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Yakuza Wars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

David McNeill  and
Jake Adelstein
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A bloody dispute between two rival Yakuza groups in a southern Japanese city has led to a historic fight-back by local people. But rooting out the mob from society will not be easy.

“Get lost.” Not a promising start to an interview but this is hardly a standard interviewee: a flint-eyed gangster sporting a crew cut and a boiler suit. His two colleagues glower from behind oversized sunglasses and thick layers of suspicion. Rippling tattoos snake out of the rolled-up sleeves of Goon No. 1. “Kieusero,” [Fuck Off], he growls before slamming down the shutter of his office garage.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 6 , Issue 9 , September 2008 , e19
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2008

References

Notes

[1] Asahi Shimbun editorial: Residents Battle Yakuza, Aug. 27, 2008.

[2] Okubo Hiromichi, “The Social Culture That Allows Organized Crime” October 2008, 　Tokyo, pg. 95-97

[3] Boryokudan Furonto kigyou sono jitsunou to taisaku. A Tokyo lawyer well-versed in dealing with the yakuza notes: “The clause is very useful when nullifying contracts with organized crime members because it omits the necessity of explaining why or going into long drawn-out discussions with gangsters.”

[4] Gokudo no Urachishiki, Takurajima Publishing (2006).

[5] “Ten Held in Scam to Evict Tokyo Tenants,” March 5, 2008

[6] The LA Times took a look last year at how some mobsters have fallen on hard times in its story about Shiroo Tetsuya, the man who murdered Nagasaki mayor Ito Itcho. See Bruce Wallace, “Glimpse at a Faded Yakuza,” July 23, 2007.

[7] The “Underworld” Goes Underground: Yakuza in Japanese Politics, in Harvard Asia Quarterly, Volume VI, No. 3, Summer 2002.

[8] In 2007, a detective in the Tokyo Metro Police Kitazawa Police Station leaked onto the internet over a gigabyte of data collected on organized crime groups, especially the Gotogumi. Burning Productions, a major talent agency, was listed as a Goto-gumi front company. In December of 2007, the National Police Agency sent out a formal request to the Federation of Civilian Broadcasters asking them to sever ties with organized crime groups. Burning Productions was not named.

[9] See “Yakuza Target Japan's Financial Markets,” in The Times, Aug. 27, 2008. Available online.

[10] “Ryozanpaku Exec Nabbed on Stock Price Manipulation Charges,” March 7, 2007.