Yakuza: Encyclopedia II - Yakuza - Organization and activities

Yakuza - Organization and activities

Yakuza - Structure

During the formation of the yakuza, they adopted the traditional Japanese hierarchical structure of oyabun-kobun where kobun (children) owe their allegiance to the oyabun (father). In a much later period, the code of "jingi" (justice and duty) was developed where loyalty and respect are a way of life. The oyabun-kobun relationship is formalized by ceremonial sharing of sake from a single cup. This ritual is not exclusive to the yakuza -- it is also commonly performed in traditional Japanese Shinto weddings.

During the fascist period in Japan, the more traditional tekiya/bakuto form of organisation declined as the entire population was mobilised to participate in the war effort and society came under strict military government. However, after the war, the yakuza adapted again.

Prospective yakuza come from all walks of life. The most romantic tales tell how yakuza accept sons who have been abandoned or exiled by their parents. Unlike their Italian counterpart, the yakuza accept non-Japanese as members and blood relation is not necessary. Recent arrests have confirmed Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, and Australians as members of the Yakuza.

Yakuza groups are headed by an Oyabun ("father") or Kumicho (family head) who gives orders to his subordinates, the kobun ("children"). In this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Japanese senpai-kōhai (senior-junior) model. Members of yakuza gangs cut their family ties and transfer their loyalty to the gang boss. They refer to each other as family members - fathers and elder and younger brothers. The Yakuza is populated entirely by men, and there are usually no women involved except the Oyabun's wife who is called "ane-san" (older sister). Unlike many crime groups, women are sometimes involved in "The Life". When the Yamaguchi Gumi (Family) boss was shot in the late nineties, his wife took over as boss of the largest Yakuza Family albeit for a short time.

Each member's connection is ranked by the hierarchy of sakazuki (sake sharing). Kumicho are at the top, and control various saiko-komon (senior advisors). The saiko-komon control their own turfs in different areas or cities. They have their own underlings, including other underbosses, advisors, accountants and enforcers. Those who have received sake from oyabun are part of the immediate family and ranked in terms of elder or younger brothers. However, each kobun, in turn, can offer sakazuki as oyabun to his underling to form an affiliated organisation, which might in turn form lower ranked organisations. In the Yamaguchi-gumi, which controls some 2500 businesses and 500 yakuza groups, there are even 5th rank subsidiary organisations.

Yakuza - Rituals

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 penance to the oyabun if he wants to spare a member of his own gang from further retaliation. In recent years, prosthetic fingertips have been developed to disguise this distinctive appearance. (When a 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.) [1]

Another, more radical version of penance is seppuku (hara-kiri), the ritual suicide. Popular among Japanese Samurai and Soldiers who would commit it as pension for their failures, Yakuza are sometimes known to commit seppuku as well.

Another prominent yakuza ritual is the sake-sharing ceremony. This is used to seal bonds of brotherhood between individual yakuza members, or between two yakuza groups. For example, in August 2005, the Godfathers Kenichi Shinoda and Kazuyoshi Kudo held a sake-sharing ceremony, sealing a new bond between their respective gangs, the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Kokusui-kai.

Yakuza - Current Activities

Much of the current activities of the yakuza can be understood in the light of their feudal origin. First, they are not a secret society like their counterparts of the Italian mafia and Chinese triads. Yakuza organizations often have an office with a wooden board on the front door, openly displaying their group name or emblem. Members often wear sunglasses and colourful suits so that their profession can be immediately recognised by civilians (katagi). Even the way many Yakuza walk is markedly different from ordinary citizens. Their arrogant, wide gait is markedly different from the quiet, unassuming way many Japanese go about their business. Alternatively, they can be more conservatively dressed but when the need arises, they can flash their tattoos to indicate their affiliation. On occasion they also sport insignia pins on their lapels.

Until recently, the majority of yakuza income came from protection rackets in shopping, entertainment and red-light districts within their territory. This is mainly due to the reluctance of such businesses to seek help from the police. The Japanese police are also reluctant to interfere in internal matters in recognised communities such as shopping arcades, schools/universities, night districts and so on. In this sense, yakuza are still regarded as semi-legitimate organisations. For example, immediately after the Kobe earthquake, the Yamaguchi-gumi, whose headquarters are in Kobe, mobilised itself to provide disaster relief services, and this was widely reported by the media as a contrast to the much slower response by the Japanese government. For this reason, many yakuza regard their income and hustle (shinogi) as a collection of a feudal tax.

Yakuza frequently engage in a uniquely Japanese form of extortion, known as sokaiya. In essence, it is a specialised form of protection racket. Instead of harassing small businesses, the yakuza harasses a stockholders' meeting of a larger corporation. They simply scare the ordinary stockholder with the presence of yakuza operatives, who obtain the right to attend the meeting by a small purchase of stock. They also engage in simple blackmail, obtaining incriminating or embarrassing information about a company's practices or leaders. Once the yakuza gain a foothold in these companies, they will work for them to protect the company from having such internal scandals exposed to the public. Some companies still include payoffs as part of their annual budget.

Yakuza also have ties to the Japanese realty market and banking, through Jiageya. Jiageya specialize in inducing holders of small real estate to sell their property so that estate companies can carry out much larger development plans. Japan's bubble economy of the 1980s is often blamed on real estate speculation by banking subsidiaries. After the collapse of the Japanese property bubble, a manager of a major bank in Nagoya was assassinated, and much speculation ensued about the banking industry's indirect connection to the Japanese underworld.

As a matter of principle, theft is not recognised as a legitimate activity of yakuza. This is in line with idea that their activities are semi-open; theft by definition would be a covert activity. More importantly, such an act would be considered a trespass by the community. Also, yakuza usually do not conduct the actual business operation by themselves. Core business activities such as merchandising, loan sharking or management of gambling houses are typically managed by non-yakuza members who pay protection fees for their activities.

There is much evidence of Yakuza involvement in international crime. There are many tattooed Yakuza members imprisoned in various Asian prisons for such crimes as drug trafficking and arms smuggling. In 1997 one verified Yakuza member was caught smuggling 4 kilograms of heroin into Canada. In 1999 Italian Mafia Bonnano Family Boss Mickey Zaffarino was overheard talking about the profits of the pornography trade that both families could profit from. Another Yakuza racket is bringing women of other ethnicities/races, especially Caucasian and Asian to Japan under the lure of a glamourous position, then forcing the women into prostitution. Movies such as Death Ride to Osaka are stories of these women.

Because of their history as a legitimate feudal organisation and their connection to the Japanese political system through the uyoku, yakuza are somewhat a part of the Japanese establishment. Assassination of government officials by the Mafia as in Italy would be unthinkable in Japan, as such acts would make the semi-open nature of yakuza activities impossible. If a yakuza organisation does commit an open crime such as murder, a member from the yakuza organisation will often volunteer to turn themselves in to protect senior members of the organisation. In the early 80s in Fukuoka, a yakuza war spiraled out of control and a few civilians were hurt. The police stepped in and forced the yakuza bosses on both sides to declare a truce in public. At various times, people in Japanese cities have launched anti-yakuza campaigns with mixed and varied success. In March 1995 the Japanese government passed the "Act for Prevention of Unlawful Activities by Criminal Gang Members" which made traditional racketeering much more difficult.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Organization and activities", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki