The waves caused extensive damage to roads, railways, and nuclear reactors, but the yakuza were one of the first to arrive with relief, including food, blankets, water, and other supplies. When an earthquake occurred off the coast of Tohoku on March 11, 2011, it triggered one of the largest tsunamis in Japan’s history. Their code of honor, ninkyo, forbids them from allowing others to suffer. While the yakuza are known for operating through extortion and sometimes violent methods, they are also known for helping those most in need. To ensure annual meetings run smoothly, companies are willing to pay off the yakuza in all kinds of ways, including donations to fake charities, paying exorbitant subscription fees for useless magazines or buying tickets to yakuza events at ridiculously inflated prices.In the picture below, Deputy President of Mizuho Bank Toshitsugu Okabe apologizes for a scandal involving the bank’s illicit loan payoffs to sokaiya.Ĥ. Since Japanese people fear shame more than anything else, these groups then dig up dirt and find ways to humiliate the executive leadership. Small groups or the crime syndicate buy enough shares in a corporation so they can attend shareholder’s meetings. The yakuza are known for engaging in sokaiya, a form of extortion or blackmail. (The Kumagai Gumi Tokyo gang is part of one of the largest organizations, the Inagawakai, whose emblem is above them.)ģ.

(This yakuza office is actually right next door to a police station.) There are many yakuza groups and some of these organizations have had offices at times with signs displaying their name or emblem. While the yakuza’s activities are often illegal and secret, organized crime syndicates are, unlike other countries, not banned in Japan. Early yakuza members were often part of groups involved in illegal activities and began to add to their existing prison tattoos to show their affiliation with the organization.Ģ. Originally, however, the tattoos and the yakuza date back to early17thcentury Japan when prisoners were tattooed by authorities to mark them as criminals. The traditional method involves manually inserting the ink under the skin. Yakuza members are known for their colorful tattoos,irezumi.

And now, here are five things you need to know about the Yakuza!ġ.

Ink and ashes by valynne e maetani