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The Yakuza
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Filinadian



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Posts: 27

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:18 am    Post subject: The Yakuza Reply with quote

Hey guys

I was just wondering if you guys had any run-ins with the Yakuza or any interesting stories about the Yakuza. My student and I just had a chat today about his run-in with them last year. He said that he and a bunch of friends were drinking one night in Ikebukuro, and when they got out of the Izakaya, they noticed a car pull up beside them. A guy inside the car opened the window to speak to them, but apparently one his friend was drunk that night and started swearing at the man. They only noticed that the mysterious man was a Yakuza when he got out of the car and noticed one of his pinky fingers were missing. Before they could book it out of there, they were hounded by a bunch of younger Yakuza members and before they knew it they were in an office bowing their heads in shame, appologizing about the incident. Apparently the leader of the gang let them go with only a few cuts and bruises. After that, they never went back to the Izakaya again.

I want to know if you guys have a way of telling a Yakuza other than the missing pinky or the elaborate tatoos that they sport. I don't want to run into one of them and have to deal with them in the future. I really think one of these days I will piss one of them off and who knows what will happen.

Any reply would be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks again for reading my post.
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JimDunlop2



Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Posts: 2286
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yakuza are highly overrated. If you CAN'T tell a yakuza by visible scars or tattoos... Isn't that a good thing? Chances are, we've all likely spoken with or in some way dealt with members and not known it. But the same goes for anywhere else in the world.

Um, as far as experiences go -- only very limited. I've encountered them on a number of occasions -- but they will mind their own business 99.9% of the time if you mind yours. I have a few good stories actually, but none that I care to share online. They're fun to throw out over a couple of beers, but it's nothing that I'd call life-changing.

I've met a couple of guys with full-body tattoos in onsens before. (The onsens that DON'T have a no tattoo sign out front I guess.....) Smile And besides, are YOU going to be the to tell him he can't come in? Smile Anyway, never stopped to talk to them -- they didn't even glance twice at me.
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Brooks



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1369
Location: Sagamihara

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cars. The back windows are tinted so you can`t see in.

And clothes. They tend to wear suits. Chimpira tend to dye their hair.

Yakuza live in the suburbs just like normal salarymen do.
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homersimpson



Joined: 14 Feb 2003
Posts: 569
Location: Kagoshima

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yakuza tend not to mess with Westerners without provocation. Usually pretty easy to spot the young ones (bad hairdos and Montgomery Ward solid-colored suits). Stay away from the snack/hostess bars and don't confront them on the streets (don't know why you would anyway) and you'll be fine. The well-established yakuza (such as the Yamaguchis) are far more interested in the flesh trade, buying off the local police and politicians, and other scams to worry about some English teaching gaijin.
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Longing for Nippon



Joined: 14 Jun 2004
Posts: 49

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

When iwas working in Osaka there were stories flying about that NOVA MM workers were being targeted by the Yakuza. Not really sure why, some said NOVA were in debt because of the massive outlay for the MM centre. I never actually spoke to anybody affcected by it so it may have been an urban myth. It certainly put me off goint to Namba for a while.

A gang of female friends were out in Shinsaibashi and claimed to have been abused and bashed about a bit for falling onto a Yukazu car. They were very drunk and probably out of control. She did have a black eye the next day but again it could have been an elaborate story.

The Yakuza are well respected in Kansai due to their efforts during the Hanshin earthquake. They helped the survivors with food and shelter before the government. They can be charitable too!
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guest of Japan



Joined: 28 Feb 2003
Posts: 1601
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've never had a problem with the yakuza. The few I've spoken with have been very polite.

I once witnessed a Canadian who owned a bar go make a protection payment to the local mafia making their rounds.

I also heard or a female English teacher scolding them for smoking on the train. In the story they kindly put out their cigarettes.

I think the yakuza control crime far better than the police. They take the young punks and put them in check. The same can be said for the italian mafia in Boston. The side they control is very safe. The Irish side and the Chinatown are not.
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PAULH



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Longing for Nippon wrote:
The Yakuza are well respected in Kansai due to their efforts during the Hanshin earthquake. They helped the survivors with food and shelter before the government. They can be charitable too!


They will usually try to avoid hitting bystanders when they have shootouts. I heard they had to pay compensation to the family of a dentist who was hit by a stray bullet in a yakuza hit (he died).

Did hear a story about a yakuza wedding at the big hotel I work at where the wedding reception bill came to 7 million yen. Paid the hotel bill in one hit by automatic transfer so I hear.

Knew a foriegn guy I worked with who got the crap kicked out of him in Kyobashi (a lot of yakuza around there) by some yakuza but its likely he deserved it. Got to watch out for the chinpiras (young yakuza hoodlums who act tough and wear garish clothing, gold chains and sunglasses. Usually act like they have something to prove but get them on their own and they are pussycats in wolfs clothing.)
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nawlinsgurl



Joined: 01 May 2004
Posts: 363
Location: Kanagawa and feeling Ok....

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 3:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Apparently Shizuoka prefecture has a lot of Yakuza residing there. I asked two guys for directions to MiniStop in Japanese and the responded in very understandable English. Later I described them to my roommates and they said they sounded like Yakuza. I must admit I was shocked b/c they were so nice! But I do have a bit of an infatuation with the organization and wanted to know a bit more about it. Does anyone know if this rumor about Shizuoka prefecture is true? And are there any good reads on the Yakuza that can statisfy my interest? Thanks a bunch! Very Happy
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Nismo



Joined: 27 Jul 2004
Posts: 520

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yakuza are all over the place. I've never had a problem with them. You can recognize them, mostly, by the following traits: Permed curly short hair, Black suit with white tie, Louis Vouitton Wallet. And those are just the stereotypical guys. You won't be able to recognize most Yakuza.

Japanese organized crime is VERY organized, to the point where it isn't even really so much a criminal organization anymore, it's just a seedy operation. The problems a foreigner will face is not from Yakuza, but from punk kid bosozoku (the guys who rev their motorcycles real loud and swerve and honk their annoying horns). Some of these guys are racist and will beat foreigners with bats, although that is a rarity. Don't expect to just get randomly beaten down in broad daylight.
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Brooks



Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1369
Location: Sagamihara

PostPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A while ago an American and his Japanese friend got into an altercation with yakuza. They took them for a ride and dropped the American off a bridge in Yokohama. He died.
He taught in Ebina, Kanagawa.
The Japanese friend only got beat up.

In Hiroshima some time ago there were a couple military guys out at 4:00 a.m. and they got shot at by a yakuza guy. All the shots missed. That yakuza guy got busted.

When I talk to Japanese people they seem to think there is as much organized crime in America, but I doubt it.
Japan also has mafia from Russia, Korea, and China.


Last edited by Brooks on Fri Dec 10, 2004 1:04 am; edited 1 time in total
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taikibansei



Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Posts: 811
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My Yakuza story is a bit embarrassing. I first arrived in Japan in 1988--of course, almost clueless about the people and country (well, I'd read Shogun.... Wink ), just knowing I wanted to go.

So, about the 6-month mark in my stay, I started living in an old house (a story in itself) with no shower or bath. This led, of necessity, to my going elsewhere to bathe, namely the neighborhood sentou about two blocks away. (Talk about sudden culture shock--took me awhile to get used to the bemused silence that used to greet my entrance.)

The Yakuza story happened about two weeks into my using the sentou. A 30-something gentleman with the most amazing tattoos was rinsing off. Moreover, just like me, the shower stalls next to him were empty, and the people around him strangely quiet. Indeed, to my limited understanding of what was going on (e.g., had never even heard the term 'yakuza' before), the poor guy seemed almost ostracized...

Well, being the genki gaijin that I was, and with the requisite naive confidence in my Japanese ability (after all, I'd been studying it for all of six months...) that propels such stories, I thought I'd say something to, well, cheer him up. So, I went up to him and boomed out something like, "Heh dude, cool tattoos" in broken Japanese. He was stunned--heck, everyone was stunned--and the room became tensely quiet. Thinking the problem was native shyness, I said it again--only louder--with a lot of pointing for emphasis. When the guy finally smiled and thanked me, you could hear (and even feel) the sighs of relief around us both.

It was only later that I learned from a girlfriend about the yakuza...and why shouting strange things at tattooed guys in sentous might be a bad idea.... Embarassed
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JimDunlop2



Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Posts: 2286
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:48 am    Post subject: Reading Reply with quote

nawlinsgurl wrote:
And are there any good reads on the Yakuza that can statisfy my interest? Thanks a bunch! Very Happy


Yes. Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld, by David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro. 2003. University of California Press is considered to be THE definitive and authoritative guide on the subject. It's an extensive tome that goes pretty deep into the yakuza's history, origins and modern-day activities. Some parts are long and boring but you will learn a LOT from this book. I recommend it.

If you want to find it in paperback form on Amazon or whatever here is the ISBN: 0520215621
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Gordon



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim, the book is beside me on the shelf and I'll read it over the holidays in Hawaii.

A top yakuza guy lives two doors away from my best friend. I've been told by many different people in the neighbourhood that he is the #2 yakuza in Japan. Funny how that is such common knowledge. Hard to believe, I imagine he would be in some big mansion somewhere behind walls and hi tech fences. Nope, the house doesn't look all that ostentatious, but it is tasteful which does make it stand out. There is a Rolls and BMW and I've never seen any of the young punks around. Guess they are not allowed to be near "the big guy". All the yakuza that do hang around do seem friendly and apparently they were helpful with all the neighbours this summer when a tyhoon flooded half the city.
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JimDunlop2



Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Posts: 2286
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gordon: Ever talk to the guy? Bring him a pie? Omiyage? Have some tea with him? I'm sure he'd be a really cool conversation...

/Yeah, I'm sick. I'm also the guy that wants to go have a cup o' coffee and cigar with Fidel Castro.... Smile
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Gordon



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My friend has talked to his wife a few times, he's not really out and about much. The Yakuza man is probably in his 50s. His wife is apparently quite sweet.
I'd love to tea with him though or write his memoirs. Cool Must have a few good stories to tell, better than the ones we have.
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