The buildings go all up, all the time in Tokyo," Adelstein explained. It's impossible to miss the mark of a Yakuza: severed fingers. Tradition demands when a mistake is made, they chop off their own finger to atone and present the severed part to their boss. Many have ornate tattoos that often cover their entire body, marking them for life. But unlike the Mafia in America, Yakuza don't hide their membership in the mob, because it's not illegal in Japan to be a member of organized crime.
And they are so much a part of Japanese culture, they parade openly. He was introduced to "60 Minutes" by Jake Adelstein in downtown Tokyo. Beneath his expensive suit, his body is a canvas, like many Yakuza, covered with intricate tattoos. As she walked down the main street of Tokyo's entertainment and "red light" district, Logan explained, "This is traditional Yakuza turf. They run everything from the girls to the sex, to the drugs. But the modern Yakuza is a different animal, adding corporate takeovers, financial fraud and insider trading to their criminal portfolio.
That's how Tadamasa Goto made most of his money. According to Japanese police files, he amassed an estimated billion dollar fortune through nearly front companies. He is one of the richest and most violent godfathers in Japan. Only the user who asked this question will see who disagreed with this answer. Read more comments. Yakuza is a gang. Gangs usually make money from drugs and are usually not dressed super fancy.
Mafia is usually classy and makes money from other things. Think of scar face and the grandfather as Italian mafia. See a translation. They both deal with illegal activities but also host charitable acts to cover their darker side.
They both can also have control over certain organizations such as companies or even governments. The yakuza are Japanese organized crime syndicates. They have existed in some form for more than years, making them older than America, let alone the American Mafia. Yakuza history is extensive, and the yakuza have come a long way from their days as outcast bands of street peddlers and gamblers.
At one point, their members numbered more than ,, dwarfing the Mafia. Yakuza organizations are structured as families, with various clans organized into a corporate-like structure under larger ones. Though the word "family" is often used to describe yakuza organizations, they are not families in the biological sense, but rather tightly knit groups. The yakuza are very different from other criminal organizations. They are deeply ingrained in Japanese culture, and not always in nefarious ways.
For centuries, they have tried to create an image of honor and, in a sense, nobility. Yakuza portray themselves as protectors of outcasts and keepers of order, as can be seen in the name they chose for themselves - ninkyo dantai, or "chivalrous organizations. Some yakuza facts help explain their trademark tattoos, or why some yakuza members are missing bits of their pinky fingers. Less well known is that they often carry business cards and operate openly; it is legal in Japan to be affiliated with yakuza organizations.
After reading these facts about the yakuza, you will understand how little the yakuza have in common with other criminal organizations around the world, despite some superficial similarities.
The yakuza trace their lineage to two groups of outcasts that emerged during the Edo period - The first, the tekiya, were peddlers who went from village to village. Many tekiya were considered burakumin , a class of outcasts similar to untouchables in India - those who exist below the accepted tiers of a caste system.
The second group from which the yakuza originated, the bakuto , were gamblers. These two classes eventually organized and moved into criminal activities like loan sharking, racketeering, and extortion. The tekiya would, in some cases, provide protection for underground gambling operations run by the bakuto, creating a criminal network that interlaced the groups.
Unlike the Mafia, the yakuza make little effort to hide their identities and affairs from authorities, with whom they often work in various capacities. Because belonging to a yakuza organization is not a crime, they can openly conduct legal business, and often do illegal business in cooperation with banks , corporations, and officials behind closed doors. Yakuza members have been known to grant interviews to journalists, and some carry business cards with the name of their crime syndicate.
In most countries, crime syndication is illegal. Japan, however, recognizes yakuza membership as a legitimate right to assembly. The yakuza police themselves and follow a strict code of behavior.
When a member gets out of hand, the yakuza discipline them. They also help reduce petty crime in areas in which they collect revenue. Yakuza involvement in politics is longstanding. In many cases, knowledge of a political figure's ties to the yakuza isn't even particularly scandalous, and endorsement by yakuza organizations can be politically beneficial. During the s and s, many yakuza groups adopted corporate structures and chased big money by moving into legitimate business ventures.
Inagawa-kai, one of the largest yakuza families in Japan, set up its offices in midtown Tokyo, its name boldly emblazoned on the building directory. Yakuza organizations also began managing multiple hedge funds and investing in speculative real estate and other lucrative ventures, which meant involving highly educated and skilled white-collar workers in their affairs, either as associates or members of the organizations.
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