Source: Matcha-Tea
Japan, the country that marches to the beat of its own drum, is known to have cultural oddities and goes to the extremes in terms of being polite, civilized, and being respectful of its cultural traditions of hundreds and thousands of years. But even this land of the rising sun has a dark side, one where you’ll see the most sophisticated gangsters- the Yakuza.
However, the Yakuza aren’t just some heavily tattooed Japanese gangsters with slicked-back hair and black suits that you see in movies. They never were. The Yakuza have ties to Japan’s 400-years of history and are essentially seen by many people as a ‘necessary evil’.
History of Yakuza
Japan’s Yakuza is, in essence, like the mafias of America or cartels of Mexico but not quite. Yakuza is an umbrella term for complex groups of crime syndicates in Japan. The media and police call them Bōryokudan (violent groups) while the Yakuza prefer to be called Gokudō (extreme path) or Ninkyō Dante (chivalrous organizations).
The Yakuza are said to have originated from the outcasts of Japanese society called the burakumin. They were considered as the lowest social class consisting of butchers, executioners, undertakers, and leather workers. According to Buddhist and Shinto religions, these men who worked with death were said to be ‘unclean and weren’t allowed to even touch others.
The brutal discrimination that started around the 11th century reached its peak at the beginning of the Edo period (1603-1868) when they were completely cast away from society. To survive, the Descendents of the burakumin turned into criminals.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
In the mid-Edo period, some descendants of burakumin became merchants who traveled across the countryside, setting up stalls at markets and festivals and selling stolen goods while others opened illegal gambling establishments in abandoned temples and shrines. And thus, two new social classes were created- the tequila (peddlers) and the bakuto (gamblers).
The foundation for today’s yakuza was formed when these classes began to form organized groupings. The tekiya followed strict codes of conduct and their gangs operated under the oyabun (boss) and kobun (gang members) structure. While the disdain towards the bakuto gave birth to the poor image that the Yakuza have.
These gangs weren’t all about profits; they yearned for respect. Eventually, the oyabun within the gangs was recognized by the government and given a near-samurai status which led to them having their first taste of respect and honor in hundreds of years. This was a highly significant point in the Yakuza’s history and they soon turned into complete criminal organizations.
The Way of the Yakuza
Source: Wall Street Journal
The Yakuza organizations are based on the oyabun-kobun structure. The gang members are called kobun (lit. foster child) who swear allegiance and loyalty to the boss, oyabun (lit. foster parent), also called kumichou (family head). Their way of operating is more akin to that of a dysfunctional family than a gang or mafia.
This oyabun-kobun relationship is formalized through the ceremony of sakazuki. Sakazuki is the ceremony where the new member shares a cup of sake with the boss and formally accepts him as his father and the organization as his new home. It's kind of a relationship of sworn brotherhood. The members are also often asked to cut ties with their biological families.
Absolute loyalty is one of the most important things in Yakuza organizations, as one would expect from an actual family too. Loyalty and the family-like structure were and are part of the appeal for new members since they are all either outcasts, abandoned by their family, or orphans, and it gives them a strong sense of belongingness, a familial feeling.
However, they are not just some gangsters playing house. The Yakuza have constantly been giving back to society too. In the 1995’s Kobe earthquake and 2011’s earthquake and tsunami, the first ones to arrive at people’s aid weren’t the government but the Yakuza members. The Yakuza even sent their men to the deadly Fukushima nuclear reactor, which was also hit by the tsunami.
They don’t call themselves ninkyo dantai (chivalrous organization) for nothing. They live by the ‘ninkyo code’, a principle that forbids them to allow anyone else to suffer.
Tattoos and Rituals
Source: Horisumi
In the olden days, tattoos were used as a way to mark criminals and only outlaws had tattoos. The Yakuza reinvented these markings into colorful tattoos and by tattooing their whole bodies (even the genitalia), they embraced their rebellion against society. Painfully etched by hand with a sharpened piece of bamboo, this is a ritual that prevails in modern times too.
These tattoos, called irezumi, are personal and specific to the person and through which, a person expresses themself. For example, the samurai tattoo is very famous as it shows that the person is a brave warrior. Also, the larger the tattoo, the more loyalty it depicts. But these tattoos are not something that they show off and keep covered and only show them to other members.
Another ritual of the Yakuza is the yubitsume (lit. finger shortening). It was used as a punishment for disloyalty. It's a form of apology where the member cuts off the tip of his left hand’s little finger and presents it to the boss. It is also done when a member wishes to leave the organization, branding him forever as an ex-Yakuza.
Source: Elite Readers
Its origin had a practical purpose too. When the pinky was cut off, it weakened the person’s sword-grip since the bottom 3 fingers are used for a stronger grip. Every cut starting from the pinky would weaken the grip more and more and thus, diminishing his abilities as a warrior resulting in him relying completely on the protection organization.
Life of Crime Hitting a Record Low
The yakuza had over 180,000 members at its heyday in the 1960s, when society still had a romantic vision of mobsters as honorable outlaws. However, the number has kept falling since the implementation of the Anti-Boryokudan Act, 1992. As of 2020, the huge number has fallen down to approx. 25,900 active members.
The Yakuza world is currently governed by the 3 largest syndicates. The biggest organization is the Yamaguchi-Gumi (founded in 1915) based in Kobe and led by the 79-year old Shinbo Tsukasa, the sixth kumichou. It accounts for 30% of all Yakuza in Japan with around 8,200 members as of 2020. They are among the wealthiest gangs in the world.
Source: Reddit
The second-largest is the Sumiyoshi-kai (founded in 1958) led by Isao Seki with approx. 4,200 members. Unlike Yamaguchi-Gumi, it's a confederation of smaller Yakuza groups with the leadership distributed among several members. The third is the Inagawa-Kai (founded in 1949) based in Tokyo-Yokohama with approx. 3,300 members and was one of the first organizations to operate overseas.
Written By - Sanjana Chaudhary
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