The game series has been transferring current events from the political and criminal world of Japan to our TV screens for a very long time and in sufficient detail. We tried to figure out how much the virtual world and everyday reality intersect, and where the bitter truth or embellished mythology is hidden behind a beautiful picture. But first you need to understand where the roots of the Japanese mafia come from and how it affects the culture, politics and entertainment industry of modern Japan.
According to a common legend, the name of the organization originates in the popular card game oichokabu, which was usually played with a set of special flower cards ().
Now, ordinary European cards are increasingly being used, in which Kings, Queens, Jokers are thrown out of the deck, and the number of Aces is reduced to one. Since, according to the rules, the numbers in this game were added to each other, the worst combination was "8-9-3" or yattsu-ku-san. That is, a player with this layout received zero points (8 + 9 + 3 = 20 = 0) and always lost. Later, the phrase yattsu-ku-san began to refer to idlers who burned their lives in cards or simply gamblers. Not surprisingly, the modern yakuza game business is still one of the most profitable. Fans of spreading dice and cards, among other things, were noble horse thieves. Later, united in groups, they began to offer protection to peasants and trade associations from bandits. Sometimes such gangs were joined or led by ronin - samurai, left without a master. Ronin had a huge influence in small towns, becoming their protectors. machi-yakko(literally servants of the city) and sometimes received the status hamamato-yakko(servants of the shogun). Feudal lords increasingly negotiated semi-legal services with organized criminal groups. Medieval yakuza supplied labor for construction projects or quelled peasant uprisings. In 1800, gambling syndicates assisted the authorities in military operations both inside and outside the country. Later, they allied with the nationalists and became a serious political force. Even now, in modern Japan, the yakuza are closely associated with the 100,000-strong wing of ultra-right nationalists who advocate the return of the northern territories (Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands) and the reduction of the American presence in the region. Often, nationalists do work for yakuza groups or are an active part of them. There's a great documentary on this from VICE.
For a long time, the police cooperated and benefited from working with crime syndicates until they decided to destroy them in 1912. It is noteworthy that all attempts to destroy or reduce the influence of the yakuza then or years later led to serious economic problems and an internal political crisis in the country, since criminal groups, business and politics are too intricately intertwined even in modern Japanese society. In the twenties of the XX century, the yakuza as an organization began to look like a modern one, having formed as a serious force, which manifested itself even more actively after Second World War. It was then that the disparate groups united for the first time, taking over the functions of the police. They cleaned up the streets, invested in companies, imported scarce goods into the country, and helped the poor with medicines and provisions. At the same time, the entire economy of Japan was divided between two dozen families who invested in each other's enterprises. It is quite natural that among the shadow association there were also members of the yakuza. By the way, this cross-investment system is still working, so, for example, some Japanese companies almost always support others, actually sharing financial problems and not competing with each other. In other words, if the economic situation were such that nintendo would be forced to leave the gaming business, then Sony would keep her afloat and vice versa.
Returning to the post-war period, I would like to note that it was then that the image of the yakuza was formed, as ninkyo dantai or a chivalrous organization that helps people in times of disaster, protects ordinary people and is ready to sacrifice themselves for a higher cause. For example, among the 50 heroes of Fukushima who lost their lives for the common good during repairs at a nuclear power plant, five people were active members of the yakuza. Yakuza also often come to the aid of disaster victims before official authorities. When cell phones went down during the 2011 tsunami, families quickly set up a system of runners who quickly reported needed food and medicine information to the central office. In Ishinomaki, one of Japan's worst flooded cities, local gangsters gave envelopes containing 30,000 yen first aid to survivors.
In the game series, all lieutenants of rival clans for the most part adhere to the principle ninkyo dantai. Be it Kazuma Kiryu who maintains an orphanage in Okinawa or Majima Goro And Daigo Dojima supporting ordinary people. By the way, the story of Okinawa from the third part of Yakuza had a very real basis, and according to current family members, one of the high-ranking members of the organization really maintains an orphanage in Okinawa, though mostly to evade taxes. As for the story part with the land fraud of the government and the CIA, with the exception of the CIA, all the events told in the third part of the story related to Okinawa and the seizure of land really took place in reality, as well as the struggle of local clans for power and an attempt to split big syndicate. It is also noteworthy that there are examples in history when the cruel bosses of the family retire, transferring business to their followers, and themselves become Buddhist monks, repenting of their sins and making donations in order to receive forgiveness and live happily in the monastery.
Representatives of the organization also like to discuss the concept Ninjo, which in short is to protect ordinary people. The Yakuza fights against the spread of drugs on its territory, catches and turns in street thieves and tries not to use methods of direct violence against ordinary residents who owe them money. The image of the organization is very important for its bosses, so most families are absolutely legal. You can find addresses of large yakuza organizations with phone numbers and offices in open directories, most groups have their own emblems, clubs and websites. This is clearly seen in the series, where you come to the leader of the clan, located in a large office with expensive decoration and security.
Yakuza are open to communication and often invest in legal projects, supporting young businessmen. Many shops pay for yakuza protection, and this deters petty street thieves and bandits. Yakuza often cooperate with the police, solving this or that problem or handing over the leaders of the lower members of the group for crimes, who come to the police with voluntary repentance. Cell members who are willing to serve time in prison for the sake of their family or superior lieutenant are honored and respected in the clan and receive a special status in prison, where the police look at many of their actions through the fingers. This is again well demonstrated in and . Especially in the fifth part, where a respectable policeman helps the lieutenant of the Tojo clan taiga escape from prison, guided by conscience and honor, like the yakuza lieutenant himself, who went to prison for the sake of his brothers and the well-being of the whole family.
^ girlfriends and wives of yakuza representatives also like to get tattoos
The structure of the Yakuza suggests a rigid, almost army-like chain of command. The head of the clan-family is the father ( oyabun), his children obey him ( kobun), which are brothers to each other ( kyōdai). The initiation ritual involves the ritual drinking of sake, where the new member of the group drinks a few sips and the father drinks an almost full bottle. This symbolizes inequality in the family and recognition of the authority of the father. Often, the yakuza hire teenage bullies for a trial period, who, upon reaching the age of 20, can return to normal life or join the family. If they choose a peaceful life, they should go to the police station and apologize to the police. After the growing up ceremony Hatachi they may change their minds and join the family by sharing ceremonial sake with the boss.
The exit from the group used to be exclusively through the ritual of cutting off the phalanx of the little finger ( yubitsume), which again refers to the times of the samurai, where a person without a part of the little finger could no longer wield a sword normally and became helpless on the battlefield. Now, instead of self-mutilation, they prefer the payment of a certain financial amount or a person is expelled from the organization by decision of the boss - time for business and money. In the game series, one of the heroes representing the old school of the yakuza offered another to make a ritual gesture to atone for his sins, but he defiantly refused, offering to pay off with money. Another character of the old school, on the contrary, agreed to a bloody ritual. This is how the old and new schools of the yakuza are demonstrated.
The structure of the modern organization is built on the feudal family type, where the orders of higher members are not discussed and, if necessary, one of the clan members can take on someone else's fault or kill the enemy on the first order. True, in many families, this system corrupts, and the lower members of the family are forced to run for cigarettes, change ashtrays, pour wine and perform other functions of the attendants without the possibility of growth. The elements of this structure are shown in relation to the samurai customs of the duel, the heirs of which the members of the criminal association consider themselves to be. That is why in the game clan bosses solve their problems in fisticuffs. In real life, fathers prefer mutually beneficial financial deals to battles - no one fights with anyone.
True, sometimes violence still takes to the streets. So during the showdown between and Sumiyoshi-kai in 2007, the 79-year-old boss of the latter was killed. And five years earlier, the Sumiyoshi-kai rammed the walls of the official Yamaguchi-gumi office with an 11-ton truck. Then several yakuza from the Yamaguchi-gumi family suffered. In general, the confrontation between these two clans is shown in the game series as a struggle between families and Alliance Oni. The Yamaguchi-gumi represent the noble Tojo, while the Sumiyoshi-kai represent the aggressive Oni Alliance. The fight between the groups in real life takes place for the sake of three entertainment districts Tokyo: Ginza, Asakusa And Kabukicho. The latter is recreated one-on-one with the same establishments, entertainment centers, hostess clubs, massage parlors and a cinema in the game world as Kamurocho.
Many clans enforce a mandatory examination system for their members, as in 2009 the Yamaguchi-gumi required their brothers to pass a 12-page test on knowledge of the laws and restrictions of the law against the yakuza.
Returning to the yakuza hierarchy, it is worth noting that at the bottom of the chain of brothers are street thugs and low-level gangsters, who are called chinpira, and we will return to them in connection with the protagonist of the Yakuza series Kazuma Kiryu a little later. In the game, they try to attack you and punish you for being on their territory. And although their manner of speaking, motherhood and facial expressions correspond to real Japanese punks, Japanese bandits prefer not to attack people on the streets. They are more specialized in collecting debts and auto-setups (you scratched our car, so pay the money), which are quite popular on our Russian roads.
In the late 90s, as a result of the unification of several clans, the current yakuza system was formed, headed by the group. In 2005, a Tokyo family Kokusui-kai joined the Yamaguchi-gumi, making it the largest yakuza family, with 45% of all members of the organization in Japan. Now the total number of active members of the criminal organization is 58 600 people, which is 5 thousand less than in 2012. In addition, Yamaken-gumi, whose head office is located in Kobe, suffered a split and 17 clans out of 70 left the family, which weakened the influence of the family. Apparently, the upcoming one will be partially devoted to these events. It should be noted that this is official data. Added unofficially to these figures is a 100,000 far-right wing, as well as at least 60% of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces or Jieitai, which, for the most part, consists of secret members of the organization.
In fact, all activities of the organization are divided into three types. The first one is Bakuto or the gambling industry. Here, the yakuza controls numerous saloons. Pachinko, arcade centers, sweepstakes, construction companies and show business.
Representatives of this wing actively promote numerous idols, hiding under the signs of respectable production centers. In you meet the leader of a family from Osaka who tries to help Haruka and other heroes to achieve success, and at the same time promote their group T-Set.
Pachinko is semi-legal and you can't win money, so the tokens are exchanged for all sorts of jewelry and nonsense, but few people know that the same tokens and strange gifts can be exchanged for expensive jewelry and money in the gray exchange centers that kind members of the yakuza take you to. A tribute to this tradition is also in the series Pokémon with their Pokemon Centers where you get your prizes. The sweepstakes story is again beautifully illustrated in , where a complex baseball betting scam brings key characters together. In addition to baseball, the yakuza controls sumo matches, golf, wrestling, and other sports.
The construction business was actively shown in the first three parts, but in reality, it was the syndicates that helped the government buy land from small owners for the 1964 Olympics, in order to build them up with the necessary objects later. Now the government is once again unofficially recruiting families to clean up areas for the 2020 Olympics.
The second type of business is Takya or holding fairs and festivals. Yakuza members hold charity auctions, distribute gifts and money to children. For example, family Yamaken-gumi annually holds Christmas festivals, where he gives envelopes with money to children and adults from low-income families otoshidama(10 thousand yen each), clothes and toys.
Ordinary members of the clan and their bosses dress up in carnival costumes and become animators. They make rice cakes mochi, fried noodles yakisoba and dough balls with octopus takoyaki. Such holidays are held from 9 am to 1 am and have a positive effect on the image of the family. Last year, the annual Halloween celebration was canceled due to the danger of a stampede - the Yamaken-gumi members apologized to the city's residents and promised to hold the festival in 2016 in a big way. In addition, members of the yakuza enjoy celebrating various religious holidays, such as last year in Asakusa. Pay attention to how ordinary people react to the performance and how the yakuza collects the pieces of a freshly broken bottle.
They also help the homeless with jobs or food. True, evil tongues claim that the homeless are often deceived, and they sort toxic waste for big money or participate in rescue operations at Fukushima, bringing money to the clan.
The third type of business is Gurentai or all possible shadow business. These are numerous porn shops, underground massage parlors, image and pink rooms, soaplands, drug sales, debt collection and other purely criminal business. Representatives of the first and last types of yakuza are often used by the authorities to break up demonstrations, anti-war and anti-American campaigns, and intimidate union members. Many families distance themselves from the last kind of income, like a family Yamaken-gumi, which has set as its goal the complete destruction of drugs in Japan and calls its main activity only festivals, show business and legal gaming business.
Tattoos and clan logos are one of the main distinguishing signs of belonging to a particular family. All lieutenants and ordinary members of the syndicate use cufflinks or badges with the clan logo. The clans of real acting families look like this:
And here is the clan from:
There are similarities, right?
Tattoos are no longer as popular with young group members who prefer a subtle mark or no tattoo at all. But among the Yakuza of the old school, tattoos have always occupied one of the most important places, as a demonstration of strength and endurance. The fact is that traditionally tattoos for almost the entire body were chosen by the tattoo master for each family member. And then I applied the drawing according to the old system Tebori where bright and very poisonous paints are used, and the tattoo itself is applied in a long and painful way with a bamboo stick and sharp blades. Such tattoos do not fade, but it takes up to 300 hours to create a beautiful pattern on the back. Such tattoos are applied in fragments once a week with sessions of 2-3 hours. The cost of an hour of the master's work is 10 thousand Yen (7 thousand rubles). Accordingly, the whole tattoo takes several years and 3 million Yen ( about 2.5 million rubles).
In addition to being expensive, the process itself is very painful, so out of 10 people, only less than half complete their drawing. Advantages Tebori is that the tattoos are very bright and do not fade due to the depth of penetration. As for the drawings themselves, there is Chinese or Japanese symbolism in them. For example, a carp can be combined with a dragon, because according to mythology, swimming along the yellow river, it turns into this mythical creature. Cherry blossoms symbolize the transience and beauty of bandit life and are common among the clan's fighting unit. The tiger and dragon balance each other, like Yin and Yang in Chinese tradition. The images of demons on the back scare away evil and protect the wearer from death. Almost all tattoos have the mark of the master, which confirms the quality of the product. In the series, all tattoos correspond to the characters of the characters and are made in the yakuza tradition. You can even find the hallmarks of a master on them, who made them based on his real works for real family members.
It is worth noting that a special space is left in front of the chest in traditional tattoos and there are two reasons for this. The first is that when wearing a traditional kimano, it does not give out a family member in any way, and secondly, since the paints are toxic, if you do not leave a piece of skin for it to breathe, then problems with the liver arise. Plus, due to the active public campaign against the yakuza, family members are not allowed access to public baths ( Onsen), beaches and even hotels. Moreover, sometimes a demonstration of a tattoo can end in a prison term. You can learn more about tattoos and the yakuza from this report:
The external style of family members is quite conservative. These are always expensive costumes and small badges with the emblem of the clan.
street thugs or chinpira prefer red shirts with a high collar and light-colored suits. This is what the main character of Yakuza looks like Kazuma Kiryu that the current members of one of the families noticed while playing the game. You can read the material about how they played.
And it's really strange that one of the top yakuza dresses like a street gopnik. Apparently, she herself realized this problem Yakuza Team, by dressing Kazuma in a jacket and tank top in the sixth part of the game.
Other aspects of the underground and regular world of Japan in the game, including massage parlors, shops, arcade machines, hostess clubs and restaurants, will be discussed in the second part of the material. In the meantime, you can enjoy an interesting report about the yakuza of the Russia TV channel.
Editing - ACE, Shibito.
Yakuza members
Japan has always been a mysterious country for Europeans. For a long time, its emperors did not allow foreigners into their land. When foreigners managed to get acquainted with the Land of the Rising Sun in detail, they discovered a lot of phenomena traditional for the population, absolutely incomprehensible to the European mentality. Samurai, hara-kiri, geisha, sumo and, of course, yakuza. Yakuza is a purely Japanese form of existence of the criminal community, which has incorporated the traditional spirit of Eastern mystery and European rationalism in its conduct.
Until recently, the existence of the yakuza in Japanese society was quite legal. In large cities there were even offices with a corresponding sign, and rummaging through the papers, one could even find a complete list of employees. The yakuza have mastered here a part of the recreation and entertainment industry that is in close contact with human vices ─ drinking establishments, gambling and brothels. Previously, the dominance of Japanese bandits in these areas was undivided. The changed world brought competitors to the Japanese islands with western winds. Now the yakuza have to compete and share income with the Taiwanese and those who rushed a few decades ago to wealthy Japan. The state is also adopting foreign experience in fighting organized crime and has passed a series of laws that have driven the yakuza deep underground. However, it is too early to argue that the time of the yakuza has irrevocably gone rock.
Literally translated, the word yakuza means "scum". This is how ordinary people treat those who do not want to earn a living by honest work and instead of waking up every morning and going to work, in the evenings and at night they are engaged in very dubious and risky business. People who have not found themselves in a modern industrial society, or those to whom everyday life gives too little adrenaline, go to the yakuza now.
Each of the three hieroglyphs denoting the name of the yakuza has its own numerical value. Together, this is a combination of numbers 893. In the Japanese version of the blackjack card game, this combination of cards is the most useless, which once again emphasizes people's opinion about the inferiority of the yakuza as a social phenomenon. Yakuza members have always been second rate to successful people. True, the layman used to be terribly afraid of this second-class. As soon as a group of people with characteristic tattoos on their bodies appeared on the beach or in the bath, the people around them began to scatter in panic from them. The myth of the omnipotence and ferocity of the Yakuza was very strong. Moreover, stuffing drawings on the bodies was not accepted among ordinary citizens of Japan. Today, tattooed strong men simply do not pay attention. Fear completely passed, and the fashion for tattoos was added.
However, the image of the yakuza is very popular in popular culture due to the traditions replicated in feature films that are both colorful and violent. The most famous of all rituals is yubitsume. This is when the phalanx of the finger is cut off. Previously, the lack of fingers on the hands was considered one of the signs of belonging to the yakuza. Misconceptions said that yubitsume represented a form of punishment for misconduct. In fact, according to the ideology of Japanese criminals, finger amputation should be voluntary. Thus, the offending gang member apologizes to the boss, after which the incident is considered settled and erased from memory.
The technology of self-deprivation of the phalanx of the finger is quite complicated. At the beginning, the base of the finger should be tightly tied, for example, with an elastic band. The blood should stop flowing to the end of the finger, and he himself should become numb. Having achieved a complete loss of sensitivity, the apologetic yakuza takes a knife in his hand, puts it on his finger and asks the boss to hit him with a hammer. With a strong and sharp blow, the procedure is almost painless and bloodless. The severed tip is presented to the boss as a keepsake. Previously, severed organs could be stored with him for a long time in alcohol form. Now for such a collection it is easy to end up in jail. The Japanese have adopted a very tough law that punishes even a simple discussion of crimes in a narrow circle. What then to talk about intentional self-mutilation.
Yakuza tattoo
Among the yakuza, the boss is called an oyabun. His name is sacred and must appear on the body of anika - this is the name of an ordinary member of the group. Aniki means brother. All members of the yakuza are brothers and form a family, and the oyabun is its head. Unlike Russian criminals, Yakuza tattoos do not carry any meaning. They lack completely symbolic meanings like crosses, domes, eight-pointed stars, maps, mermaids.
The set of plots for Yakuza tattoos is quite limited and is a type of ancient Japanese painting. Tattoos should cover the entire torso of Anika, but a clean strip is left in the center of the chest from the collarbone to the very waist. After the initiation ceremony, the name of the oyabun should be inscribed on it. Previously, all tattoos were applied with special bamboo sticks ─ irezumi. It took years to paint the body. Progress forced tradition to recede. Yakuza go to tattoo parlors and expose their bodies to a rotary or induction machine.
The initiation ritual is called sakazuki. It needs 2 flat cups, more like Russian tea saucers, and Japanese rice vodka ─ sake. Sake is poured into both cups. The oyabun drinks from one, and the yakuza candidate spills his drink on the ground. Then both cups are given to aniki as a souvenir, and he keeps them all his life, as the most expensive thing. In the center of the cup from which the oyabun drank, his name is drawn, which should then appear on the chest of a new member of the gang.
mafia yakuza
The most surprising thing about the yakuza lifestyle is that they do not have a commandment of lifelong devotion to the family or oyabun. In Latin American gangs, one who joins it swears the oath only once and can only leave a corpse. The Japanese are more similar to the Russians, who have the concept of "departed." This is when the thief, for reasons of deteriorating health, which does not give him the opportunity to actively participate in everyday criminal life, or for ideological reasons, declares his departure from and resignation of high powers.
In Japan, everything is much simpler. Especially for the yakuza, who are on the lower rungs of the hierarchical ladder. They can simply leave the family. No one will pursue them for this step. In memory of the time spent in the yakuza, only the body, densely painted with ornaments and an inscription from the name of the oyabun, will remain. The Yakuza are also allowed to move from one family to another. Without any consequences. No one will even be interested in the motives that prompted such a decision. With yakuza of higher ranks, the situation is more complicated, but quite solvable. Leaving the family, he must pay her something like a fine for betraying trust. Pay and go for a walk. Leaving the yakuza or moving from family to family is not uncommon, but quite common.
In the early 90s of the last century, the gambling business began to revive in Russia. The Russian gangsters immediately remembered their Japanese colleagues, who had accumulated vast experience in its proper organization and methods of control over this area of business. A delegation of Japanese entrepreneurs, headed by the head of the Tambovskaya, was invited to St. Petersburg.
The businessman was a second generation Yakuza. The eastern mysticism surrounding the yakuza did not take root in northern and cold Russia, inhabited by not as sophisticated people as in Japan and who prefer not to fuss with opponents for a long time, but to put a bullet in their foreheads or blow them up with a mine along with all the giblets. The customs of the new Russian time allowed even the leaders of organized crime groups to be killed because of money and power. Cooperation stopped at the supply of slot machines.
In Japan, the yakuza usually operate in the following way. They try to negotiate amicably with competitors, and negotiations can take quite a long time. Convinced that the negotiation process has reached an impasse, the yakuza appoint a "shooter" to which they bring all their cash. The end of the meeting can be a wall-to-wall fight. All aniki usually attend the training halls in a disciplined manner and prepare themselves for battle. There are no squishy and "nerds" among the yakuza. In the last decade, under police pressure, many families have broken up. Statistics show a sharp decline in the number of oyabuns in recent years. As a result, the crime rate in Japan is one of the lowest in the world.
Yakuza(jap. ヤクザ or やくざ), also known as gokudo(jap. 極道 gokudo)- Members of rival traditional organized crime groups in Japan, as well as the common name of such groups. In Japanese legal terminology, yakuza are called "boryokudan" ("bōryokudan"), which means "power group". This name is regarded by the yakuza themselves as offensive, as it can be applied to any type of crime. According to the Guinness Book of Records, today the yakuza are the most significant criminal phenomenon in the world.
During their creation, the Yakuza adopted the traditional Japanese hierarchical structure. oyabun-kobun ("oyabun-kobun"), Where kobun (子分, "adopted child") must show loyalty to oyabunu (親分, "adoptive parent"). At a much later period, it was developed code "jingi" ("jingi", 仁義, code of "justice and duty") where it was enshrined that loyalty and respect are a way of life. The oyabun-kobun relationship is cemented by the ceremonial exchange of cups of sake. This ritual is not a feature of the yakuza world and is commonly found in a traditional Japanese Shinto wedding and may have been part of a twinning relationship. During World War II, the more traditional form of tekiya/bakuto organization declined as the entire population was mobilized to participate in hostilities, and society was under the watchful and strict eye of the military government.
However, after the war, the yakuza rose again. Supposedly, the yakuza have infiltrated every area of human life in Japan. The most romantic tales say that the yakuza take in sons who have been abandoned or sent away by their parents. Many yakuza began their "professional" career in middle or high school as street thugs or members of bōsōzoku gangs. Some yakuza thugs are actually not very smart, if not mentally retarded, but they are accepted into the clans due to their good physical fitness. Perhaps due to the fact that they initially have a lower social status, yakuza often become burakumin and ethnic Koreans. The leaders of the yakuza clans are usually very cunning, tough and intelligent men. to rise to the top level in the yakuza hierarchy, one must be highly competitive and unscrupulous. Yakuza clans are led by an oyabun or kumicho (kumichō, 組長, "head of the family"), who issues orders to his kobun subordinates. In this regard, the yakuza organization is a kind of variation of the traditional Japanese sempai-kohai relationship. Yakuza gang members carry family relationships into clans in the sense that they treat each other like a father or like older/younger brothers.
In the Yakuza clans, almost all members are men and there are very few women. However, if they are, they are called "o-nee-san" (お姉さん, "big sister"). When the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi in the late 90s. was killed, his wife, albeit for a short time, took over the reins of the family. Yakuza have a very complex structure: there is the most important boss of the syndicate - kumicho immediately followed by saiko komon ("saiko komon", 最高顧問, "senior consultant"), and behind it - so-honbutyo ("so-honbucho", "chief of staff").
The next level of command is wakagashira ("wakagashira"), who manages several clans in the region, and at the same time controls the clan directly shateigashira (shateigashira). The bond of each clan member is subordinated to the hierarchy (sakazuki): at the very top is the kumicho and controls the various saiko-komon, who in turn control their own subordinates in different districts or cities. The siko-komon have their own subordinates, including under-bosses, consultants, accountants, and others. Those who are named after the oyabun are part of one extended family and are ranked from younger to older brothers. However, each kobun can act as an oyabun for a lower-ranking clan, which can also become the basis for the emergence of an even lower-ranking unit. The Yamaguchi-gumi, which runs some 2,500 businesses and 500 yakuza clans, even has fifth-rank organizations.
Yubitsume (yubitsume), or cutting off fingers: according to this tradition, after the first offense, the offender cuts off the tip of the little finger from the left hand and hands the cut off part to his boss.
Sometimes the clan boss may perform this ritual and give the cut off part of the finger to the oyabun when, for example, he wants to save one of his clan members from further reprisal. The origin of this custom comes down to the Japanese way of holding a sword. The three lower fingers of each hand are used to hold the sword firmly, with the index finger and thumb slightly relaxed. Removing the phalanges of the fingers, starting with the little finger, gradually weakens the grip on the hilt of the sword and the idea of \u200b\u200bpunishment, therefore, is that a person with a weak grip is only capable of defense.
Recently, fingertip prostheses have appeared to hide this feature, and when the British cartoon "Bob the Builder" was imported to Japan, plans were even made to add an extra finger to the characters so as not to scare little kids. Many yakuza have tattoos all over their bodies, which are known as irezumi ("irezumi"). Irezumi are still often pricked by hand, where dye is injected under the skin using bamboo or steel needles. Such a procedure is not only painful and very noticeable on the pocket, it can also take more than one year to reproduce the entire drawing. While serving time in prison, some yakuza are immortalized every year with one pearl ... inserted under the skin of the penis. And when the yakuza play cards with each other oycho-kabu (Oicho-Kabu), they often open their shirts or tie them around the waist, thus showing each other their tattoos. This is one of the few times the yakuza show their tattoos in public. as a rule, patterns are carefully hidden by high-buttoned shirts with long sleeves.
Another well-known ceremonial among the yakuza is the joint drinking of sake - this is how a brotherly oath is sealed between individual yakuza or entire mafia clans. For example, in August 2005, Kenichi Shinoda and Kazuyoshi Kudo held such a ceremony, strengthening the twinning of their clans - Yamaguchi-gumi and Kokushu-kai.zy.
The history of the emergence and development of the yakuza.
The first historical prerequisites for their appearance are attributed to the hatamoto-yakko (hatamoto-yakko) or Kabuki-mono (Kabuki-mono) of the 17th century, which are derived classes from the lower rank of hatamoto (hatamoto). Other theories, proposed by the yakuza themselves, defend their origin from the "machi-yakko" (machi-yakko), who protected the villages from the hatamoto-yakko, who tried, despite the strength and preparedness of the mati-yakko, to rob them. Despite their shortcomings, mati-yakko were regarded as folk heroes at the level of the same Robin Hood. The theory that the yakuza originated from the hatamoto yakko is due to the strange hair styles they adopted and the outrageous dress worn during performances by kabuki theater actors during the Genroku era.
Despite some differences of opinion, most researchers agree that most of the events associated with the appearance of the yakuza belong to the Edo period. Since at that time the Toyotomi Hideyoshi clan no longer threatened the power of the Tokugawa, peace reigned in the country and a huge number of soldiers were no longer required to maintain general order, and they moved to the castles of their daimyo.
Due to the isolation of Japan and the restriction of foreign trade, her own trade and agriculture improved significantly, which led to the accumulation of power within the merchant class, and made the samurai dependent on them - the "salary" of the samurai was paid in the form of a natural product - rice, which was then sold in local markets. The subsequent natural disasters, famine and higher taxes led to a destabilization of the situation in society, a decline in morale and public dissatisfaction with the government. Then such personalities as ronin began to appear, who played a significant role on the historical stage of Japan. It was the ronin who moved from simply stealing money and violence to protecting villages from robbers and other bad people in return for a certain fee, of course.
Modern yakuza, however, claim that they came from the ranks of machi-yakko, refuting the origin from the ranks of hatamoto-yakko, because, you see, they [hatamoto-yakko] are associated with theft, which honest modern yakuza cannot afford . In large cities, several such groups often existed simultaneously and, as a result, fought for territory, money and influence - just like many modern gangs - ignoring any civilians who, by sheer chance, were in the line of fire. Again, the popular yakuza theme in Japanese cinema and television was pioneered by the well-known - including in the West - Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, in which a roving ronin turns two yakuza groups against each other and ultimately destroys them. In fact, the yakuza received a little bit from both machi yakko (such as some defense techniques) and kabuki mono (such as frilly fashion and language).
Despite some uncertainty about the exact origins of the yakuza, most modern yakuza stem from two factions that arose during the Edo period: the tekiya, who primarily peddle illegal, stolen, or shoddy goods; and "bakuto" who were involved in or directly involved in gambling. Tekiya ("pedlars") were considered one of the lowest castes of the Edo period.
When they began to form their own organizations, they took on some administrative responsibilities, such as trading only in certain areas (i.e. everyone had their own plot) or protecting their commercial activities. During Shinto festivals, tekiya stalls were set up, and some members of the group were hired as guards. Each tekiya paid rent in exchange for a kiosk and protection during the festival. Finally, the Edo government officially recognized the tekiya organizations and granted their "employees" ("oyabun", "oyabun") the right to bear a surname and a sword.
This was a huge step forward for merchants as up to this point, only samurai and nobility could carry swords. Bakuto ("players") were much lower in the social ladder than merchants, because. gambling was illegal (and, in general, continues to be so now - for money, anyway. But even here, however, there are a certain number of tricks). Small-scale gambling houses proliferated in abandoned temples and shrines on the outskirts of towns and villages throughout Japan. Most of them could provide some kind of loan to their clients and kept their own security service. Bakuto was despised by all sections of society in general, and most of the negativity associated with the yakuza comes precisely from the "players" and their activities. Actually, the name "yakuza" is the self-name of bakuto.
Due to the economic situation in the middle of the period and the predominance of the merchant class, the developing factions of the yakuza consisted of misfits who could not adapt to society, and criminals who extorted from local markets and sold fake or shoddy goods. The roots of the yakuza can still be found in the tekiya and bakuto initiation rites. Despite the fact that modern yakuza are much more diverse in their field of activity, many of them still identify themselves with one or another of the original groups. For example, yakuza whose primary source of income is illegal gambling may well consider themselves bakuto.
As soon as Japan entered the era of urbanization and industrialization, a third group of yakuza appeared, called "gurentai" ("gurentai", 愚連隊), and this name was received even before the start of World War II. Whether the gurentai fall under the traditional yakuza or not is still a moot point, but they undoubtedly spawned a different kind of yakuza grouping, which was called "boryokudan" ("bōryokudan") - "power groups". In short, the gurentai are a gang of unruly young thugs who put on power "performances" for money. Those. fight for the highest bidder. They often participated in the struggles of trade unions and other workers' organizations, which brought them much closer to the traditional Japanese underground power structures. As Japan became militarized, some of them came to represent the militant wing of Japanese politics known as the "uyoku" (右翼, "right wing"), or ultra-nationalists.
Unlike the more traditional yakuza, the uyoku did not establish their influence over any territories - they inflicted violence solely for political purposes. The most famous uyoku group before World War II was the Kokuryu-kai (Kokuryū-kai, 黒龍会) - "Black Dragon Society". The Kokuryu-kai was a secret ultra-nationalist umbrella organization (such an organization supports several other organizations working in a particular area; or such an institution is an association (union) of these organizations and has its own name), whose members were many government officials and officers, as well as many martial artists and inhabitants of the Japanese underground, engaged in political terrorism and assassinations. Also, members of the Kokuryu-kai provided espionage services for the Japanese authorities and engaged in smuggling, including the Chinese opium trade, prostitution and gambling abroad - all these areas of activity supplied the Kokuryu-kai with both money and information. they began to control major seaports and the entertainment industry.
The largest yakuza umbrella group was the Yamaguchi-gumi (Yamaguchi-gumi), which appeared in the Kansai region and owned a large entertainment industry in Osaka and equally large seaports in Kobe. The US occupying forces tried to fight the Yamaguchi-gumi and other groups, but in vain, eventually admitting defeat in 1950. Gradually, the yakuza began to use firearms and began to look more like classic Western gangsters.
At this stage, both tekiya and bakuto went beyond their traditional industries and expanded into whatever area they found profitable. Gurentai at the same time began to assume the traditional roles of tekiya and bakuto, which eventually led to a clash between all three major yakuza groups and a struggle for power and prestige. In the 1960s Yoshio Kodama, an ex-nationalist, began to negotiate with various groups, the first of which was the Yamaguchi-gumi led by Kazuo Taoka, the Tosei-kai led by Hisayuki Machii ) and eventually the Inagawa-kai. Skirmishes between individual gangs, however, continued.
Although Koreans make up a tiny fraction (0.5%) of the total population in Japan, they are a very important part of the yakuza, perhaps because Koreans suffer from severe discrimination along with burakumin. Of the total number of yakuza, Koreans make up about 15%, and in the early 1990s. Eighteen of the 90 major bosses in the Inagawa-kai were ethnic Koreans. The Japan National Police Agency estimates that Koreans made up about 10% of the total burakumin in the Yamaguchi-gumi. Koreans were also among the Boryokudan.
The importance of Koreans was an untouchable taboo and one of the reasons why the Japanese version of Kaplan and Dubro's Yakuza (1986) was not published until 1991, plus descriptions of, for example, a Korean from Yamaguchi were cut from it. -gumi. Although ethnic Koreans already born in Japan make up a significant proportion of the Japanese population, they are still considered foreigners simply residing in the country due to their nationality. But Koreans, who often shun the legitimate trade, are recruited into yakuza clans for the very reason that they conform to society's "outcast" image.
The man who paved the way for Japanese-Koreans in Japanese society was a Japanese-Korean yakuza who founded the Tosei-kai (Tōsei-kai), Hisayuki Matiya's godfather. Born in 1923, he was given the name Chong Gwon Yong and gradually became a major street thug who saw many opportunities in Japan. As a result, Matia managed to conquer this country, after which he began to establish contacts with the United States, in particular, he collaborated with their counterintelligence, which appreciated his persistent anti-communist convictions. While the Japanese yakuza were imprisoned or under close surveillance by the US occupying forces, the Korean yakuza were quite free to take over the most lucrative black markets. But instead of competing with the Japanese yakuza, Matii formed an alliance with them and remained close to Kodama and Taoka throughout his underground career (see above).
In 1948, Matii created his Tosei-kai (“Voice of the Eastern Gan”) group and soon took over the Ginza region. The Tosei-kai became such a powerful group in Tokyo that it was even known as the "Ginza Police" and the all-powerful Taoka of the Yamaguchi-gumi had to negotiate with Matiya so that his group would continue to operate within Tokyo. Matia's vast empire included tourism, entertainment, bars and restaurants, prostitution and oil imports. He and Kodama single-handedly made a fortune investing in real estate. More importantly, Matii acted as an intermediary between the Korean government and the yakuza, allowing Japanese criminals to do business (i.e. racketeering) in Korea, which had been terrorized by the Japanese for years. Thanks to Matiya, Korea has become a second home for the Japanese yakuza. To further serve as a bonding agent between the two countries' underworld relations, Matiya was allowed to purchase the largest ferry service connecting Shimonoseki (Japan) and Busan (South Korea) and being the shortest route between the two countries.
In the mid 1960s. pressure from the police forced Matii to officially disband the Tosei-kai. At that time, he even formed two ostensibly legitimate organizations, "Toa Sogo Kigyo" (East Asian Business Company) and "Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai" (Association of Friendly East Asian Organizations), which became fronts for criminal activities. Matii was widely believed to have facilitated the kidnapping of Korean opposition leader Kim Dae Jung from a hotel in Tokyo. It was assumed that Kim was to be thrown into the sea, bound hand and foot, blindfolded and tied with a weight, so that the body would never surface. But suddenly the execution by drowning was canceled and Kim was secretly taken to a hotel in the vicinity of Seoul. American intervention is said to have saved his life at the time. And further police investigation showed that Matia's people rented all the other rooms on this floor of the hotel. However, Matia's kidnapping ad was never presented. Matii "retired" at the age of about 80 and since then he was often seen vacationing in Hawaii. He passed away on September 14, 2002.
In addition, Tokutaro Takayami was the "kaicho" of the fourth yakuza gang - Aizukotetsu. He was an ethnic Korean and came to power as the head of a Kyoto gang, which he ran until his “retirement” in the late 1990s. Despite all of the above, in modern Japan, the exact origin of the yakuza is still a matter of debate.
Firstly, the yakuza are not some kind of secret society, like their counterparts from the Italian mafia or the Chinese triads. It is very common for yakuza organizations to have a wooden plaque with the clan/family name or emblem on their front door. Very often, many members of the yakuza wear bright suits and sunglasses, so they are easily recognized by ordinary residents ("katagi", "katagi"). Even the manner of walking betrays the yakuza from the crowd: their arrogant and sweeping gait is noticeably different from the gait of ordinary residents, busy with their usual daily activities. Or, for example, a yakuza can dress quite modestly, but at the same time, if necessary, expose some of the tattoos, indicating their occupation. Sometimes the yakuza wear small emblems on the lapels of their jackets, and one yakuza family once even published a monthly bulletin with detailed information regarding terms of imprisonment, weddings, funerals, murders of family members. The bulletin also included poems by family leaders.
Until recently, most of the yakuza's income came from shopping, entertainment, and red-light districts, which were protected by the yakuza from all sorts of racketeers. As a rule, such areas avoid contact with the police, preferring to be under the "warm wing" of the yakuza. Japanese police also, in turn, refuse to interfere in the internal affairs of communities such as shopping arcades, schools / universities, "night" areas and others like them. In this sense, the yakuza are still regarded as semi-legitimate organizations.
For example, after the Kobe earthquake, the Yamaguchi-gumi local headquarters quickly mobilized to help the local population deal with the aftermath of the earthquake. A helicopter was even brought in and the event as a whole was widely reported in the media in defiance of the sluggish reaction of the Japanese government. For this reason, many yakuza treat their income as a form of tax collection. The Yakuza are heavily involved in the sex industry, smuggling pornography from Europe and America and importing it into Japan. The yakuza also control large gangs of "moths" throughout the country.
In China, where the law limits the number of children in a family and preference is traditionally given to boys, the yakuza can buy unwanted girls for as little as $5,000 and send them to work in the "mizu shōbai" ("water trade"), t .e. to yakuza-controlled nightlife bars, restaurants, and clubs. The Philippines is another source of young women. The Yakuza defraud local girls from impoverished villages, promising them respectable jobs and good salaries in Japan. But, of course, instead of the coveted golden mountains, the girls quickly master one of the oldest professions in the world, becoming prostitutes and strippers. Moreover, some of the girls are quite satisfied with this, because. they get more money than they could ever make in the Philippines. Very often, the yakuza engage in a specialized form of extortion in Japan known as "sōkaiya" ("sōkaiya", 総会屋). Sokaya is essentially a specialized form of protection against racketeering. The Yakuza do not bully small businesses, preferring to intimidate the shareholders of large corporations. For example, they scare an ordinary shareholder with the presence of thugs from their clans and gain the right to participate in a meeting and a small purchase of shares. The yakuza are also engaged in ordinary blackmail, receiving incriminating or compromising information about the leaders or members of certain companies. After the yakuza are fixed in a particular company, they become its defenders, protecting the public from the impact of internal scandals.
And some companies still count bribes as part of their annual budget. Yakuza have a strong influence on Japanese professional wrestling - "puroresu" ("puroresu", from the English. "Professional wrestling"). Their interest in this matter, of course, is purely financial. The yakuza mainly support and promote their fighters, and the yakuza run many arenas and stadiums where competitions are held. The Yakuza also receive a certain percentage of the fees. In general, the yakuza are considered to be the patrons of wrestling and mixed martial arts, and it is not unusual for wrestlers to seek patronage from one clan or another. It can be said that none of the major wrestling events in Japan failed because the yakuza were interested in them.
Japanese wrestling pioneer Rikidozan was killed by a yakuza, and former World Championship Wrestling contestant Yoshihiro Tajiri refused to perform a "yakuza trick" for fear of being targeted by real yakuza. Professional wrestler Yoshiaki Fujiwara was often called "kumicho" ("kumicho", i.e. "godfather") and he often played yakuza in various Japanese comedies and dramas. The yakuza have connections in the Japanese real estate market and in banking - in this they are assisted by "jiageya" ("jiageya", 地上げ屋), who specialize in persuading small-scale property owners to sell their property, and thus enrich company. For the bubble economy of the 1980s. also blamed real estate speculators from bank branches. After the collapse of the Japanese economy at that time, the manager of the main bank in Nagoya was killed, in connection with which the assumption was made that the banking businessmen were connected with the underworld. The Yakuza are also known to invest extensively in legitimate and large companies. In 1989, Susumu Ishii, oyabun of the Inagawa-kai, bought shares in Tokyo Kyuko Electric Railway for $255 million. In principle, thefts are not considered the legitimate activities of the yakuza - all their actions are, as it were, half-hidden, and theft is entirely a secret act. And, more importantly, such an act on the part of the yakuza will be regarded as an abuse of the attitude of society. Also, in fact, the yakuza do not conduct actual economic transactions on their own. The main business activities, such as merchandising, issuing loans, running gambling houses, etc., are not carried out by the yakuza themselves, but by those who pay the mafia to protect their activities.
There is plenty of evidence that the yakuza are also involved in international criminal operations. For example, in Asian prisons on charges of drug trafficking or arms smuggling, there are now many tattooed members of yakuza groups.
In 1997, a trusted Yakuza member was caught with four kilos of heroin in Canada. In 1999, intelligence agencies overheard Mickey Zaffarano, a member of the Italian-American Bonnano mafia clan, talking about the benefits for both families from the pornography trade. Another type of racket that the yakuza do not disdain is to attract women of other nationalities of races, especially Europeans, with all the possible benefits that Japan can give them, and then putting them on the panel. Because of their origins as a legitimate feudal organization and their connection to the Japanese political system through the "uyoku" ("uyoku", far-right forces), the yakuza are in some way a powerful force with a certain amount of power.
In the early 80s. in Fukuoka, a yakuza war broke out, which could not be brought under control and several civilians were injured as a result. Then the police intervened and forced the bosses of both sides to officially declare a truce between the clans.
At various times, the public of Japanese cities began to fight the yakuza, which went on with varying success and was crowned with a wide variety of results. In March 1995, the Japanese government passed a bill called the Law on the Prevention of Illegal Activities of Members of Criminal Gangs, which made life much more difficult for traditional racketeering. And finally, I would like to give brief data on the five most influential yakuza clans.
Yamaguchi-gumi
Created in 1915, it is the largest yakuza family with over 39,000 members divided into 750 small clans, which make up about 45% of all yakuza in Japan. Despite more than 10 years of police persecution, the Yamaguchi-gumi continues to grow. The family is headquartered in Kobe, from where criminal activities are carried out throughout Japan. The family is also involved in operations in Asia and the United States. Shinobu Tsukasa, also known as Kenichi Shinoda, is the current head ("oyabun") of the Yamaguchi-gumi. He is committed to an expansionist policy and increases the number of operations in Tokyo (which was not traditionally part of the territory of the Yamaguchi-gumi).
Sumiyoshi-rengo (住吉会), sometimes referred to as Sumiyoshi-kai (住吉会)
The Sumiyoshi Rengo is the second largest yakuza family with about 10,000 members in 177 clans. The Sumiyoshi-kai, as it is sometimes known, is a confederation of small yakuza groups. Her current oyabun is Shigeo Nishiguchi. The structure of the Sumiyoshi-kai differs from its archrival, the Yamaguchi-gumi. The chain of several clans seems to be weaker and, although Nishiguchi is the highest oyabun, several other members of the Sumiyoshi-kai share leadership of the family with him.
The Inagawa-kai is the third largest yakuza family in Japan, with 7,400 members spread across 133 clans. The family is headquartered in Tokyo and Yokohama, and the Inagawa-kai itself was one of the first yakuza families to expand its influence beyond Japan. The family's current oyabun is Kakuji Inagawa.
Founded in 1948 by Hisayuki Machii, the Toa-kai quickly became one of the most influential yakuza families in Tokyo, but only fifth in the yakuza scale. This family consists of yakuza of Korean origin, and its number is over 3,000 people, organized into 6 clans. The family's current oyabun is Satoru Nomura.
Aizukotetsu-kai was founded in 1954. in Kyoto, is Japan's fourth largest yakuza organization. Its name comes from the Aizu region, "Kotetsu", a type of Japanese sword, and the suffix "-kai", or society. Instead of being a stand-alone gang, the Aizukotetsu-Kai Federation has about 100 different Kyoto yakuza groups, comprising an estimated 7,000 members. In October 2005, the group formed an alliance with the 6th Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest yakuza gang in Japan. Her current oyabun is Mitsugi Baba.
Inagawa-kai (稲川会)
Toua Yuai Jigyo Kummiai (東亜友愛事業組合), sometimes also called Tōa-kai (東亜会)
Aizukotetsu-kai
Like many others ethnic criminal gangs the image of the yakuza is popular in modern popular culture. So in Japan and in the world a series of films about yakuza with the famous Japanese actor Takeshi Kitano is very famous - “ Yakuza brother" and others. Also, the issue of the yakuza was considered in the anime “Yakuza Side Story” and many other famous anime.
The Japanese mafia is one of the most prosperous in the world. The total number of yakuza is from 80 to 110 thousand people, and the largest clan - Yamaguchi-gumi - is considered the richest criminal group on the planet. In 2015, her income was over $80 billion.
MOSCOW, September 2 - RIA Novosti, David Narmania. The roots of the Japanese mafia go back to the Middle Ages. It is believed that the ancestors of the current yakuza, or, as they are also called, borekudan (although they themselves do not like this nickname), were small street vendors - tekiya - and gambling enthusiasts - bakuto. The very word "yakuza" means the worst combination in the oyte-kabu card game. Initially, the ancestors of the Japanese mafiosi were considered outcasts, and therefore this nickname stuck to them.
The Yakuza are known for their tradition of tattooing. In some mafiosi, almost the entire body is covered with them. Borekudan tattoos have a meaning hidden from strangers. For example, the first, as a rule, denotes the transition from the family of parents to a new family - the yakuza. It is not customary to demonstrate them - as a rule, clan members prefer closed clothes. The only exception when an outsider can see their tattoos is the Sanja Matsuri Shinto festival.
Another Yakuza "tradition" concerns punishments. For offenses before the clan, the mafiosi cut off the phalanges of the fingers - one for each significant offense, and the culprit himself must do this. When one finger is cut off to the end, it moves on to the next. This custom also came from the past: the fewer fingers the yakuza had, the more difficult it was for him to hold the sword, which means that his dependence on the protection of the boss and clan grew. Now it has more of a symbolic meaning.
The bonds that bind the members of the Yakuza clan are akin to family. The authority of the head of the community is indisputable, and ordinary members consider each other brothers. The main figure in the hierarchy is the boss - oyabun. His right hand is considered to be a saiko-komon (senior adviser). Also subordinate to the oyabun are the sanro-kai (a group of less influential advisers), the so-hombute (head of headquarters), the wakagashira and the syateigashira, who directly command the executors of the boss's orders: ke-dai and syatei - older and younger "brothers". The Saiko-komon is responsible for the administrative side of the business, with kaikei accountants and shingiin legal advisors under him.
As a rule, rank-and-file members of a clan rarely leave the territory under their control - only in case of receiving especially profitable "orders" or for the purpose of war with competitors.
In total, there are more than 20 yakuza clans in Japan. The largest are the Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai. Members of these clans make up about 70% of the yakuza. In 2015, there was a split in the most numerous Yamaguchi-gumi group. About three thousand people broke away from it.
The range of activities of the yakuza is very extensive: prostitution, gambling, drugs, arms trafficking, smuggling. The position of the mafia is also strong in the porn industry. At the same time, borekudan seek to at least partially legalize the sources of their income by investing in construction, the entertainment industry, stock trading and auditing services. In 2013, several prominent members of the yakuza were arrested for interfering with the restoration of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, as they helped in the search for illegal labor.
In light of the preparations for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the yakuza are expecting revenue growth as they own a large share of the construction companies in the country.
The Japanese authorities are trying to fight the influence of the mafia, but it is too early to talk about a complete victory. The influence of the clans is too great, and sometimes materials appear in the press about the connections of certain members of the government with the borekudan. The desire to legalize their activities helps the yakuza in the confrontation with the authorities. The clans are no longer something secret - the addresses of their headquarters can be found on the website of the National Police Agency of Japan.
Probably everyone who has ever heard this word, wondered - who are they? After all, in every country there are both law-abiding citizens and not so much. Some states have become almost completely associated with such a phenomenon as the mafia. The word that came to us from Italy has also become fixed in the Russian language and has become synonymous with all types of organized crime.
In Italy itself, the island of Sicily is associated with the mafia (indeed, for the most part, Italian mafiosi work there, or they come from there). Even mysterious Japan, so far from Europe, has its own crime syndicate. Called Yakuza.
The Yakuza are members of traditional organized crime groups in Japan. It is essentially a network of 22 gangs divided into factions that compete for wealth and influence in the country. Their traditional sources of income are prostitution, loansharking, extortion, gambling and drug smuggling. In recent decades, they have become more actively involved in the shadow economy and business.
The Yakuza is six times the size of the Italian mafia and vastly outnumbers the mafia in the United States of America. Nearly 83,000 gangsters operate in 22 crime syndicates, which contribute to the mafia-controlled economy to the tune of about 20 trillion yen ($242 billion) a year, according to Japan's police. Yakuza, also known as gokudo.
The Japanese police and the media, at their request, call them bo-ryokudan, which can be translated as a bandit group, and the yakuza call themselves "ninkyo-dantai", "knight's organization".
The Yakuza are known for their strict codes of conduct and very organized nature. In July 2010, the National Police Agency released a report stating that multinational criminal organizations are becoming "increasingly globalized" and are increasingly targeting Japan. He discussed how the gangs are collaborating with individual groups to create a network of underground banks, launder vast amounts of money, arrange fake marriages and steal stolen cars abroad.
The history of the creation of the Japanese mafia
The very name of the mafia comes from the popular Japanese game oycho-kabu, which was translated as unnecessary, useless. It is somewhat reminiscent of our game of points, where the values of the cards are summed up in the total, and the last number is decisive in victory.
The worst deal for a player is a combination of eight, nine and three - in total it turns out 20 points, that is, 0. If the player had such cards at the final, then great skill and sleight of hand were required in order not to lose. In Japanese, the meanings of the cards are ya, ku, sa. Thus the word yakuza was born.
Initially, only peasants and slaves, that is, people of the lower class, were accepted as members of the gang. They were driven by various reasons - escaping from taxes, despair (loss of all property, death of loved ones), just a thirst for adventure and easy money. The yakuza accepted them and gave shelter, arranged for work. The members of the gang were also criminals who had escaped from prisons, which made the yakuza an even more dangerous organization. Some went there simply to gain respect and honor among their neighbors and fellow citizens.
Separately, it is worth noting the membership of the samurai. The story of noble warriors falling into the category of bandits is quite prosaic and simple. In the 17th century, as a result of reforms, hundreds of thousands of samurai were out of work. Knowing nothing else but to brandish a sword, they began to create their own groups and engaged in banditry - they robbed merchants on the roads, broke into houses and caused not only material, but also physical (not to mention psychological) damage.
The police in those centuries did not at all resemble today's - the maximum that their skills were enough for was to separate drunkards in a fight. Therefore, she could not do anything against professional warriors.
Then help came from the other side - the people themselves began to fight against the groups. However, here it is worth making a note that these very fighters themselves were, as they say, at odds with the law - petty criminals, thieves. Therefore, it turned out that some criminals are fighting with others. Gradually, the victory over the samurai was won, and the fighters themselves organized the Machi-Yokko group, which became the prototype of the yakuza.
Yakuza membership is not illegal. "In most other countries, crime syndicates are banned, but Japan still recognizes their right to exist," Atsushi Mizoguchi, Japan's top expert on organized crime, told the Guardian.
Yakuza gangs do not hide from the people and the state, as, for example, their Italian or Chinese "colleagues" do. Yakuza organizations often have an office with a wooden plaque on the front door, openly displaying their group name or emblem.
Japanese mafia today
Until recently, many members of the yakuza worked in offices with the names of their organizations prominently displayed. Some mafia members wear business cards with the name of the crime syndicate. Journalist Jake Adelstein wrote in the American online magazine The Atlantic Online.
“The government tacitly recognizes their existence, and they are appointed to positions, their work and relationships are regulated. The Yakuza make their money from extortion, blackmail, construction, real estate, collection services, financial market manipulation, racketeering, fraud, and a network of front companies, including labor dispatch services and private detective agencies. They do work that no one else will do."
The police are traditionally tolerant of the yakuza. The roots of this trend can be traced back to the 1800s, when the forerunners of the yakuza were allowed to carry weapons, provided they helped maintain order when the police were short of manpower.
Yakuza clans are compared to the "families" of the Sicilian mafia. The clan has a hierarchical structure and is built in the same way as a common family in a traditional one. The chief of the clan is called oyabun ("father"). Under his rule are the smaller members of the clan, the brothers. These are not his real children or brothers-relatives, but only designations of rank and position in the clan. All members of the clan obey Oyabun, and he, in turn, protects them from all dangers. Oyabun is omnipotent in the clan, and his words are law.
Everyone obeys him, without thinking and not caring about their own lives. The oyabun has an adviser called Saiko-komon, and he has a staff of lawyers, accountants, secretaries, and advisers. The obyabun has an assistant, so to speak, a deputy. He acts as an intermediary to see that the oyabun orders are fulfilled. Yakuza gang members break family ties and transfer their allegiance to the leader of the gang. They treat each other like family members - fathers, older and younger brothers. The yakuza are almost entirely male, but there are also females who are referred to as "Ne-San" (big sister). Since the yakuza consider women to be weak creatures, incapable of loyalty and self-denial, only the wives of the leaders are recognized as them.
A hallmark of the yakuza is a huge number of tattoos covering the body of the mafia. However, these are not just drawings, but signs of belonging to a particular gang. So the yakuza recognize "their own". Sometimes a tattoo denoted a new name for a gang member - after all, as mentioned above, upon joining an organization, a person became part of a new family, and all ties with the former were completely broken. Humiliated and destitute, angry, the new members of the yakuza gang with renewed vigor began to fight those who had mocked them in their previous lives. And no one can escape the retribution of the yakuza.
