The ranks of Japan's underworld rose last year for the seventh year in a row, with the organized crime scene marked by a steady increase of nonsyndicated gangsters, the National Police Agency said in a report released Thursday.
The agency put the total number of syndicated and nonsyndicated gangsters nationwide at 85,300 at the end of last year, an increase of 900 from the previous year.
According to the NPA report, while the number of underworld syndicate members increased to 43,600, a jump of 500 from the previous year, the ranks of nonsyndicated gangsters rose to 41,700, an increase of 400.
The NPA said the number of nonsyndicated mobsters, many of them with links to crime syndicates, has expanded by 7,700 in the past 10 years, while the number of yakuza syndicate members has remained relatively stable.
The NPA said nonsyndicated gangsters have become increasingly active in recent years, and many of them behave like rightwing extremists.
Among Japan's major underworld syndicates, the number of syndicated and nonsyndicated gangsters linked to Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai accounted for 69.1 percent of the total.
The NPA put the number of mobsters affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation's largest underworld syndicate, at 36,900, an increase of 800 from the previous year.
The number of gangsters affiliated with Sumiyoshi-kai was put at 12,300, and Inagawa-kai at 9,700.
The NPA said these two groups made no gains in their ranks.