Yakuza

[Soulend]

A recent incident has led me to wonder about the relationship of the Japanese authorities and organized crime in Japan, and wondered if someone could shed some light on it.

This past Sunday, a Marine got into an altercation with a Japanese man in the Kintai Bridge area, resulting in the Marine punching the guy out. He was pulled away by a buddy, but it turns out the Japanese man was Yakuza, and was considered to have lost face in the altercation. Within 24 hours the Japanese authorities contacted the base warning that a contract had been put out on the servicemember, and repeated radio and TV messages all week have been aired on base for the Marine (they had only a description) to come to the Criminal Investigation Division for his own protection, and to avoid a case of mistaken identity.

The fellow turned up and the Japanese authorities contacted the crime family and negotiated to have the 'hit' cancelled.

Now, I don't know who was "right" or "wrong" in the above incident or even what it was all about, but I wonder:

If the Japanese can just ring up a crime lord on the phone and negotiate, do they somewhat turn a blind eye to the organization provided that they stay in their own sphere of influence and don't make too much trouble with regular people? I've read a bit about the Yakuza, but the books I've read mainly dealt with the organization back in the old days, when pretty much all they did was run gambling dens. Do the Japanese police consider the organized crime of today to be not worth the time to eradicate, provided they don't do anything that outrageous?

I wonder how the gang was persuaded to cancel the hit....

[Joseph Svinth]

Try http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8278.html . See also Ivan Morris, "Nationalism and the Right Wing in Japan: A Study of Postwar Trends," London, OUP (RIIA), 1960 (edited).

***

A rumor I have heard from reasonably reliable sources is that as long as the bodies in the river are associated with the yakuza (or are those of people known to owe the yakuza large sums of money), then they are more likely to be classified as "suicides" than "homicides."

Yakuza connections are interesting in the martial art world. Match lists, by name, sometime, and you'll see what I mean.

[Jeff Hamacher]

David,

Originally posted by Soulend
If the Japanese can just ring up a crime lord on the phone and negotiate, do they somewhat turn a blind eye to the organization provided that they stay in their own sphere of influence and don't make too much trouble with regular people?

my understanding is that the law and the syndicates share a very pragmatic relationship. i read somewhere that, traditionally, the gangs had a tacit agreement with the cops about not dealing in "hot-button" illegal materials like drugs (other than alcohol or tobacco, of course) or firearms; the gangs will even tip off police to gun runners, setting up high-profile busts. in exchange for these courtesies, the cops take a somewhat hands-off approach towards other gangland activities.

as suggested by the book title in Joe's post, the yakuza see themselves as the vanguard of Japan's right wing, the proud standard-bearers of bushido as envisioned by Japan's wartime junta; it's usually gang members driving the ultranationalists' Black Buses that blare (ironically European-style) military songs. i'm not suggesting that every cop is an ultranationalist loony, but in terms of political leanings, there's probably less that separates the cops and the gang members than one might initially guess.

[rupert]

When I worked in Japan a teacher at the same school (Japanese) had a car accident with a Mercedes, and yup, full of Yakuza. Apparently, she got into a situation where she was being overly extored because of the accident. A Judoka friend of the school's Judo teacher knew the Yakuza in question (=probably had ties) and went over and 'solved' the problem. That's what I heard when there - from the Judo teacher and again from an English teacher.

[Soulend]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I have seen a few of them here and there, usually wearing suits or tracksuits and driving with illegally-dark tinted windows and have read quite a bit on their rather twisted version of 'bushido'.

[Exorcist_Fist]

I can't substantiate where I heard this, but back in the day, or even recently, the symbiotic relationship of the Yak and cops was explained to me like this.

Yak commit crimes that are considered generally victimless. That is, as long as the victim is not Japanese. When a yak member commits murder, or a violent crime, he or a lower ranked member will almost immediately turn themselves in. By spending jail time, the member builds credit for when he leaves, or so I was told. In the meantime, the police have no reason to raid Yakuza offices, where they might turn up any number of uncomfortable things, such as evidence of police corruption... And the yakuza manage their business free from police interference. In the meantime, the rest of the Japanese suffer from the delusion that the cops are inescapable hounds, and when they commit a crime, they frequently surrender themselves based on the rep Cops have built busting yakuza...

This has shifted recently, as organized crime in Japan is coming under foreign pressures. Chinese gangs for example, don't give a damn about the cops, and the mainland guys are so nuts that the gangs in hong kong are afraid of them. Meanwhile, less Japanese are willing to enter the violent and hierachical world of tattoos and finger cutting.

I could go on, but basically the cops and yak were/are buddies. There are few industries in Japan without some Yak involvement, like for example the entertainment industry is rife with it...

[Soulend]

Dan, this seems pretty much traditional with the Yakuza. In the book 'Confessions of a Yakuza' by Junichi Saga he recounts how he turned himself in to the authorities for a crime he did not commit to save a more senior member. And this was prior to WWII, IIRC. He got major respect for that within his organization, as Japanese police 'interrogations' were no joke at this time.

It was interesting to me that in the incident I mentioned the Japanese authorities were not interested in the fact that a gaijin had assaulted a Japanese national, but rather the potential aftermath. I still remember when, if a Marine had been ganged up on at a local bar or whatever, literally hordes (entire barracks of them) would show up to extract vengeance less than an hour later. I'm glad that it was all resolved, although the recent events like the assault in Fukuoka (20 armed Japanese vs. 5 unarmed Marines) make me very sad, though I must say that it is unlikely they (the Marines) were simply moon-viewing at 4:00 in the morning....

[Vapour]

ah, one of the above poster's assertion about yakuza and right wing organisation is incorrect.

Uyoku, meaning "right wing" in japanese but if used in certain context, it only mean one thing, form particular unique section of underworld in japan. It is a specialised ninche organisation.

If you are thinking that majority of yakuza get invoved with driving a mini bus with mega phone, i think you should read up more.

[Jeff Hamacher]

Originally posted by Vapour
If you are thinking that majority of yakuza get invoved with driving a mini bus with mega phone, i think you should read up more.

i wrote that the majority of Black Bus drivers were yakuza, not that the majority of yakuza were Black Bus drivers. there's a big difference! i also wouldn't call the vehicles i've seen "mini-buses"; they're the size of a typical intercity bus.

having said that, i don't clearly recall the source of my information, and i'm willing to believe that your information is more accurate. thank you for your insight.

the question of the correct term to describe ultranationalists in Japanese is interesting. i know words such as uyoku (literally "right wing") and aikokusha ("nationalist"), but my wife tells me that there is a particular name used by the Black Bus men to refer to themselves. she said it could be something like "Nationalist Army" (Aikokugun), but she doesn't recall. do you know more about this?

[Vapour]

Uyoku is not yakuza. Yakuza is not uyoku (though you can clasify uyoku as one type of Boryokudan). Their income and activities are different though they share common element of violence.

Uyoku has income source from their political activities and they use to do stuff like strike breaking.

Yakuza on the other hand, extract income from sort of fedual tax/toll system.

Oh, whe I come from, they aren't that rich and the one I have seen was only mini bus.

[Exorcist_Fist]

I have known/know of people on both sides of that fence. There are some cross overs and affiliations, but I think that the nationalists=yakuza classification is a bit over simplified, especially when explained by Japanese who are neither Nationalists, nor Yakuza.

[Jeff Hamacher]

gentlemen, i never wrote that yakuza and ultranationalists were one and the same thing. the only claim i made is that drivers (not the entire membership of ultranationalist organizations) of the Black Buses are usually yakuza members. this is a far cry from what you seem to think i wrote.

while i appreciate your efforts to provide the thread with correct information and set me straight at the same time, please don't put words in my mouth.

[Exorcist_Fist]

I was merely commenting on Vapour's comment, so don't put them into mine either.

[Jody Holeton]

Dear David,


What happened in Fukuoka?

A bunch of armed Japanese cops going after a couple of marines?
Sounds like something the Japanese cops would do (see the World Cup crap they pulled).

Japanese cops are famous for being in bed with gangsters, not doing anything when somebody breaks the law and being incompetent.

Instead of going after gangsters, breaking up prostitution rings, giving out tickets for driving violations they just drive around or go after PC issues (like foreign crime).

The Japanese cops and government officials have gotten lazy and this will bite them in the A$$.

Americans, foreigners and especially MARINES are easy targets to pick on in Japan.

Radio announcements to turn themselves in....
JHC, what a bunch of pansies.

[Wounded Ronin]

There was no need to call the yakuza off. If the yakuza started killing marines, who do you think would win in the end? The marines, or a bunch of two bit thugs without decent weapons?