Tag - yakuza

 
 

YAKUZA

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 attention to the manuals as they used to.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2017
Bodyguard shot dead in apparent Kobe yakuza feud
A man believed to be a bodyguard of the head of a yakuza splinter group linked to the largest crime syndicate in the country was shot dead during a violent ambush Tuesday in Kobe, police said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 8, 2017
Kudo-kai gangsters held in Shimizu worker's 2011 shooting in Kitakyushu
Six members of the Kudo-kai underworld syndicate are arrested in connection with the shooting of a construction worker in Kyushu in 2011.
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 Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2017
Japan joins U.N. organized crime convention after passing controversial conspiracy law
Japan has joined an international convention for tackling transnational organized crime after putting into force a law penalizing the planning of a range of crimes.
Japan Times
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 who don't have ties to gangs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2017
Kobe yakuza boss served fresh arrest warrant over gang scuffle in Kyoto
The head of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi gangster group was served a fresh arrest warrant Friday in connection with a scuffle at the office of a different yakuza group in Kyoto in January.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 29, 2017
Yakuza photo-bombs Kishiwada Danjiri Festival poster
The organizer of the famous Kishiwada Danjiri Festival in Osaka will remake its poster for this year's event because a yakuza appeared on it.
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.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 23, 2017
Fuji TV reporter who allegedly bought car for yakuza also suspected of lending money: police
A Fuji Television Network Inc. reporter who allegedly purchased a luxury car on behalf of a man connected to the underworld is also suspected of lending millions of yen to the mobster, police officials said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 16, 2017
Crime syndicate members fell below 20,000 in 2016, Japan's police agency says
The number dropped as gang groups struggle to secure financing amid stronger police crackdowns and a growing civil movement to eliminate them, a report showed.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2017
Failed genital surgery triggered yakuza attack on nurse, prosecutors say
A 2013 assault on a nurse by a crime syndicate in Fukuoka Prefecture was ordered by its 70-year-old boss who was dissatisfied with the results of plastic surgery on his genitals, prosecutors said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 18, 2017
'Confessions of a Yakuza': Vice and survival in postwar Tokyo
The author of the best-selling "Memories of Silk and Straw" brings the same documentary approach to bear in "Confessions of a Yakuza," a study of an aging gangster by the name of Eiji Ijichi.
Japan Times
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 the streets, not a studio lot.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 19, 2017
12 yakuza arrested over 2011 drive-by shooting of Fukuoka construction executive
A dozen gangsters affiliated with the underworld group Kudo-kai have been arrested in connection with the fatal drive-by shooting of a construction company executive in November 2011.
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 / Crime & Legal
Jan 7, 2017
Two men found guilty of intimidating lay judges in yakuza trial but walk free
Two men were convicted Friday for intimidating lay judges involved in the trial of a senior member of a crime syndicate based in southwestern Japan but were allowed to walk free because their sentences were suspended.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 31, 2016
U.S. sanctions two yakuza groups, leader, for alleged money laundering
The United States imposed sanctions Friday on a yakuza crime syndicate, three of its members and an affiliate group over their alleged involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2016
Fuji TV reporter suspected of using name to help mobster buy car
A reporter for Fuji TV is suspected of helping an underworld syndicate member purchase a car by allowing the use of his name, according to sources.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces