Yakuza : Japanese Mafia

Walk through Kabukichō at night and you will pass buildings with a small engraved plate by the door, a family name, a crest. No secret cellar, no hidden entrance. That plate belongs to a yakuza (ヤクザ) office.

The yakuza are Japan's organized crime syndicates. Members are often identified by the Irezumi, the traditional hand-poked tattoo. Three families dominate: Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai.

Along with the Italian mafia and the Chinese triads, the yakuza are among the most powerful criminal organizations in the world. Unlike the other two, they operate in the open. Police know their addresses, their leaders and their crests.

Here is what this piece covers:

• The etymology of the name "Yakuza"
• The controversial origin of the yakuza
• The hierarchical organization of the yakuza
• The largest yakuza family: Yamaguchi-gumi
• The traditional rites and code of honor of the yakuza
• The main activities of the Japanese mafia
• The existential relationship between the bosozoku and the yakuza
• The influence of the Japanese mafia in popular culture

Yakuza meaning

The first traces of this Japanese mafia go back to the Tokugawa shogunate. The name comes from a card game called Oicho-Kabu. Draw the series 8-9-3 and the total gives you a score of zero.

It is the losing hand. Calling yourself yakuza means calling yourself a loser, an outcast of society. Broken down:

• "Ya": from "Yattsu", meaning "eight" (you can also use "Hachi")

• "Ku": means "nine", although the word "Kyu" is also used

• "Za": most likely a distortion of "San", meaning "three"

The term was also used for the role of lookout, the chair role. Police officers had to enter Shinto shrines to flush out gamblers. At the entrance sat a lookout on a chair ("role" for Yaku, "of the chair" for Za).

Yakuza origin

Yakuza history and origin: illustration by Seung Eun Kim

The organization was born in Japan, but the ancestry of its members is still debated by historians and by the yakuza themselves.

The first appearance of the yakuza in the Edo era

One account traces the yakuza back to the Kabuki-mono. They were samurai serving under the shogun during the Tokugawa era. The long peace of the Tokugawa left these men without work, and many turned to crime.

They terrorized ordinary people and were known for their extravagant clothes and their swordplay. No written source proves a direct link between them and the yakuza. The yakuza themselves claim another lineage: the Machi-Yakko, the servants of the city.

To defend themselves against those fallen ronin (masterless samurai), some townspeople formed groups of vigilantes. From these defenders of the widow and the orphan, the yakuza say they inherited their customs, yubitsume and irezumi. Two castes then appear:

• Bakuto: the "professional gamblers", acting in the city as self-appointed vigilantes. They dominated the gambling market. Gambling remains the most profitable yakuza activity
• Tekiya: street vendors who sold all kinds of goods at low prices

That Machi-Yakko story is the one the yakuza keep alive: the outsider who protects his street. It is also why their visual language, koi, dragons, hannya masks, travelled so far beyond crime and into fashion.

The history of a famous bakuto: Shimizu No Jirocho

One name represents the bakuto above all others: Shimizu (1829-1893). He became a folk icon, the Robin Hood of the archipelago. According to some chronicles, he led a battalion of 500 men.

He ruled the Tokaido Road at a time when no competent police institution existed. He defended the population against the misdeeds of the kabuki-mono. During the civil war years of the nineteenth century, Shimizu had to make a political choice.

Between the shogunate and the emperor, he backed imperial power. The bet paid off. His crimes were pardoned, and his legend was set. American accounts describe him more soberly, as a criminal in disguise who ruled his lands with an iron hand.

Yakuza hierarchical organization

The yakuza are made up almost entirely of men. Women stay in the background, mostly in entertainment venues. Clans have long recruited among the burakumin community and among Koreans living in Japan.

The structure resembles that of the Sicilian mafia. It is pyramidal and familial. The main ranks:

• Oyabun: also called kumicho, the equivalent of the "godfather". Like feudal power, the title passes from father to son. Any member who joins the yakuza becomes a protected child (kobun), then swears loyalty and obedience to the oyabun. Both are bound by a moral code (jingi code), and the kobun can in turn become a sponsor to expand the organization
• Saiko-komon: the advisors who counsel the head of the family. An administrative position, with authority over lawyers, treasurers and similar roles
• Waka-gashira: the second in command, directly below the oyabun. He takes orders from the patriarch and manages the executives
• Shatei-gashira: below the waka-gashira. He acts as intermediary between the number two and the mid-ranking members
• Wakashu: the intermediate rank, made of the kyodai (older brother) and, further down, the shatei (younger brother). The junkōseiin is the apprentice of the family

Ranks are also read in clothing. Dark suits, a lapel pin with the family crest, and for older members a kimono (着物) worn at ceremonies. The dress code is part of the hierarchy, not decoration.

The Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest yakuza family

The family was founded in 1915 by Harukichi Yamaguchi, around shows and gambling. It is among the largest criminal organizations on a global scale, and the richest. Police surveys have credited it with well over 40% of all yakuza members in Japan.

In the organized crime sector, the Yamaguchi-gumi earns billions of dollars a year from illicit activity: arms and drug trafficking, prostitution, extortion, pornography.

Shinobu Tsukasa became the family's oyabun in 2005, after Watanabe Yoshinori stepped down. In 2007 he launched an expansion into Tokyo and set up his headquarters there. The former headquarters in Kobe fell under the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, a splinter group formed by expelled clans. Between tougher anti-yakuza laws and a damaged public image, the Yamaguchi-gumi is now fighting to survive. Police counts of active members have dropped to a fraction of their 1960s peak, and the decline continues year after year.

Traditional rituals and the Yakuza code of honor

To join a family, you must prove yourself. Nationality is not a barrier, since the Yamaguchi-gumi counts several nationalities among its ranks. What counts is attachment to tradition and to the yakuza family.

The Sakazuki or induction ceremony

Many criminal organizations have induction ceremonies, and the yakuza are no exception. Sakazuki is an admission rite, its date set according to the lunar calendar. After six months of proving himself, the candidate enters a room with a Shinto altar and a low table.

Participants wear kimonos. Silence fills the room. The sponsor and the future member sit face to face, share a cup of sake, then exchange it. The sake stands for the blood bond, the exchange of the cup for the loyalty of the new member.

The oyabun then speaks about the code of honor, loyalty and obedience. The ritual ends when the silence breaks and everyone says "Omedetō gozaimasu" together. When a yakuza returns the cup (Oyako Sakazuki) to his godfather, he is cutting his ties with the family.

The yakuza code of honor

On induction, the member submits to a code of honor inspired by bushido. It is usually given in nine points:

• Thou shall not injure the dignity or honor of an exemplary citizen
• Thou shall not take another's wife
• Thou shall not commit theft within the organization
• Thou shall not do drugs
• Thou shall show obedience to your superior
• You will accept to lose your life for the sake of the father or else, to do the jail for him
• Thou shall not tell anyone about the family
• Thou shall not say anything when you are in prison
• Thou shall not kill a Katagiri (a person who is not part of any yakuza clan, a civilian)

The tattoo ritual: the Irezumi

This is the ritual most associated with the yakuza. It is done the traditional way, with hand-held needles, and it hurts. It is expensive, and a full body suit takes months or years to finish.

Members are covered in it, and each clan has its own motifs. The practice comes from the bakuto, who tattooed a black ring to count their crimes. Over time it became a mark of belonging and a symbol of endurance.

Irezumi is irreversible. In Japan the imagery still carries a stigma, yet younger people have adopted these designs as a fashion statement, far from any clan.

The Yubitsume or the removal of the little finger

This rite matters enormously in the yakuza world. When a member breaks the code, he must ask forgiveness. The gesture of atonement is the mutilation of the little finger, offered to the sponsor.

If the member offends again, the ceremony is repeated on another finger. The punishment comes from the bakuto tradition, and few veterans still have a full set of fingers. The severed joint is kept in a preserving solution, a reminder of the mistake.

The main criminal activities of the Japanese mafia

Japanese Yakuza: criminality

Most yakuza activities trace back to the feudal era. The Japanese mafia differs completely from the Italian mafias or the Chinese triads. A yakuza family office is clearly marked, with the name and the crest on display.

Japan is one of the only countries where the mafia is this visible. Offices are registered as legal associations, and members follow a dress code that sets them apart from civilian katagiri.

Japanese extortion: sokaiya

Yakuza income comes largely from the tithes collected from businesses in their territory. Think of it as a tax companies pay to avoid trouble. Others sell their services and take shares in a company, becoming "shareholders".

Blackmail is common too, once compromising information about a company or its leader is in hand. Police have long tolerated a grey zone, which gives the organization a semi-legitimate status. Minor offences such as a brawl often go unpursued.

Japanese professional wrestling and gambling

Yakuza are keen followers of puroresu and MMA. Many of the venues belong to them. The interest is financial, through ticket revenue. They have also interfered in sumo, buying wrestlers and arranging fixed bouts.

It is a lucrative business, and its roots go back to the feudal era. Illegal betting extends to horse racing, auto racing and more. They also hold sway over pachinko parlours and casino halls.

Pachinko is hugely popular in Japan, with a colossal turnover. The country counts thousands of parlours, many of them connected to the yakuza. These venues serve to inflate their figures and to launder money.

The illicit trade

Among the major trafficking operations run by the yakuza:

• Drug trafficking: one of the most profitable activities, centred on amphetamines, their main market
• Arms trafficking: Japanese law is strict on gun ownership, so the yakuza built their market in other Asian countries and in the United States
• Illegal immigration: smuggling people into the archipelago, which supplies both prostitutes and labourers. Most of the prostitutes working in Japan come from other Asian countries

The existential relationship between the bosozoku and the yakuza

In Japan, bosozoku refers to gangs of young bikers who ride dangerously and as loudly as possible. Police describe them as "pseudo yakuza". Some members drift into crime, others pay the yakuza for protection.

The alliance between bosozoku and yakuza is said to have produced informal gangs known as han-gure. The yakuza use them as a strike force, because they are not classified as designated crime groups. Many of these gangs include Chinese and Korean members who sometimes move into the yakuza world.

Some young bosozoku take their activities to other Asian countries. The old guard of the Japanese mafia disapproves, seeing it as a breach of their ethics.

The influence of the yakuza in popular culture

The yakuza hold a visible place in the economy and, in some neighbourhoods, act as an informal order. They have become a myth inside Japanese culture. You find them in video games, manga and cinema. A few examples:

• In the Gokusen franchise: created by Kozueko Morimoto and published by Shueisha, later adapted into anime and drama. The heroine is Kumiko Yamaguchi, heiress of a yakuza clan who fulfils her dream of teaching. She teaches maths to a class of delinquents, each with a complicated personality
• In the movie My Boss, My Hero: a parody released in 2001. An illiterate young clan leader is thrown out of school after losing a big deal because he could not count. He enrols in a high school controlled by a rival clan and discovers the pleasure of student life
• In the cult game Grand Theft Auto III: one of the gangs in Staunton is called "Yakuza"
• In the video game Yandere Simulator: the yakuza help the main character with certain tasks
• In the Yakuza video game series, also known as Like a Dragon: a long-running saga set in the yakuza world, released on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC, and later adapted for the screen
• Yakuza eiga: a Japanese film genre devoted to the life of the yakuza. European filmmakers have tackled the subject too. Takashi Miike's "First Love: The Last Yakuza" reached the United States in 2019
• The movie Yakuza the Order of the Dragon: a Japanese yakuza film released in 2007 by Takashi Miike

That imagery is also why the yakuza silhouette keeps resurfacing in streetwear: black suit lines, irezumi motifs, dragon and koi prints. Worn with a plain white tee and dark denim, those references read as graphic, not costume. You can see how we interpret that look in our Yakuza outfit pieces.

The Yakuza, the world's oldest and most modern mafia

The yakuza stand among the largest criminal organizations in the world, alongside the Italian mafia and the Chinese triads. Their name comes from a losing hand in a card game of the Tokugawa era. It is an old organization that has endured and adapted.

They follow a strict code of honor, and that code built their reputation abroad. Make no mistake though: a yakuza is a modern gangster, even when bound to rituals such as yubitsume.

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