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One of main sources of income they had was debt collection. They would actually go and buy entire loan databases and pay off the money people owed. Of course,

• tomjen3 14y ago
  Yeah, that is true. And it is really, really weird because it is so out of character for Japan to have those criminal gangs. Japan is so orderly, so safe. It just makes no sense.
  • akldfgj 14y ago
    It's almost as though those millions of Japanese people aren't a clone robot army.
  • geuis 14y ago
    It's not out of character at all. Yakuza is an ancient tradition going back centuries. Remember that Japan has only been the democratic, peaceful society we know since WWII. They have a civilization that is very, very old and customs that go back very far. Their governmental forms have changed over the many years, but at heart they've always maintained their core of being Japanese. They may be a democracy in 50 years, or an empire in 200, but they will always be Japanese. The Yakuza have a special place in Japanese society. While they certainly can be classified as a criminal element, they are not wonton criminals. In times of crisis, they do help where they can. When I was in Tokyo a few years back, I always felt safe anywhere I went, even when visiting some shady areas of the city. I would never want to get on their bad side, but I never felt threatened by them.
    • cdavid 14y ago
      You felt safe anywhere in Japan most likely because you are of no value to them. I lived for 6 months in a burakumin area in Kyoto, and I never felt threatened either, but that would change quickly if I had any business in Japan (e.g. a bar, club, etc...). Many foreigners like to live in those areas because they are much cheaper and not always badly located in the cities (e.g. Namba/Sakuragawa in Osaka, which is right in the center of the city). As soon as you are a potential source of money, things change. There are many stories of foreigner having to pay a 'protection tax'. Yakuza are actually likely more powerful than e.g. mafia in the US, both in numbers and activity. The links with politician are also very strong. The grand-father of the former prime minister J. Koizumi was most likely a yakuza, and the LDP (party who maintained power over Japan most of post WWII) was founded with yakuza money. Someone else cited tokyo-vice, this interview by his writer is interesting and sheds some lights on the evolution of yakuza: http://boingboing.net/2010/03/18/jake-adelstein-expla.html http://boingboing.net/2010/03/18/jake-adelstein-expla.html
    • chrischen 14y ago
      Seems like organized crime in Japan is like their inner fascists or inner authoritarianism leeching out from their facade of democracy, especially if you need Yakuza support in order to win the presidency.
  • tsotha 14y ago
    The funny thing is the gangs are somewhat orderly. They used to have offices. You know, like if the Gambinos had a building in NYC with "The Gambino Group" on a big sign out in front. Members wore lapel pins with their gang's symbol and sported those wild tattoos, so there was never any doubt who was Yakuza and who wasn't. The cops don't care if the Yakuza kill each other as long as it isn't in a big splashy, public way. A guy could have two holes in the back of his head and as soon as they see tattoos they'll rule it suicide. The newspapers do the same thing. Jake Adelstein said he was going to write up a murder and his boss told him "Nobody cares when a gangster gets killed. Don't bother." The Yakuza are "outlaws" in the original sense of the English word - they break the law and also they're not under the protection of the law. They mostly made their money running pachinko parlors, brothels, extortion, and selling drugs. But are lines they Yakuza can't cross, like killing a member of the general public or a white foreigner. If they do that bosses go to jail, offices are shut down, soap palaces are raided. If you got caught killing another Yakuza the penalty used to be two or three years in jail. If you killed a member of the general public you got the death penalty. Things are changing. They don't do the huge parades when someone important gets out of jail any more, the younger guys don't get tattoos or wear lapel pins, and many of the offices and pachinko parlors have been shut down. Murdering another Yakuza carries stiffer penalties (when the cops bother). You can't go to a public bath if you have tattoos any more. They're being driven underground. Personally, I think that will make them more like organized crime in other countries - more violent and more willing to involve normal people. If you're interested in the subject Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein is a good read. So is Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter by Shoko Tendo.
• ekianjo 14y ago
  I live and work in Japan and apparently every large company has a full time employee dedicated to dealing with the local yakuza to pay for the protection money - so that the rest of the business is not exposed to it in an obvious manner. The yakuza also acts as a form of local police. They know their quarters well and when there non-yakuza crime going on they try to suppress it as well. That's also the reason why Japan is a relatively safe place. As for yakuza-related murders, it does happen of course, but it's usually between gangs (or sometimes between political powers and gangs). There was a famous case a few years ago where a yakuza murdered an official (mayor or something) and that was on the news. By the way, the news media never call the Yakuza "Yakuza", they call them 暴力団　(literally "violent organizations") but everyone understands what it means. There has been some recent efforts by the police to try to suppress the power of yakuza across Japan with more severe laws and prosecutions. This being said, Yakuza gangs are officially declared in Japan and registered with the authorities. They are NOT acting underground, as in they have an official status and membership registration. The Yakuza were the first organization to open street markets right after the war to sell what everyone was missing - they have powerful networks and relationships across the political and economic spectrum. I have heard many times that for someone to become a prime Minister in Japan, they have to get Yakuza support. This is probably true (for economic reasons as well as network influence).
• alinajaf 14y ago
  > The ones we don't grow up with sometimes even sound romantic. They're thugs, pimps, and murderers. Don't ever forget that. I found this out the hard way. If you ever find yourself in a bar in Japan, accosted by a nice Japanese man who's in any way vague about his job description, make your excuses and leave. It's not an adventure, and it's most definitely not OK "because you're in Japan". Also, pay your rent on time. <Paranoia> From what I understand the sort of organization we're discussing here uses google alerts to keep an eye on any online mentions. As someone who would like to move back to Japan some day and who has a very joined-up web presence, that will be all for now. </Paranoia>