Goodbye to the Yakuza(theatlanticwire.com)
theatlanticwire.com
Goodbye to the Yakuza
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/10/goodbye-yakuza/43206/
14 comments
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?...
Like all other Japanese corporate enterprises, the yakuza are facing dwindling revenues, worthless investments and even layoffs for mobsters unable to bring in assigned monthly payments.
Even more dispiriting and harmful to their carefully nurtured image of lovable bad boys, many Japanese are pointing at yakuza involvement with the banks and loan companies, the avalanche of unpaid mortgages and are blaming the hoods for Japan's entire economic woes.
There was another NYTimes article on how "long time" members of the Yakuza, with an emphasis pre-crash on financial revenue sources, faced severe layoffs (I can't find it, google quality search problems).
Even more dispiriting and harmful to their carefully nurtured image of lovable bad boys, many Japanese are pointing at yakuza involvement with the banks and loan companies, the avalanche of unpaid mortgages and are blaming the hoods for Japan's entire economic woes.
There was another NYTimes article on how "long time" members of the Yakuza, with an emphasis pre-crash on financial revenue sources, faced severe layoffs (I can't find it, google quality search problems).
To be fair, they're really handling that massive foreigner bicycle-theft problem.
For those of you who were not at the bar and don't understand this in-joke, Ogaki's finest have detained me multiple times on suspicion of stealing my own bicycle. Each time, on getting released, I am reminded that either "the foreigners" or "the Brazilians" are unleashing a biblical plague of bike thefts on Ogaki and that I should be careful to double lock it to avoid becoming the latest victim.
My response to the JP cops that stop me:
"Sumimasen... Nihongo taberemasen..."
(Sorry... Japanese eat can not...)
And other gibbering in a western accent and they wave me past. I usually get stopped around 2am during my cycling commute home. Makes sense I guess when the last trains have stopped and lots of bicycles get "borrowed".
And other gibbering in a western accent and they wave me past. I usually get stopped around 2am during my cycling commute home. Makes sense I guess when the last trains have stopped and lots of bicycles get "borrowed".
Nice. I've been stopped as well. The most recent time it was raining and I had just been tossed off my bike at a fast speed. Shortly thereafter a cop stopped me, and while pondering how I would explain my situation in nihongo, he called in the bike ID, and as soon as he saw the blood all over me he let me go pretty quickly.
That sounds straight out of the novel "The Third Policeman". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Policeman
I can't count the number of times a policeman has stopped me during the late evening to check that my bicycle wasn't stolen...
But frankly, in Kyoto at least, the problem wasn't stolen bicycle, the problem was that there are no parkings anywhere in the city and so every year you had to expect to have your bike impounded...
But frankly, in Kyoto at least, the problem wasn't stolen bicycle, the problem was that there are no parkings anywhere in the city and so every year you had to expect to have your bike impounded...
And when there is a place to park your bike, it looks like this: http://tinyurl.com/6eteaux . (From my last trip to Kyoto. :)
> Go to any bar, restaurant, or laundry mat, odds are they have a "We don't do business with violent groups" (which means the yakuza) sign up.
Also, in many spas and golf clubs, they don't allow customers with tattoos or missing pinky fingers.
Also, in many spas and golf clubs, they don't allow customers with tattoos or missing pinky fingers.
Well, really, if she hadn't borrowed money and not paid it back then she wouldn't have a yakuza problem now would she.
I'm half-joking, but then again I'm half-serious. I know it's not PC, but for heaven's sake, she borrowed money from a crime syndicate. Shouldn't she have known what she was getting herself into?
I'm half-joking, but then again I'm half-serious. I know it's not PC, but for heaven's sake, she borrowed money from a crime syndicate. Shouldn't she have known what she was getting herself into?
It is probably relevant to your understanding of this matter that the Japanese equivalent of payday lenders, which are owned by banks roughly similar to CitiBank, have in the past outsourced collections to the yakuza as a matter of policy.
By law and custom the United States has a lot of protections for debtors. Japan... well...
By law and custom the United States has a lot of protections for debtors. Japan... well...
Ah, so she borrowed from a bank and the yakuza came knocking? Yes, if that is the case, that is a different matter.
I think regardless of who you borrowed money from, collection by death threat should probably be illegal.
If you allow collection by death threat as a legal way to still give money, the Yakuza will just collect money that way always.
There must be a way to stop it all. However the law does indicate that ANY involvement with them will screw the business, so banks using the Yakuza to collect will now be equally liable.
There must be a way to stop it all. However the law does indicate that ANY involvement with them will screw the business, so banks using the Yakuza to collect will now be equally liable.
[deleted]
it could also be racket, which is still prevalent I believe. At least several foreign bar owners told me they had to give money to them.
a) What would the new law do regarding Yakuza demanding money or death? I guess any business with them has potential of putting you in a no-win situation where damned if you do damned if you don't.
b) She should not have borrowed money. Then again instead of the US credit card loans, Japan has the Yakuza, two sides of same coin, except Yakuza kill, we just make you homeless.
b) She should not have borrowed money. Then again instead of the US credit card loans, Japan has the Yakuza, two sides of same coin, except Yakuza kill, we just make you homeless.
> Then again instead of the US credit card loans, Japan has the Yakuza, two sides of same coin
Yes. Consumer credit in the US is exactly like Japanese organized crime.
Yes. Consumer credit in the US is exactly like Japanese organized crime.
> except Yakuza kill, we just make you homeless.
Predatory tactics on both ends, my friend. See the subprime mortgage problem in the US.
Like I implied: Yakuza = violent means to an end, US Loans = non violent means to a same end within the respective field.
I am not implying banks do the same as the Yakuza regarding "protection" and bribery/extortion, though that does happen in the US, just on a different level (can't threaten politicians so easily with baseball bats). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Automobile_safety_a... about how an attempt was made to blackmail Nader.
Predatory tactics on both ends, my friend. See the subprime mortgage problem in the US.
Like I implied: Yakuza = violent means to an end, US Loans = non violent means to a same end within the respective field.
I am not implying banks do the same as the Yakuza regarding "protection" and bribery/extortion, though that does happen in the US, just on a different level (can't threaten politicians so easily with baseball bats). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Automobile_safety_a... about how an attempt was made to blackmail Nader.
> Yakuza = violent means to an end, US Loans = non violent means to a same end
And you don't consider the distinction between being violent and non-violent pretty damn significant? Also, consumer credit holders doesn't get to repossess your home, only your mortgage lender does that.
And you don't consider the distinction between being violent and non-violent pretty damn significant? Also, consumer credit holders doesn't get to repossess your home, only your mortgage lender does that.
I'm reminded of that scene in a later season of The Sopranos where a couple of Tony's flunkies pay a visit to the new Starbucks opening on the block for a shakedown and a kid stocking merchandise blows them off saying every last bean is accounted for by corporate and it's out of his hands. The thugs wander out in a daze.
Great scene, especially if you wanted to make a case for the benevolent influence of corporations on society. Power to the bean counters!
Great scene, especially if you wanted to make a case for the benevolent influence of corporations on society. Power to the bean counters!
Thanks for sharing, that is a great scene.
"It's over for the little guy" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxFQYw_MmAA
"It's over for the little guy" -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxFQYw_MmAA
My immediate reaction to this is, 'what could possibly go wrong?'
> “The new laws will make the price of paying off the yakuza, in loss of face and in penalties, much more expensive than the actual cash payments to the yakuza."
So what happens when the yakuza raise the stakes and make it even more costly to not pay them off? (e.g. we'll kill you, your family, etc.)
> “The new laws will make the price of paying off the yakuza, in loss of face and in penalties, much more expensive than the actual cash payments to the yakuza."
So what happens when the yakuza raise the stakes and make it even more costly to not pay them off? (e.g. we'll kill you, your family, etc.)
What sprung to my mind was this article from the economist:
http://www.economist.com/node/18652037
The issue is that in India, it's illegal to both accept and give bribes. This prevents bribe givers from 1) blowing the whistle. 2) Admitting to others who want to convict the corrupt official that they gave him bribes.
"Kaushik Basu, the chief economic adviser to India’s finance ministry, suggests that this may be partly because the law treats both bribe-giving and bribe-taking as crimes. This makes it hard to blow the whistle on corrupt officials, because the bribe-giver has also broken the law. If he complains, he risks prosecution or, more likely, being asked for another bribe by the police. In a provocative paper based on game theory, Mr Basu argues for the legalisation of some kinds of bribe-giving. His proposal has instigated a furious debate in India, with television channels even assembling panels to discuss it."
http://www.economist.com/node/18652037
The issue is that in India, it's illegal to both accept and give bribes. This prevents bribe givers from 1) blowing the whistle. 2) Admitting to others who want to convict the corrupt official that they gave him bribes.
"Kaushik Basu, the chief economic adviser to India’s finance ministry, suggests that this may be partly because the law treats both bribe-giving and bribe-taking as crimes. This makes it hard to blow the whistle on corrupt officials, because the bribe-giver has also broken the law. If he complains, he risks prosecution or, more likely, being asked for another bribe by the police. In a provocative paper based on game theory, Mr Basu argues for the legalisation of some kinds of bribe-giving. His proposal has instigated a furious debate in India, with television channels even assembling panels to discuss it."
Which is why it's important that they have this policy:
> If you go to the police, before they come to you, and tell them that you have been working with the yakuza, the police will exempt you from the ordinance and help you sever relations.
i.e. whistleblower protection writ large, at the company level.
> If you go to the police, before they come to you, and tell them that you have been working with the yakuza, the police will exempt you from the ordinance and help you sever relations.
i.e. whistleblower protection writ large, at the company level.
Yea, otherwise I threaten you "bribe me or die" on camera. I bribe you, you blackmail me with that footage.
I don't think the situation in Japan is really comparable to the situation in India. The huge problem with bribes in India is that the use of bribes is required not when caught up with organized crime groups, but when interacting with the government and local officials to do totally normal things like registering the birth of your child and getting a passport.
My cousins and friends from India have explained to me that this is due to a lack of legitimate "fees" for government services that we are accustomed to here in the US.
Those extra $10-$25 fees for things like getting a birth certificate are high enough to cover the wages of government workers and therefore discourage the petty bribery that goes on in the third world.
Those extra $10-$25 fees for things like getting a birth certificate are high enough to cover the wages of government workers and therefore discourage the petty bribery that goes on in the third world.
That's why Japan has the "do tell, and we won't ask" policy. If you admit to giving someone a bribe, you don't get in trouble. If it's found out that you have a bribe later, then you do. So going to the cops is really your only way out.
If someone refuses to provide a legally required service or threatens to perform an illegal act unless paid, then that payment is evidence of being a victim of extortion or blackmail, not a perpetrator of a bribe. Is the law in India so backward that they call that a bribe?
If someone refuses to provide a legally required service
Well, no one refuses outright.
Papers get lost suddenly, people forget things, all necessary steps take as long as it is legally possible, you suddenly have to provide tons of papers or references...
So you say it'd kill your business if it takes so long? Well, let's discuss it, maybe we can work something out... you know what I mean?
Well, no one refuses outright.
Papers get lost suddenly, people forget things, all necessary steps take as long as it is legally possible, you suddenly have to provide tons of papers or references...
So you say it'd kill your business if it takes so long? Well, let's discuss it, maybe we can work something out... you know what I mean?
'what could possibly go wrong?'
I start wondering what happens when other groups fall under the same scrutiny... In the US, the PATRIOT Act was only supposed to apply to terrorism. It turns out that 95+% of the wiretaps, etc have related to drugs.
I start wondering what happens when other groups fall under the same scrutiny... In the US, the PATRIOT Act was only supposed to apply to terrorism. It turns out that 95+% of the wiretaps, etc have related to drugs.
I'm confused by this. I was never under the impression people were paying protection money voluntarily -- I thought it was always so that groups like Yakuza wouldn't come back and break your legs or kill your family. This threat probably won't go away, so the local shopowner is still left with that decision to make...which will he be more afraid of? Yakuza or police? Seeing as how there's only 100 officers to enforce this new law, I'd still be more afraid of the Yakuza.
I never understood how organized crime can exist in a society as modern as Japan (or most western countries for that matter). Most people are against it, so why doesn't it die off by itself? There is an estimated 100k Yakuza members. Japan has a population of 127M. That's 1 Yakuza member per 1270 inhabitant. How can they seemingly be so prevalent?
Most likely the Yakuza phenomenon is exaggerated by the media, and for most people, they are just a thing you hear about on the TV, but that you never see in real life.
Most likely the Yakuza phenomenon is exaggerated by the media, and for most people, they are just a thing you hear about on the TV, but that you never see in real life.
Actually if you go out a bit in Japan, you'll often hear that such place is own by Yakuza or you'll be told that such person is Yakuza. The Japanese are generally quite tolerant with the Yakuza, considering them a normal and distinctive part of their culture, some kind of necessary evil, which is something I never understood.
The key element of yakuza is that it's organized and somewhat predictable. It's violent and illegal, yes, but it's also very formalized and fairly static. Whereas in Western countries criminal cartels are wildly unpredictable, and more often than not involve innocent parties in their squabbles, Yakuza families are very conservative, in a very Eastern way, and value stability above many other things.
Inevitably, in large metropolis, you'll have things like red-light districts. These places will be full of people who don't particularly value the rule of law, which means they're going to be hotbed of instability. Policemen have little incentive to risk their neck for prostitutes and various scumbags. In comes the yakuza, and order is guaranteed; nobody will make trouble, and if they do, yakuza will dispatch of them quickly and reliably. Police are happy, less work for them. They also provide easy cash, something hard to come by in a very conservative society where banks often lend money depending on your surname rather than your cashflow. They like finance as much as anybody else.
In a society that (in most cases) still values tradition and stability above everything else, yakuza provides these elements to the inevitable "dark underbelly"; as long as they cover that role, rulers are not particularly interested in going after them for a bit of unpaid taxes. Nowadays it's fashionable for mainstream media to bash them because they all need scapegoats for a long-running financial crisis that has no clear culprit (apart from the usual "generalized greed" and "implicit flaws in the capitalist model", but nobody wants to really address those two, of course).
Inevitably, in large metropolis, you'll have things like red-light districts. These places will be full of people who don't particularly value the rule of law, which means they're going to be hotbed of instability. Policemen have little incentive to risk their neck for prostitutes and various scumbags. In comes the yakuza, and order is guaranteed; nobody will make trouble, and if they do, yakuza will dispatch of them quickly and reliably. Police are happy, less work for them. They also provide easy cash, something hard to come by in a very conservative society where banks often lend money depending on your surname rather than your cashflow. They like finance as much as anybody else.
In a society that (in most cases) still values tradition and stability above everything else, yakuza provides these elements to the inevitable "dark underbelly"; as long as they cover that role, rulers are not particularly interested in going after them for a bit of unpaid taxes. Nowadays it's fashionable for mainstream media to bash them because they all need scapegoats for a long-running financial crisis that has no clear culprit (apart from the usual "generalized greed" and "implicit flaws in the capitalist model", but nobody wants to really address those two, of course).
Good overview of the problem. Nowadays the romantic image of the Yakuza who doesn't bother innocent people seems to be loosing a bit of credibility though. Maybe people will start to realize that human trafficking actually involves innocent people.
More like goodbye to standing a chance as a business owner. So you can't pay for safety, and instead get your windows broken and your kneecaps busted.
If you do pay, you become a criminal.
Talk about a backwards way of fighting the problem.
If you do pay, you become a criminal.
Talk about a backwards way of fighting the problem.
I think that's an interesting take on the problem.
I don't think there is an equivalent law in the U.S. against paying for "protection", but it might make sense.
My dad ran the racket for Boston's Chinatown/Combat Zone in the 70's-80's and it was definitely more acceptable at the time to pay up (as the police weren't interested in what happened there).
I don't think there is an equivalent law in the U.S. against paying for "protection", but it might make sense.
My dad ran the racket for Boston's Chinatown/Combat Zone in the 70's-80's and it was definitely more acceptable at the time to pay up (as the police weren't interested in what happened there).
[deleted]
Is your father still alive?
Yeah, "retired" in southern California. Why?
I think it would be interesting to read about his involvement with the rackets. You could interview him to jog his memory and ask him to write about it. Also I know reddit's IAMA subreddit loves topics like these.
I saw him mentioned in a Discovery Channel documentary when I was in High School, which surprised the hell out of me.
I don't know how interesting it all is. He basically showed up in the Combat Zone one day and went from place to place telling them they were going to start paying him. The guy they were already paying got disappeared, so they complied.
Over time the territory came to include Chinatown (which abuts the Combat Zone), and he eventually got hooked up with the non-Irish mob in Providence (where I guess he was one of their better earners). He also apparently stole a lot of boats (very easy to steal, very hard to track), which when I found out helped explain to me why my grandmother was Admiral of the Quincy Yacht Club without ever owning a boat.
The FBI issued an arrest warrant for him the day I was born, so he fled (apparently to California). They seized all my mom's assets (in an effort to get her to cooperate), and tailed her and I everywhere for most of my childhood.
He ended up getting arrested back in Boston in the early 90's (A few years ago I worked at the same company as the prosecutor who tried his case, which we both discovered one night drinking at a company off-site...awkward conversation).
From what I know, he's now living in Southern California (he had a security consulting company...which I suppose it somewhat serendipitous considering that both my brother and I ended up working in information security).
I'm not one of those people who believes that people are "good" or "evil", but if forced to decide one way or the other, my dad falls pretty squarely into the "bad" camp. The thought of him participating in an IAMA on Reddit is about the funniest thing I can think of.
I don't know how interesting it all is. He basically showed up in the Combat Zone one day and went from place to place telling them they were going to start paying him. The guy they were already paying got disappeared, so they complied.
Over time the territory came to include Chinatown (which abuts the Combat Zone), and he eventually got hooked up with the non-Irish mob in Providence (where I guess he was one of their better earners). He also apparently stole a lot of boats (very easy to steal, very hard to track), which when I found out helped explain to me why my grandmother was Admiral of the Quincy Yacht Club without ever owning a boat.
The FBI issued an arrest warrant for him the day I was born, so he fled (apparently to California). They seized all my mom's assets (in an effort to get her to cooperate), and tailed her and I everywhere for most of my childhood.
He ended up getting arrested back in Boston in the early 90's (A few years ago I worked at the same company as the prosecutor who tried his case, which we both discovered one night drinking at a company off-site...awkward conversation).
From what I know, he's now living in Southern California (he had a security consulting company...which I suppose it somewhat serendipitous considering that both my brother and I ended up working in information security).
I'm not one of those people who believes that people are "good" or "evil", but if forced to decide one way or the other, my dad falls pretty squarely into the "bad" camp. The thought of him participating in an IAMA on Reddit is about the funniest thing I can think of.
The sheer number of unexplained Japanese words in that article made reading it lightly frustrating. Convenient example:
"All yakuza groups have a coat of arms or crest known as a daimon(代紋) that represents the group. The Yamaguchi-gumi daimon is often called hishi-gata because of its shape."
Sure, he romanized that last one, but that really didn't make the sentence understandable.
"All yakuza groups have a coat of arms or crest known as a daimon(代紋) that represents the group. The Yamaguchi-gumi daimon is often called hishi-gata because of its shape."
Sure, he romanized that last one, but that really didn't make the sentence understandable.
The next paragraphs explains that sentence (daimon, yamaguchi-dumi). 'hishi-gata' wasn't but from a quick google I understand that it means 'diamond-shaped'. I admit that I found it frustrating as well.
Most Japanese families have a coat of arms. Yamaguchi is the strongest yakuza group (according to wikipedia, it would be around 55000 members), and has a specific daimon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yamabishi.svg. hishigata means diamond shape.
Sounds like they are taking hints from American "law enforcement".
It's a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to go after people who cannot defend themselves than the powerful. This is why virtually no-one from wallstreet has been put in prison and corporations have become "people".
Once you give police laws like this, they start hitting the innocent little-guys with all the power they have and no-one gets how horrible that is until someday the bystander who says "well if you didn't do anything wrong... blah blah" gets caught in the trap as well. Then it's too late.
It's a heck of a lot easier and cheaper to go after people who cannot defend themselves than the powerful. This is why virtually no-one from wallstreet has been put in prison and corporations have become "people".
Once you give police laws like this, they start hitting the innocent little-guys with all the power they have and no-one gets how horrible that is until someday the bystander who says "well if you didn't do anything wrong... blah blah" gets caught in the trap as well. Then it's too late.
Talk about a sensational headline.... goodbye? Give me a break. There will always be organized crime in every country no matter what.
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Why don' you give autonomy to Yakuza? http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/t...
This is confusing a set of legislative measures, aimed at the destruction of an illegal organization, with the attainment of the said result.
That doesn't work for bribes. Why should it work for racket money?
Anecdotally, their influence has been waning in recent decades, or at least moving from retail level criminality into Chicago-style corruption regarding public works projects. (That aside, I had a bit of a run-in with two of them a few years back while they were painting "Pay us our money or we'll kill you" on a neighbor's house, and I was not left with massive new respect for my local police department as a result of that encounter. Long story short, but you could practically hear "If she hadn't borrowed money and not paid it back then she wouldn't have a yakuza problem now would she" during the middle of my 911 call.)