned by Americans who pay substantial "finder's fees."

Yakuza members have even been spotted in New York City, where they have made loose alliances with the American Mafia. Although cultural differences and the language barrier make a strong bond nearly impossible, the two groups have been able to cooperate in illegal gambling operations, with the yakuza channeling Japanese tourists to illicit after-hours casinos around the city

YAKUZA RACING

2009-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

YAKUZA RACING

Yakuza Racing is proud to present the ultimate trophy car. Weve been working on this for over 4 years now, and this car is a nonstop trophy thief. Mainly comprised of Hayame accents, this car is non short of spectacular. We've spent hundreds of hours with all the little details like powdercoating all the bolts in the engine bay, candy red painting the Yakuza Emblem on the Zex Kit, building a custom diamond plate trunk and more. What else have we done? Too much to list but check out the DVD Screens and Autometer Carbon Vacuum and Fuel Pressure Guage. Special props to Brian Dugger of Carsik custom paint on the Nitrous Bottle, valve cover and nitrous control box.

TIM JORDAN

Check out this sick ride by our newest young pimp Tim Jordan, taking trophy after trophy on the East Coast. Reprezenting Yakuza Racing and Kustomized Kreations, this gentleman is taking it to the next level. Check out his list of modifications.

SIMON

TRD Toyota Racing Dynamics Font Lip
VIS Racing OEM Carbon Hood
Zex Nitrous System
AC Autotechnic Race Guages
AC Autotechnics 5" Tach Hidden in Glove Box
OBX Racing Sports Red Fire Extinguisher
Hayame Racing Floormats
Zenik Ikeda 18" Chrome Rims
Arospeed Intake System
Kicker Custom Vinyl Trunk with
2 Kicker 850.2 Amps
1 Kicker 450.2 Amp
F1 Race Sport Shifting
Eibach Pro Kit Suspension
Pioneer Avic N1 Navigation System
w/ DVD Player
OBX Type R Exhaust System

JUSTIN

Yakuza Racings gotcha eye on you from the back side. Justins got a rear view camera installed where the keyhole used to be, wired into his on screen display. Justin also has an XBox, DVD Player and Navagation System in his cockpit. The highlight is is custom stereo system where the rear seats used to be in his car. Justin has also accented his car with a VIS Racing EVO Carbon Hood, Isotta Steering Wheel and Shift Knob, Various OBX Racing and Hayame products, and a R34 Body Kit. We've also put some Skunk2 love in the suspension and engine.

Isotta Panther Shift Knob
Isotta Vallelunga Steering Wheel
Skunk 2 Spring Set
Hayame Carbon Fiber Pedal Set
OBX Racing Sports Header System
Injen Intake System
OBX Racing Strut Tower Bar
R34 Body Kit
VIS Evo Carbon Fiber Hood
OBX Short Shifter
2 Kicker 850.2 Amps
1 Kicker 450.2 Amp
Pioneer Avic N1 DVD Deck
Rear View Camera
AEM True Time Adjustible Cam Gears
AEM EMS Plug and Play System
OBX Racing Sports Type H Exhaust System
Anzo USA Projector Headlamps w/ Halos
VIS Racing Carbon Fiber Hatch
ZEX Nitrous System

GOLDIE

Goldie the pimp master unleashes his latest Yakuza Racing beauty. Airbag Suspension, Planet Audio Sound and a Wings West Urathane Body Kit make this car an all around stunner.

Niche 19" F-16 Chrome Rims
Kenwood 815 Deck w/DVD
Planet Audio Highs
Planet Audio Mids
Fosgate Punch Hi
2-Kicker 800.2 Amps
1-Kicker 400.2 Amp
EAI Airbag System
1/2 Inch Parker Valves
550 Vi-Air Compressor
Yakuza Racing Switches
Anzo Projector Headlights w/ Halos
Anzo Gunmetal Tail Lights
OBX Racing Racing Sports Type R Exhaust System
Wings West Eurathane Kit
SPW Industries M3 Style Mirrors

HEATHER

Part of the Yakuza Racing Team, Heather Anderson has been building her 2000 Honda Civic for both show and the track. Her SI has been completely modified with high tech Skunk 2 Racing mods, as well as stylish accents from Corbeau, Wings West, SPW Industries, Pivot USA , Hayame and more.

Skunk2 Intake Manifold
Skunk2 Mega Power Catback Exhaust
Skunk2 Front and Rear Strut Bars
Skunk2 Rear Lower Tie Bar
Skunk2 Adjustable Upper A-Arm
Skunk2 Stage II Vtec Cams w/dual springs & titanium retainers
JDM B18 Header
JDM Black Headlights w/blue headlamps
Pivot Vtec Controller
Pivot Shift Light
Conrero Leather Shift Knob & Boot
Nokya Pedals
Short Shifter
18" konig rims
Fog Lights
Indiglo Gauges w/blue led dash lights
Tinted Windows
Hayame Adjustable Sport Suspension
Hayame Blue and Black floor mats
Adjustable Rear Camber kit
SPW Nickel Plated Slotted Cross Drilled Rotors
Hayame Cold Air Intake

History forming YAKUZA, The is Of Japan's Mobster

2008-08-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

History forming YAKUZA, The is Of Japan's Mobster

Yakuzas elongated history be begun approximately on year 1612, while is empowered Shogun Tokugawa and keeps away shogun in advance. This commutation begets approximately 500.000 samurais earlier one called by hatomo yakko (shogun's servant) as gentleman loss, or at conceive of clan ronin.

As word of proverb: “person that just have martil tends to see all something can all done with dimartil..”, such even with clan ronin this. There are many from them become criminal and bodyguard. They at conceive of kabuki nyentrik urakan's mono or samurai that goes to which take in sabre. They converse mutually in hose and secret code language. Available loyalty tingi between ronin's humanity so this group is difficult being exterminated..

What is this ronin's clan that as Yakuza source..?

To protect city of kabuki mono, there are many small towns at Japanese forms machi yokko (satgas is kampong). Satgas this consisting of business men, clerk, and common people that wants menyumbangkan its energy to face kabuki's clan mono. Although they less practiced and amount the few, but apparently membered machi yokko this feels equal to look after their region of attack kabuki mono. Among centuries Japanese people 17th – this machi yokko's clan put down as by hero.

Rituals

A Dowa Yakuza member's "Irezumi" showing a fierce tiger. Often, these tattoos are used to represent a desired or possessed characteristic such as wealth and bravery.
Enlarge

A Dowa Yakuza member's "Irezumi" showing a fierce tiger. Often, these tattoos are used to represent a desired or possessed characteristic such as wealth and bravery.

Yubitsume, or finger-cutting, is a form of penance or apology. Upon a first offense, the transgressor must cut off the tip of his left pinky finger and hand 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. 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 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. (When the British cartoon Bob the Builder was first considered for import to Japan, there were plans in place to add an extra digit to each of the title character's four-fingered hands to avoid scaring children. The same thing was also considered for the show Postman Pat.)

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.

MODERN YAKUZA

2008-08-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

Even time over, Bakuto's clan and Tekiya becomes one id as Yakuza. Clan that its origin on call protect society – as redoubtable society. Chairman of Japan utilizes it to restrain society and moves nationalism. Following yakuza to be recruited by Japan government in the act occupying at Manchuria and China by year Japan 1930 an. Yakuzas is transferred goes to that region to grab earth, and gets monopoly rights as reward.

Changed Yakuza clan fortune afters Japanesing to attack Pearl Harbor. Military takes over to conduct from Yakuza hand. Membered eventual Yakuza shall choose if foses deep commanding bureaucracy, bear arms or jail input. May say pamor Yakuza sinks.After Japanese gives up, membered Yakuza returns to society. Appearance one successful person unites all Yakuza organization. That man is Yoshio Kodame, an ex military by demotes Young Admiral last (one that be reached at age 34 years). Yoshio Kodame successfuling to unite two fraction outgrows Yakuza, which is Yamaguchi Gumi which captained by Kazuo Taoka,and Tosei Kai which captained by Hisayuki Machii. Even yakuza waxed its membership especially at period 1958 1963 – while Yakuza organization estimating to have members 184.000 person – or more a lot of than membered Japanese ground forces soldiers that times. Yoshio Kodame dinobatkan as godfathernya Yakuza.

Divisions of origin

2007-08-28T05:28:00.000-07:00

Divisions of origin (yakuza)

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.

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.

The roots of the Yakuza can still be seen 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.

Yakuza Tattoos

2007-08-26T04:34:00.001-07:00

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.

Japan's Yakuza have been known for their full body tattoos. During initiation, men receive intricate tattoos that can often take more than two years to complete from start to finish.

"Irezumi" is the art of tattooing in Japan. The word means "insertion of ink." Irezumi can be used either as an adjective or a noun, and can be used to refer to a tattoo artist, the person who gets the tattoo, or the actual design

YAKUZA TATTOS ORGINAL

2007-08-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

Japan's Yakuza have been known for their full body tattoos. During initiation, men receive intricate tattoos that can often take more than two years to complete from start to finish.

"Irezumi" is the art of tattooing in Japan. The word means "insertion of ink." Irezumi can be used either as an adjective or a noun, and can be used to refer to a tattoo artist, the person who gets the tattoo, or the actual design

Origins History yakuza

2007-08-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

The term "Yakuza" literally derives from beginnings of the traditional words "Yattsu (Eight)", "Ku (Nine)" and "Za (Three)" based on the worst hand attainable in the Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu, where the 3 numbers are added to 20 and the last digit is taken as the score, zero, similar to the western game baccarat. Although there is a misconception that the name refers to bad luck, the term "Ya Ku Za" is a literal interpretation from the game which means "good for nothing" or "a bad hand" and is used with reference to their precedence and contribution within Japanese society

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 them 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 Totoyomi 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 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

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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. The roots of the Yakuza can still be seen 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.

Post-War Yakuza: Gurentai

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As Japan began to industrialize and urbanization got underway, a third group of yakuza called gurentai (??) began to emerge (though the name gurentai was not given until after World War II). Whether they fall into the traditional definition of yakuza is still open to debate, but they certainly gave birth to another kind of yakuza, the bōryokudan (violence group). In short, a gurentai is a gang in a much more traditional sense, a group of young unruly thugs who peddle their violence for profit. They often engaged in the suppression of unions and other workers' organizations and such activities brought them much closer to the conservative elements of the Japanese power structure. During the militarisation of Japan, some of them became the militant wing of Japanese politics known as uyoku (right wing, ??), i.e. ultra-nationalists.

Unlike more traditional yakuza, uyoku did not maintain territories—they leveraged their violence for political gain. The most famous group before World War II was the Kokuryū-kai (??), or Black Dragon Society. The Kokuryu-kai was a secret ultra-nationalist umbrella organization whose membership was composed of government officials and military officers as well as many martial artists and members of the Japanese underworld who engaged in political terrorism and assassination. They also provided espionage services for the Japanese colonial government. Kokuryū-kai engaged in contraband operations including the Chinese opium trade, as well as prostitution and gambling overseas which provided them with funds as well as information

During the post-War rationing, the yakuza controlled the black market much in line with traditional tekiya operations. At the same time, they also moved into controlling major sea ports as well as the entertainment industry. The biggest yakuza umbrella group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, emerged in the Kansai region, which had a large entertainment industry in the city of Osaka as well as a major sea port in Kobe. American occupation forces fought against them in vain and conceded defeat in 1950. Yakuza also adapted to a more western style, including wearing clothing reminiscent of US gangsters, and began to use firearms. At this point, tekiya and bakuto no longer confined themselves to their traditional activities and expanded into any venture they found profitable. At the same time gurentai began to adopt traditional roles of tekiya and bakuto. They also began to feud among themselves, jockeying for power and prestige.

In the 1960s, Yoshio Kodama, an ex-nationalist, began to negotiate treaties with various groups, first with the Yamaguchi-gumi of Kazuo Taoka and Tōsei-kai of Hisayuki Machii and eventually with the Inagawa-kai. Fights between individual gangs, however, are ongoing.

The Korean Yakuza

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are a prominent part of yakuza, despite the fact that Koreans suffer discrimination in Japanese society. Although Japanese-born people of Korean ancestry are a significant segment of the Japanese population, they are still considered resident aliens. 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 Koreans in Japanese organized crime was the Korean yakuza godfather Hisayuki Machii.

Born Chong Gwon Yong in 1923 in Japanese-occupied Korea, 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.

In 1948 Machii established the Tosei-kai (Voice of the East Gang) and soon took over Tokyo's Ginza district, the Times Square of Japan's capital. The Tosei-kai became so powerful in Tokyo that they were known as the "Ginza police," and even the Yamaguchi-gumi's all-powerful Taoka had to cut a deal with Machii to allow that group to operate in Tokyo. Machii's vast empire included tourism, entertainment, bars and restaurants, prostitution, and oil importing. He and Kodama made a fortune on real estate investments alone. More importantly, he brokered deals between the Korean government and the yakuza that allowed Japanese criminals to set up rackets in Korea, a country that had been victimized by the Japanese for many years. Thanks to Machii, Korea became the yakuza's home away from home. Befitting his role as fixer between the underworlds of both countries, Machii was allowed to acquire the largest ferry service between Shimanoseki, Japan, and Pusan, South Korea—the shortest route between the two countries.

In the mid-1960s, pressure from the police forced Machii to officially disband the Tosei-kai. He formed two supposedly legitimate organizations around this time, the Toa Sogo Kigyo (East Asia Enterprises Company) and Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai (East Asia Friendship Enterprises Association), which became fronts for his criminal activities. He was widely believed to have helped the Korean Central Intelligence Agency kidnap then-leading Korean opposition leader Kim Dae Jung from a Tokyo hotel (see kidnapping of Kim Dae-Jung). Kim was whisked out to sea where he was bound, gagged, blindfolded and fitted with weights so that his body would never surface. The execution by drowning was abruptly cancelled when aircraft buzzed the ship, and Kim was mysteriously delivered to his neighborhood in Seoul. American intervention is said to have saved his life. A police investigation revealed that Machii's people had rented every other room on the floor of the hotel where Kim had been staying, but Machii was never charged with any crime in connection with kidnapping. Machii "retired" in his 80s and was frequently seen vacationing in Hawaii. He later died on September 14, 2002.

Also, Tokutaro Takayama was the kaicho of the Fourth Aizukotetsu yakuza gang. An ethnic Korean, he rose to power as the head of the Kyoto-based gang until his retirement in the 1990s.