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phonics
26-10-2015, 12:29 PM
We all know that the Yakuza are fucking :cool:

There's been a split in the largest gang recently leading to worries of violence.


Japan’s biggest crime syndicate has cancelled its annual Halloween event for children, apparently out of concern that a recent high-profile split (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/07/japan-yamaguchi-gumi-yakuza-split-fear-gang-war) in the gang could trigger violence and put public safety at risk.The Yamaguchi-gumi, which boasts a membership of 24,000 and revenue of an estimated $6bn (http://fortune.com/2014/09/14/biggest-organized-crime-groups-in-the-world/) (about £4bn), posted a notice announcing the cancellation of its trick-or-treat event this Saturday, along with an apology to disappointed parents and children.


https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/78c771ffc395d2694275185d5554b2efd4cdc7d8/0_58_2916_1751/2916.jpg?w=460&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&
“The Halloween (http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/halloween) event that has taken place annually on 31 October will be cancelled this year due to various reasons,” said the notice, posted on the gate of the Yamaguchi-gumi’s headquarters in the western port city of Kobe.
“We regret disappointing parents and children who are looking forward to the event, but we promise to hold it next year, so please look forward to that.”


Last month, police warned of a possible outbreak of violence after 13 of the Yamaguchi-gumi’s 72 factions left to form a new group, amid internal rows centring on its head, Shinobu Tsukasa.


The 73-year-old Tsukasa, also known as Kenichi Shinoda, became the Yamaguchi-gumi’s sixth leader (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/26/japan.justinmccurry) a decade ago and has been criticised for increasing monthly “loyalty payments” and for giving preferable treatment to members of the Kodo-kai, an affiliate he founded in 1984 in the central city of Nagoya.


Media reports in Japan said the rival gang (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/28/japanese-police-bracing-for-gang-war-as-yamaguchi-gumi-mafia-group-splits), with about 3,000 members, was headed by Kunio Inoue (http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2015/09/07/yamaken-gumi-boss-to-head-yamaguchi-gumi-rival-gang/), the 67-year-old head of the Yamaken-gumi, and was based on Awaji island, near Kobe.


Police officials say they fear a repeat of the bloodshed that followed a similar split in the mid-1980s. Over three years, at least 20 gangsters were killed, more than 70 were injured and 500 were arrested.


The cancellation signals that the Yamaguchi-gumi, now in its 100th year, is putting on hold attempts to soften its image as it addresses the recent schism and reassesses its response to tighter anti-gang laws and police vows to crack down on organised crime.


At last year’s Halloween event, Tomohiko Suzuki, a freelance writer and yakuza expert, posted a photo on Twitter showing (https://twitter.com/yonakiishi/status/528103921621823490/) gang members handing out colourfully decorated bags of sweets to children dressed in costumes. The gang hosts other community events, and was among the first to distribute water and food to survivors of the Kobe earthquake in January 1995.
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/7/11/1373537854178/Kenichi-Shinoda-Yakuza-bo-008.jpg?w=460&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&
Fears of a repeat of the 1980s turf war have so far failed to materialise, but police have increased patrols of gang premises, and two recent killings have been linked to the rift.
Earlier this month, police arrested a Yamaguchi-gumi member over the fatal shooting of a rival gangster at a hot spring resort in Nagano prefecture; on Monday, police said a senior member of the breakaway gang had died after ashooting (http://www.tokyoreporter.com/2015/10/26/yamaguchi-gumi-boss-dies-in-osaka-shooting/) at an office in Osaka.


Yakuza watchers speculated that crime bosses had been unnerved by the possibility of a violent incident breaking out at an event where children and their parents would be present.


“The Yamaguchi-gumi has split and is in tense relations with the [splinter] group,” Atsushi Mizoguchi, a freelance writer and expert on Japan’s underworld, told Agence France-Presse. “If they gather the neighbourhood children and an incident occurs, the boss would be pursued for responsibility.”


The Yamaguchi-gumi was formed in 1915 by a former fisherman, Harukichi Yamaguchi, on Awaji island. It accounts for almost half of Japan’s yakuza membership, according to police, and is active in all but three of the country’s 47 prefectures.

4 billion annual turnover for one gang :cool: 3,000 members splitting off and you still out number them 7 to 1 :cool:

How do they exist though? The Yakuza seems to be completely out in the open for a group presiding in a country that seems to care about auhority > *. How has it gone on so long? Surely 'The Emporer' would have destroyed these people or is it a post WW2 thing?

Any book reccomendations that aren't boring as fuck. I read this one on the Mafia and wanted to die rather than read another chapter.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSsy1hwb5Yi11bz65Db6PDvgqT7kwqrU qQOeIcdBThtwjeMG_xD

Something less academic.

Giggles
26-10-2015, 12:38 PM
Yeah that's what I was wondering too. How are they even allowed to operate as openly as that?
Such an odd country really. Could have went twice last year but fuck that, just too out there for me.

I do find the mentality of the place interesting though. Have they completely buried and hidden WW2 or do they live with it in the open?

phonics
26-10-2015, 12:40 PM
From the bits and pieces I've read they lived in shame of WW2 for decades and now this new PM is trying to make them a foreign power again, hence these arguments over some shitty islands with China.

Henry
26-10-2015, 12:47 PM
Aren't they just drug dealing scum?

phonics
26-10-2015, 12:50 PM
Drugs, Women, Gambling, Protection, Pachinko, Community Centers, Spas, Markets, Bus Routes, Sanitation, Construction, Property.

You name it, the Yakuza own it. They're pretty much a second government.

Benny
26-10-2015, 01:06 PM
Don't most big gang organisations have a hand in charity events etc.? Easy way to balance books and keep some good public image.

I don't know this, but I imagine they deny being involved in the more shady stuff but rather use underhand tactics to secure lucrative deals in things like construction and public services.

Sam
26-10-2015, 02:02 PM
Isn't their existence and continued openness something to do with the class systems that were/are in place in Japan? Those members of the Yakuza are from the lowest ranked class, so it's seen as acceptable they do what they do?

Least that's what I remember reading.

QE Harold Flair
26-10-2015, 02:33 PM
No, I don't find thugs and murderers to be :cool:

simon
26-10-2015, 02:39 PM
I'd also be really interested to read a book or two on all this. The whole Asian culture is something I can never quite get my head around but it is extremely fascinating.

hfswjyr
26-10-2015, 07:35 PM
From what I've read, it sounds like the Yakuza have deep links with the government, and are basically acting as the underhand. They're allowed to exist because the government needs them to exist.

Spoonsky
26-10-2015, 10:05 PM
Japan’s biggest crime syndicate has cancelled its annual Halloween event for children

Sentence fragment of the year there.

Shindig
26-10-2015, 11:34 PM
Yakuza 4 has Kazuma battling to save an orphanage because something like 101% of Yakuza are orphans. Bollocks to the books, phonics. Just grab a PS3 and copies of Yakuza 3 and 4.