In any, even the most civilized country, along with law-abiding citizens, there are criminals. Gradually, they begin to unite, until over time the union of criminal elements does not turn into a real mafia. Illegal groups are involved in the sale of narcotic and psychotropic substances, weapons, living people and even their organs. Japan was no exception. In the Asian state, the mafia, which comes from the ronin, or, in other words, the samurai nobles, once impoverished and set the wrong path, has long been wielding. Its name is Yakuza. This is no less than one hundred and ten thousand criminals, which significantly exceeds the number of the American mafia (twenty thousand). And, of course, they have their own special story.
The beginning of the way
The history of the Yakuza as a mafia began in Japan. This name came from a card game called âoyoto-kabuâ. This is a peculiar version of the game in point, where, when folding cards, you need to get a certain number. The most unfortunate scenario is the combination of the figure eight, nine and three. In total, they give 20, and according to the rules of the game it is 0 points. These numbers are pronounced "I", "ku", "sa", from there the name of the gang. In this situation, you need to have mastery skills in order to get out of an unfortunate situation.
The grouping, according to the most common version, starts from three societies.
Mati-yokko . As a result of the reduction in the number of samurai in the 17th century, about half a million fighters appeared on the street. All they had was their combat experience and cruelty. Having not found any livelihood, many gradually began to organize their criminal gangs. They attacked travelers, robbed towns and villages, merchants. The police were poorly armed, and they werenât trained in battle, all that was enough for her was to pacify the raging drunkards. They had no chance of defeating professional soldiers. However, not these samurai were all famous mother-yokko, they were city guards. The people who decided to fight are urban bullies, players, petty criminals. And this was not surprising, because civilians would never have taken up arms. Their victories over samurai were appreciated by the people, but over time, the mother-yokko themselves began to engage in criminal activity, not very different from the occupation of their enemies - former samurai.
Thekia. Their story did not begin with such belligerence. Since ancient times, people trading potions, potions and all kinds of mystical nonsense roamed the territory of Japan. Initially, they were called healers, over time, they created their own business and began to be called tekiya, that is, peddlers. They began to trade everything in a row, guided by the rule "Do not deceive - do not sell." Their goods could not be called qualitative, and so that angry buyers did not harm them, they began to unite in large gangs. Claims against a large group are much more dangerous, and the robbers tried to bypass their shops. In their ranks, a hierarchical system was developed, which is used by modern Yakuza. Gradually, trying to increase their profits, tekiya themselves began to maintain order at bazaars and fairs. They took money from merchants, caught and punished pocket thieves and collected the so-called tribute.
Bakuto. They were organized by the government itself, and soon it turned into a bad side for them. The government began hiring gamblers; they were supposed to entertain workers working on state-owned construction sites. Players beat hard workers, and part of the salaries of workers thus returned to the state treasury. But as one would expect, those who agreed to beat honest workers began to commit crimes. Since the government needed them, many had to turn a blind eye. It was Bakuto who first began to apply tattoos on the body. They tattooed their entire back, and this required a special willpower, because it took a whole hundred hours to complete the process. The rite of circumcision of the phalanges of the fingers for fault was also invented by bakuto. The name "yakuza" also came from them, because it was the gamblers who knew the intricacies of the game oyoto kabu.
Famous leaders
The first leader of the gang is considered to be Bandzuyin Chöbei, who was originally a samurai. The yakuza path Tebei began with a gambling brothel. He gradually became rich and gained respect and influence. The authorities of the city of Edo, in which he conducted his business, offered him to hire workers for laying roads and repairing the city. He agreed, but instead of hired workers, he sent card debtors to construction sites. He took his salary to himself.
Another famous leader was Jirotyo. He was the leader of the gang of the city of Shimizu in the 80s. He was particularly cruel, dividing the territory, cut out competitors from a neighboring city. On his account also the theft of golden dolphins from the roof of an ancient castle.
Law abiding bandits
The Mafia Yakuza is engaged in criminal activities of various kinds: they organize the sale of girls to Europe, America and the East, keep their brothels, engage minors in prostitution, distribute illegal pornography, and engage in illegal emigration and racketeering. Of all the world's criminal gangs, it is they who are the most organized and, paradoxically as it sounds, more than other groups honor the law.
The group is divided into 750 clans and, together with all their members, makes up the largest mafia in terms of the number of bandits in the world. Their main enemy is the Chinese criminal gangs. The Yakuza and the triad, in other words - the Chinese mafia, are at enmity, this is a tribute to tradition. The Chinese and Japanese have for many centuries regarded each other as rivals.
The Japanese rulers and the entire government of the country as a whole throughout history have set control over their entire state as their main task. It doesnât matter exactly how to do this. It so happened that the authorities themselves were in control of everything that lies in the legal sphere, including business activities, and the Japanese mafia controlled the illegal sphere of life of the Asian state. The mafia never quarreled with the authorities, and those, in turn, did not climb to them.
Hierarchy
The Japanese Yakuza built their internal organization according to the traditional way of their country: "father - children", "older children - younger children." Between themselves, older and younger children are considered brothers, regardless of whether there is a blood connection between them or not. The head of the yakuza has the proud title of âoyabunâ, translated into Russian it is the same as the chef. He is considered the leader of all, those who stand above all members of the gang.
After the chief in the gangster hierarchy are: senior adviser, head of headquarters, deputy and assistant chief. All these criminal elements command a whole series of other criminal elements. The more people are influenced by them, the more influence and respect they have from others. All of them are the heirs of the leader, and in the event of his death, one of them takes his place of honor.
The hierarchy also has advisers, secretaries, accountants, consultants. The bandits themselves in their structure have senior satei brigadiers, they are also called younger brothers, younger brigadiers, who are called youths, from the simple ranks of the Yakuza.
Independent units, lonely yakuza, occasionally appear in Japan. These are criminals who do not want to enter the already formed clans. However, they do not achieve success, because all territories have long been divided, and it is simply impossible to recapture them from the clan.
Clan views
The Yakuza grouping in terms of politics considers itself to be ultra-right. They advocate the idea of ââtraditional Japanese values ââin families, they want the policy of militarism to be returned, and they strive to revive the samurai traditions forgotten by the people.
They love to portray themselves and the defenders of all the Japanese disadvantaged. The clan of Yamaguchi gumi in 1995 even provided quite impressive financial assistance to their hometown. The city needed it after the earthquake that happened in the same year. However, people believe little in their good intentions, but their "bloody money" was nevertheless accepted by the people. Yamaguchi gumis are considered the largest clan, their headquarters are located in a city called Koba.
Yakuza divide all people into two categories: yakuza, that is, people from their circle, and katagi, which means "losers." The last category includes those who do not belong to their mafia. Honoring traditions, Katagi do not kill, but violence, robbery and any other mockery of them is allowed. They can kill "losers" only if they threaten them. The Japanese mafia permits to kill each other. It happens that clans fight among themselves and even hire kamikaze killers.
All Yakuza value their personal honor and the honor of the clan. They do not allow to humiliate themselves, as well as their clan brothers. To admit their mistakes is not in their style, because, in their opinion, they simply are not able to do something wrong. Mutual assistance takes a key place. If a fellow man is in trouble, the Yakuza will do everything to help him. Deviation from the rules is considered a huge shame, and this is followed by a punishment: expulsion, cutting off of the phalanges of fingers or death.
Attitude towards women
There is a group of people that will never join the clan - these are women. The Yakuza do not trust the fairer sex, they believe that those have little courage, strength, intelligence and that they should take care of the family and stay at home. Only the wives of the leaders enjoy respect, they are called older sisters. They are consulted, guarded and always helped. All other women are referred to as "bedding." If the wives and daughters of the Yakuza can still not mock, then those who are not connected with the clan in any way have to be pretty tight. They are treated more like goods, often abusing them.
Illegal business
As mentioned earlier, the Yakuza in Japan and abroad are engaged in all sorts of activities. But what is remarkable, each clan in them is engaged only in its own specific business, and not in all branches at once. It does not depend on their personal choice, the history of the clan itself imposes a certain business on them. Almost all small and medium-sized businessmen in Japan at least once encountered the mafia. Yakuza control the entire territory and those who begin to work on it.
The large Yakuza clan has long reached a high level and continues to take an active part in financial and political life. There they are engaged in the so-called money laundering, investing in large business projects, taking out debts and even interfering in the meeting of shareholders of large corporations.
They work closely with the Chinese and Koreans. This mainly concerns the drug business. In Japan, drugs are produced, and through groups of representatives of other nations they are exported outside the country. This is a rather absurd cooperation, because the Japanese mafia is fighting with the Chinese triad.
Marks of Excellence
For several centuries, tattoos have been used by mafia members around the world as a label for a particular gang. From it you can understand which group a person belongs to and what position he occupies in it. They did not depart from traditions and the yakuza. Tattoos in Japan have generally been associated exclusively with them for a long time. Non-gang people did not make them, while mafiosi covered them all over their body. Drawings and inscriptions covered hands, head and even genitals.
Sometimes ordinary artisans and peasants fell into the ranks of the Yakuza. Tattoos in this case were selected under a new name. Names were usually given by sounds like âroaring stormâ, âsteel swordâ, âlightning dragonâ. Today, tattooed people still continue to be associated with a dangerous gang. In some places bathing is even prohibited for people with images and inscriptions on the body. This ban is not justified, since after the group was officially banned, its members do not strive to so clearly attract the attention of the police and ordinary citizens.
Despite the fact that the mafia is Japanese, Koreans can also be found in its ranks. Koreans make up only 0.5% of the country's population, and therefore they, as national minorities, are subjected to severe discrimination. Even Koreans born in Japan are generally recognized as foreigners only because of their ethnicity. They cannot engage in legal trade, nor can they work without obtaining a work permit. It was precisely because society made them outcasts that the mafiosi began to accept them into their ranks. Yakuza generally willingly accept all outcasts into their ranks. Offended by society, the country and the whole world, they gain special anger and unwavering devotion to those who sheltered them.
All Koreans admitted to the group are given a new name. To erase their belonging to another culture, they are given special signs on their bodies - tattoos with Japanese traditional symbols. Often on their body inscriptions in Japanese flaunt.
Special rituals
Like any clan with a long history, the yakuza have their own special traditional rituals. The most striking of them are the following.
Atonement of guilt. Any clan can make a mistake. In this case, he is considered guilty, and guilt, as you know, must be atoned for. But you wonât be able to get rid of apologies, you need to chop off the phalanx of the fingers on your hand with a hammer. The offender hands the severed part of the finger to the boss of the Yakuza clan. This is a ritual dating back to the times when it was necessary to control the sword. With each lost phalanx it was more difficult to control the sword, with the subsequent repetition of the ritual, possession of the sword could even become impossible. Today, the absence of a part of the finger is hidden, using a prosthesis for these purposes, so as not to give out their belonging to the mafia.
Prison mark. In Russia, prisoners often serve homemade tattoos on their bodies to serve their sentences in prisons, you can easily find out what the person was in for, how many years he spent in prison. Yakuza also make characteristic marks while in prison: for each year, they inject one pearl under the skin of the penis. Men can demonstrate the years spent in prison in baths and saunas.
Admission to the mafia. Before taking any significant place in the group, men are called âyakuza studentâ for a long time, this is the lowest level of the hierarchy, you can reach the top of the entire criminal pyramid only by overcoming all its stages. The discipleâs initiation ceremony consists of a sakazukigoto ceremony. A rookie sits opposite one of the clan members (later this person will be called his adoptive father) and drinks sake with him. In Japanese culture, drinking a traditional drink is used to create a connection between people. The same ceremony is also used during the twinning of clans.
Deadly punishment. Sometimes the misconduct and oversights of a gang member are so great that cutting off the phalanx of the fingers is not enough. In this case, they use another ritual - seppiku. In other words, this is a ritual suicide that a perpetrator commits by ripping open his stomach. This is all the same tribute to the traditions of the samurai, who in the same way took their lives. Not a single yakuza can get away from severe punishment, and the point is not only in his submission to the centuries-old tradition of a criminal family. If refused, the gang members themselves rip open their brotherâs belly. Fatal punishment may follow if a faction member surrenders to one of his brothers or fathers. According to tradition, having got to the police, the yakuza should take all the blame upon himself, covering his criminal gang, if he does otherwise, he will surely die. Even the most severe torture, during the application of which information was obtained about other members of the gang, will not become a mitigating circumstance during punishment.
The life and gangster business of the Japanese mafia are widespread in art. Often they can be found as movie heroes, sometimes anime. Members of the Yakuza clans are non-respecting negative heroes and at the same time honoring the honor and family of modern samurai. They are found in such films as "Kill Bill", "Brother of the Yakuza", "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift", "War".
Official ban
For many years, the Japanese mafia existed without a ban. Only in 1992, the government adopted an act to prevent their activities. The definition of a criminal group previously absent in legislative acts was determined, and a ban on racketeering was used to hunt the Yakuza. There was a wave of discontent among gang members and their families. The daughters and wives of the Yakuzd took to the streets of Tokyo with a demonstration of their protest. Today, this resulted in the fact that they try not to let tattooed people in costumes into public places. Many baths, beaches, restaurants are closed to them.
In the 1990s, the Yakuza mafia suffered a much stronger blow. The Japanese crisis has begun, which continues to this day. As a result of this, the business of the groupings began to gradually collapse, and the number of gang members decreased. But their system is not doomed to failure. As long as there is an illegal business, there will be yakuza. They try to impersonate businessmen, at the same time use their criminal jargon, buy shares of world companies and even participate in the country's politics. They are on all Japanese islands and even outside their own country.
But people are gradually starting to fight back. Most recently, the manager of a restaurant in Japan sued Kenichi Shinoda himself, the head of the largest of the Yakuza clans, Yamaguchi gumi. She said that it was the leader who should be responsible for all the bandits of his clan who extorted money from her and even threatened to destroy her entire business. You can look at the act of this woman from different angles. On the one hand, this is a little reckless, because, most likely, after such a statement, the Yakuza mafia will declare a real war for her. On the other hand, she showed courage by suing one of the most dangerous people in the world.