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Rohit S.
Background
• Sengoku Jidai (Warring States Period) - from the mid-15th century to early 17th century
• Defined by nearly constant military conflict
• Unification of Japan under Oda Nobunga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokukgawa Ieyasu
• Tokugawa Shogunate established in 1600 (Battle of Sekigahara)/1603 (appointment of Shogun) – start of peace time
• Excess of military forces (samurai class)
Ronin
500 000 samurai left jobless, despite casualties suffered during the Imjin War
Many were well educated and readjusted to life in market society as merchants, profiting from expansion of domestic trade from Sakoku policy
Ronin – wandering samurai without a master chose other paths to survive
Some became bandits (kabuki-mono)
Others became peddlers (tekiya) and gamblers (bakuto)
Bushido
Literally way of the samurai
Yakuza identify their code of conduct with that of the samurai
Violent death as honourable and poetic
Giri – obligation/duty
Ninjo – compassion/emotion
Kabuki-mono
Literally the crazy ones
Gangs composed of former samurai during peace time
Bandits groups looted towns and villages as they wandered throughout Japan
Some groups designated as hatamoto-yakko (servants/bannermen of the shogun) also became violent due to idleness
Inspiration for Japanese kabuki theatre tradition
Mythical Origins
Machi-yokku (servants of the town) – civilian police force
Folk heroes who rose up to defend against bandits, tightly-knit groups
Gamblers in their spare time (bakuto)
Legend/romantic ideal of yakuza origins
Shapes perception within yakuza as ninkyou dantai (chivilarous organizations)
Versus common perception as bouryokudan (violent groups)
Bakuto
Ran illegal gambling houses and brothels
Played dice and card games
Used abandoned temples/shrines
Commonly hired by government during Edo Period to cheat construction and irrigation workers out of their wages for a percentage
Expanded into loan sharking and other activities
Modern yakuza who make a living off gambling still call themselves bakuto
Yakuza Etymology
Cards games commonly played with kabufuda (gambling cards) or hanafuda (flower cards)
Deck of numbers 1-10, 40 cards total
Oicho-kabu – Japanese version of blackjack objective for a total score of 19
Players dealt 3 card
Ya (8), ku (9), za (3) – worst hand
Became common saying for something useless or bad luck
Ended up being applied to bakuto themselves
Tekiya
Similar to Western snake oil salesmen – sold shoddy merchandise with deceit, expanded to meet demand for illegal goods (black market)
Controlled booths/stalls during fairs – start of protection racket, turf wars, etc.
Organized to protect themselves and their interests against the shogunate
Oyabun granted status and surname, even allowed to carry a wakizashi short sword
Some worked as information brokers or even spies for the shogunate
Traditions
Oyabun-kobun (father-child) relationship entailing blind loyalty and absolute obedience
Began yubitsume (finger-cutting) as a punishment/apology to the oyabun or prior to expulsion from the group
Origin in weakening katana grip
Function of group solidarity and reliance
Tattoos
Tattooing (irezumi) also began as punishment, evolved to represent strength and fortitude, unwillingness to conform to society and personal characteristics
Still done by hand with bamboo or steel needles, five times more painful than with a tattoo gun
Popular designs – mythical beats, animals
Tsuzoku Suikoden Goketsu Hyakuhachinin (108 Warriors of Suikoden) – appeal of ferocity, outlaw status and individual qualities in Kuniyoshi Utagawa and also Hokusai Katsushika’s illustrations
Based on 14th century Chinese novel (Shuihu Zhuan) about a band of robin-hood types
Ritual
• Sakazuki-goto – for creating the oyabun-kobun blood bond (father-son), joining the family
• Literally event of cups, sake drinking from a cup
• Common Japanese practice, for example at weddings, for bonds and coming together
• Sake as bond between man and gods, blessing of good harvest, extension to earthly bonds
• Yakuza ceremony performed at a Shinto shrine
• Significance of sakazuki cups as a physical contract, returned or destroyed for expulsion
Meiji Restoration
Start of political parties and militarism
Yakuza also modernized, formed strong ties with those in government (ultranationalists)
Did 'favours‘ as the cost of doing business
Trained militarily, in languages, assassination, blackmail, and so on by secret groups
Assassinated political rivals, pressured various groups, soldiers/terrorists (i.e. Manchuria)
By 1930's – role in assassinating prime minsters, finance ministers, coups, etc.
Yakuza in WWII
Sold opium with the help of industrialists and military under the Opium Monopoly Bureau
Funded the war effort and made occupied populations more obedient (i.e. China)
Ran thousands of brothels for soldiers by kidnapping and forcing Korean women and wives/daughters of debtors into prostitution
Firms like Mitsui and Suzuki were involved
Post-WWII Origins
Proliferation of gurentai (hoodlums/hired goons)
Used threats and extortion to operate
Start of gun culture and new level of violence
Reason for bouryokudan label
Inspired by prohibition era gangsters
Yakuza dress also American-inspired
Post-WWII Strengthening
Larger than the Japanese military, police
Used to control labour, oppose communism, provide information
Majority of US aid going to Europe, flourishing black market for everyday needs by funnelling of military stockpiles
Sale of amphetamines (combat drugs) to suppress hunger
Unspoken agreement between zaibatsu, government and yakuza
The Godfathers
Yoshio Kodama (WWII and post-WWII) – known as a visionary for uniting the yakuza
Kazuo Taoka (origins of Yamaguchi-Gumi)
Hisayuki Machii (origins of Korean Yakuza) – Tosei-kai/Tao-kai fifth largest clan
Kenichi Shinoda (sixth and current kumicho of the Yamaguchi-Gumi) – currently most powerful
Modern Day 100 000+ members in 22 syndicates and 2500 clans
Corporate-style organizational structure with franchise based growth
1. Yamaguchi-Gumi – 50 000 in 850 clans
2. Sumiyoshi-Rengo – 20 000 in 270 clans
3. Inagawa-Kai – 15 000 in 310 clans
4. Matsuba-kai – 2000
Daimon (family crest):
Modern Day
1980s bubble economy led to keizai yakuza
Increasing involvement in big business (insider trading, real estate, construction, banking, etc.)
1992 anti-gang law – severe sanctions
Uneasy and shifting political alliances
International expansion
Decaying police-yakuza relations
Syndicate violence over territory
Need to negotiate with Korean and Japanese organize crime
Modern Day
Increased defection and legitimate opportunities
New biker/speed gangs (bosozoku) causing discord, disregard for old ways
Korean yakuza – discrimination against Japanese Koreans (0.5 percent of Japan)
Burakumin/eta/dowa – outcasts from four divisions, untouchable status inherited due to ancestor’s ‘impure’ occupations (i.e butchers, executioners, and others)
Overall sixty percent are burakumin, thirty percent Korean, ten percent other Japanese
Conclusion
• Historically those of lowest class/caste who gained influence (socio-economic origins)
• Integral component of Japanese society with origins dating back to before the Edo period
• Unique culture and ritual practices with a variety of historical influences that is changing
• Worldwide operation in the some of the most vile businesses