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> I imagine these people would be quite successful if they aimed at more legal areas of business. My understanding is that Yakuza are generally "Burakumin", wh

by px43 5y ago

> I imagine these people would be quite successful if they aimed at more legal areas of business. My understanding is that Yakuza are generally "Burakumin", which is basically a sub-ethnicity that has been discriminated against in Japan for hundreds of years. They have a strong cultural heritage of decorative tattoos, which is why people with tattoos aren't allowed in gyms or nice restaurants in Japan. It's illegal to discriminate against them in the workplace, but basically every company still does extensive family background checks looking for any sign of Burakumin heritage, and if discovered, they'll suddenly realize that you just aren't a good fit for the company. This is why they're "born to lose". They can't get legitimate high paying jobs, so they build their own ecosystem that they can thrive in. Lots of criminal participation around the world comes directly as a result of systemic discrimination. These are often smart people making the best of a shitty situation that they were born into. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin

weq 5y ago
Unlike the rhetoric of "Just Say No", this is what black markets are. They are not run by idiots, but generally desperate people with no other means. Once you are over the line in that world, the good doesnt matter. You are working underground, anything goes. Desperate people get taken advantage of, but the yakuza are just one link. This route is usually controlled by the triads, they have been arming conflict in the golden triangle for years. Like any other capitalists, blackmarket syndicates expand and fight for terroritory. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meth-syndicate/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meth-syn...
- watwut 5y ago
  I dont know about yakuza specifically. But in general, this is not true or at least not true everywhere. Our local mafias and "black market" were not desperate people. They were people seeing opportunities and taking advantage of them to the max. Some of them generated desperate people among their victims, sure. But, those rarely turned into bosses or gang members. Most of what they did were choices and not a result of "not having any other choice".
- jterrys 5y ago
  >They are not run by idiots, but generally desperate people with no other means Eh I wouldn't say that's entirely accurate. Much like any other domain there's opportunity and cost. When an illegal enterprise is profitable, there's very little incentive to actually stop. These people aren't necessarily desperate, their business models are more directly... amoral. It's true that the underclass dominate petty crime, but that's not really an accurate description of the underground criminal enterprise. They're just the most visible victims, and in an industry that essentially tries to keep itself faceless and out of the limelight, it might appear to the untrained eye that there's only a little more beyond that. The addict engaged in robbing your car is but one end link of a long chain of traffickers: transporters, producers, middlemen, and corrupt officials that lined their pockets with a little bit of the proceeds. Few or none of which even consume any of their product.
rendaw 5y ago
I've heard about this many times before but how prevalent is this actually today? It's hard to be racist if it requires detailed ancestry analysis. I've never heard it mentioned in Japanese media. The only ways I could imagine it occurring is maybe trying to join big old Japanese companies (but a background check of that nature seems like it would still be - legally? - difficult) or perhaps marriage into a super traditional home which there can't be many of now.
- ChoGGi 5y ago
  > It's hard to be racist if it requires detailed ancestry analysis. I can't see it being too hard to get a copy of their koseki? Not that I've ever tried.
DocTomoe 5y ago
While burakumin are well-represented in yakuza circles, not all yakuza are burakumin (which often was/is an inherited "India-style" caste, less so an ethnicity), especially so if you look outside the Yamaguchi-gumi. Unlike "burakumin" status, you can "get rid" of your status as yakuza, and return to a more or less standard "civilian" life.

by px43 5y ago

weq 5y ago

Unlike the rhetoric of "Just Say No", this is what black markets are. They are not run by idiots, but generally desperate people with no other means. Once you are over the line in that world, the good doesnt matter. You are working underground, anything goes. Desperate people get taken advantage of, but the yakuza are just one link. This route is usually controlled by the triads, they have been arming conflict in the golden triangle for years. Like any other capitalists, blackmarket syndicates expand and fight for terroritory. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meth-syndicate/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/meth-syn...

watwut 5y ago
I dont know about yakuza specifically. But in general, this is not true or at least not true everywhere. Our local mafias and "black market" were not desperate people. They were people seeing opportunities and taking advantage of them to the max. Some of them generated desperate people among their victims, sure. But, those rarely turned into bosses or gang members. Most of what they did were choices and not a result of "not having any other choice".
jterrys 5y ago
>They are not run by idiots, but generally desperate people with no other means Eh I wouldn't say that's entirely accurate. Much like any other domain there's opportunity and cost. When an illegal enterprise is profitable, there's very little incentive to actually stop. These people aren't necessarily desperate, their business models are more directly... amoral. It's true that the underclass dominate petty crime, but that's not really an accurate description of the underground criminal enterprise. They're just the most visible victims, and in an industry that essentially tries to keep itself faceless and out of the limelight, it might appear to the untrained eye that there's only a little more beyond that. The addict engaged in robbing your car is but one end link of a long chain of traffickers: transporters, producers, middlemen, and corrupt officials that lined their pockets with a little bit of the proceeds. Few or none of which even consume any of their product.

rendaw 5y ago

I've heard about this many times before but how prevalent is this actually today? It's hard to be racist if it requires detailed ancestry analysis. I've never heard it mentioned in Japanese media. The only ways I could imagine it occurring is maybe trying to join big old Japanese companies (but a background check of that nature seems like it would still be - legally? - difficult) or perhaps marriage into a super traditional home which there can't be many of now.

ChoGGi 5y ago
> It's hard to be racist if it requires detailed ancestry analysis. I can't see it being too hard to get a copy of their koseki? Not that I've ever tried.

DocTomoe 5y ago

While burakumin are well-represented in yakuza circles, not all yakuza are burakumin (which often was/is an inherited "India-style" caste, less so an ethnicity), especially so if you look outside the Yamaguchi-gumi. Unlike "burakumin" status, you can "get rid" of your status as yakuza, and return to a more or less standard "civilian" life.