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July 16, 2025
 

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YAKUZA

Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 31, 2018
Japanese-style plea bargaining debuts but authorities fear spread of false testimony
Japan on Friday introduced a bargaining system as part of an overhaul of its criminal investigation and trial systems, while battling concerns the new practice could encourage suspects or defendants to make false statements that lead to miscarriages of justice.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
May 5, 2018
In Japan, a high-profile former gangster struggles to go straight
Everyone loves a tale of redemption. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be one of them. In a previous column, I introduced a man who had gone from being a greedy, violent, self-centered boss of an organized crime syndicate to become a compassionate male nurse.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Mar 31, 2018
'The Outsider' scores a few hits among the misses
Netflix last month released a yakuza film starring Jared Leto titled "The Outsider" to critical disdain. And as much as I expected to hate the movie, I didn't. It's portrayal of the world of organized crime in Japan after World War II is not entirely inaccurate. It even has its moments.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jan 6, 2018
Giving former gangsters in Japan a chance can reap rewards
Fuji Television screened a popular TV series in 2009 called "Ninkyo Herupa" ("Yakuza Helper") that focused on the life of a former gangster who landed a job at a nursing facility for the elderly.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 4, 2018
Japan's banks secure access to police agency database to help screen for yakuza and other 'anti-social forces'
Starting Thursday, Japanese Bankers Association members will be able to screen individual loan seekers using the National Police Agency's database of organized crime members.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 2, 2017
Life as a gangster in Japan just isn't as fun as it used to be
A number of theories have been put forward on the reasons behind the 2015 split of the country's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Nov 4, 2017
Japan's crime syndicates are shooting themselves in the foot
Japan's organized crime syndicates appear to be embroiled in something of a power struggle.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Sep 30, 2017
Gangsters prefer to do things by the book
Japan's gangsters esteem tradition and prefer to do things by the book. As a result, they appear to love manuals — they have manuals for committing certain crimes as well as guides on how to avoid punishment for carrying out those crimes. Lately, however, gangsters don't appear to be paying as much...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 24, 2017
The stories behind familiar Japanese words
Let's take a look at the origins of half a dozen Japanese words that have found wide usage in English.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jul 1, 2017
Are crime syndicates in Japan sitting on a gold mine?
The Japanese underworld loves gold — it has been the analog bitcoin of crime syndicates in recent years. The origins of gold are difficult to trace, and the material is easy to convert into cash and store. Crime syndicates are increasingly smuggling it, stealing it or robbing it from other smugglers...
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
May 6, 2017
Brazen heists suggest that crime syndicates may be back in business
Last month, three masked robbers grabbed a suitcase stuffed with cash from a businessman who had just withdrawn the money from a bank in Fukuoka. The businessman is believed to have been planning to use the ¥380 million ($3.5 million) to buy gold.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Apr 1, 2017
Gangsters in Japan aren't quite as intimidating as they used to be
The National Police Agency announced last month that the number of crime syndicate members fell below 20,000 in 2016.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 1, 2017
Hiroki Matsukata: a gangster farewell
Hiroki Matsukata, who died at age 74 on Jan. 21, may have been born into an acting family — his father was jidaigeki (historical drama) actor Jushiro Konoe — but in his yakuza films for the Toei studio in the 1960s and '70s, Matsukata's portrayals of feral-but-charming hoods seemed to boil up off...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 18, 2017
'Hamon: Yakuza Boogie': Dancing around the gangster issue
Over the years, acquaintances of mine have boasted of their brushes with local gangsters. But few, I would wager, have become pals with one. Yakuza and katagi (straight citizens) tend to move in separate circles, with the former often viewing the latter as sheep to be fleeced or chickens to be plucked....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 14, 2016
'The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio': Digging deep into the yakuza
Since his start as a director in 1991, Takashi Miike has accumulated nearly 100 credits, including his output for television broadcast and straight-to-video release. Far from being the faceless journeyman this number suggests, Miike is a genre auteur who has put his individual stamp on his films, with...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2016
Yamaguchi-gumi henchmen make Kobe kids an offer they can't refuse: Halloween candy
The Yamaguchi-gumi underworld group distributed candy and other snacks to children as Halloween gifts near its headquarters in Nada Ward, Kobe, according to the Kobe Shimbun.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2016
Say you're sorry: In court with Japan's rascals, killers and dope heads
The Haras were a quiet, rather ordinary Japanese couple — until they resolved to burn down their house and drive themselves and their 20-year-old daughter off a cliff.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Sep 3, 2016
One year on, gang splinter is tough to explain
More than a year has passed since the country's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, split into two. More than a dozen gangs defected from the Yamaguchi-gumi on Aug. 27, 2015, to form the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, headed by Kunio Inoue, as a rival syndicate and, even now, the reasons for the breakup...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 27, 2016
'The Dork, the Girl and the Douchebag': The hard-hitting brutality of gang life
Some filmmakers will go to any end for their art. Werner Herzog notoriously put cast and crew through hell in the making of "Fitzcarraldo" (1982) in the Peruvian jungle, with hundreds of indigenous people hired to drag a 320-ton steamship over a hill with real ropes and real injuries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2016
'Ken and Kazu': The yakuza isn't all guns and glamour
Most films about the yakuza depict its members as fully formed and distinctly different from the general run of humanity, somewhat like action figures just out of the box. The reality, as Hiroshi Shoji's "Ken and Kazu" shows us with a gritty directness and power, is more quotidian. For Shoji's title...
Students in Japan struggle with Japanese language and math sections on national exam
The correct answer rate for the Japanese language section on a national test dropped to 67.0% from 67.8% the previous year among elementary school sixth-graders.
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Tourists in Japan have telemedicine options before calling 119
Foreign tourists at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo. More than 1 million international visitors have a medical issue in Japan every year.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
With China and Trump, Japan defense report says world entering ‘new era of crisis’
A senior member of a Self-Defense Forces honor guard inspects a formation before the arrival of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for a visit to the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on June 30.
Tokyo stocks hit by a perfect storm of tariffs, politics and budget worries
Tokyo stocks are underperforming shares in other large markets globally.
Japan researchers identify gut bacteria strain that boosts anticancer drugs
Researchers at the National Cancer Center Japan say a new type of gut bacteria named YB328 could help unlock the potential of cancer immunotherapy.
Tokyobike founder believes in taking in sights of dynamic cities slowly
Ichiro Kanai, founder and president of Tokyobike, is developing a niche but a new customer base who want to cycle as part of a lifestyle.
Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

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