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Editor’s Note: This piece is part of an ongoing series on organized crime worldwide.

The Yakuza

Criminal activity in Japan has been controlled by the Yakuza clans for more than 400 years. First operating as gamblers and vendors on the black market, the Yakuza have since branched out domestically and internationally. Their scope now expands into nearly every possible industry — from arms dealing and prostitution to the financial and Internet sectors.

For the most part, the Yakuza have managed to elude police, and their civilian casualty rates are low when compared to other organized crime groups. But the primary threat they pose lies in their ability to corrupt economic institutions and their reliance on physical intimidation to negotiate deals. Not only is their influence seen on the streets of Japan, but in some of the country’s most powerful boardrooms.

However, despite their influence the Yakuza face challenges going forward, namely how to recruit in a country where the population is rapidly aging while battling competition from foreign criminal groups like the Chinese Triads.

In the Beginning

The modern-day Yakuza, like other organized crime groups, trace their lineage into Japanese history. Secret, criminal groups are a societal phenomenon deeply rooted in the culture within which they operate. Pinpointing an exact origin date for these groups is difficult, but significant transition periods can be identified when criminals gain and lose influence or refocus their efforts due to changes in their surrounding societies and economies. Yakuza are no exception. While their place in society surely has evolved over centuries, the feudalistic period of 16th and 17th century Japan is when the term “Yakuza” first started being used.

The name Yakuza is derived from a popular card game and specifically is associated with losers of that game. Of course, Yakuza members do not think of themselves as losers per se, but they do embrace the status of outsider in a country with strict social norms and hierarchies. While their members generally hail from lower classes and are uneducated, Yakuza organizations give the would-be losers of Japanese society an avenue through which to become powerful while operating parallel to the above-ground Japanese system.

The Tokugawa Period

Most modern day Yakuza clans trace their histories back to the Tekiya and Bakuto groups of feudalist Japan. Tekiya groups were made up of traveling vendors and peddlers. They set up stalls throughout Japan around temples, selling wares and buying, selling and trading goods. Authorities recognized these groups as traders and authorized the functions of Tekiya bosses. These bosses (Oyabun) looked after the traders (Kobun) by ensuring their protection from thieves and lending the impromptu markets a sense of legitimacy in the eyes of local authorities. This Oyabun/Kobun relationship is one steeped in Confucian tradition and can be seen in other aspects of Japanese life like the Sensei/Kohai relationship between teacher and student. Embedded into the Oyabun/Kobun relationship are the values of obedience and protection which helped the Tekiya groups thrive and spread throughout Japan.

As the Tekiya groups gained legitimacy and recognition, they also began to abuse the protection provided by their bosses. Vendors earned a reputation for selling shoddy goods, duping customers and being generally insincere. It was no longer the vendors that needed protection, but the customers. As vendors brought in more money and as markets became more organized, Tekiya groups bumped up against each other, leading to skirmishes over who operated which marketplace. These clashes sometimes ended in bloodshed. The more vendors and marketplaces a boss could control, the more money and power he would gain. These bands of traveling merchants had essentially become financial bases for their bosses’ territorial expansionist ambitions.

Meanwhile, another group called Bakuto were making money gambling. Given that those who could afford to gamble were typically wealthy, Bakuto groups set up along roads where wealthy families would travel en route to visit the emperor — an important undertaking in those days. Rest stops were established along roadways and, eventually, family-run Bakuto groups established gambling parlors along every important route. Like the Tekiya vendor groups, Bakuto groups also enjoyed a degree of cooperation with the state. Authors David Kaplan and Alec Dubro in their book, Yakuza: Japan’s Criminal Underworld, give the example of gamblers who targeted laborers on public works projects, won money from the state-paid construction workers and then funneled the money back to state coffers after taking a cut. These kinds of partnerships with the state set a precedent for later Yakuza activities.

Bakuto groups also handed down some traditions to modern-day Yakuza, including the tradition of yubitsume (cutting off finger joints as a form of penance) and the practice of receiving elaborate, full-body tattoos.

The Meiji Restoration

During the Meiji restoration period, which began in 1868, Japan went through a phase of major industrialization and militarization. While the Tekiya and Bakuto still sold their wares and hustled money, more profitable avenues arose for those looking to enter the underground economy. As factories opened and the demand for raw materials rose, Japan’s labor force and product reserves became strained. During this period, Bakuto members also got involved in politics — providing muscle to campaigning politicians.

Ultranationalist groups like the Dark Ocean Society set up posts in China and Korea in a subversive effort to undermine the governments there. Groups like these paved the way for mineral extraction, foreign labor camps and the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1910 and China in 1931. They also got rich in the process. Prominent Japanese criminal figure Yoshio Kodama, a behind-the-scenes power broker in post-war Japan, started to amass great wealth leading up to the war from activities (including drug trafficking) in Korea and China.

The militarization and industrialization taking place during the late 19th and early 20th century was also a boon to domestic businessmen. In major cities, the demand for construction laborers and dockworkers created a scenario in which gangs would collect workers and broker them to employees, acting as a quasi-employment agency. Contacts abroad in Korea and Manchuria ensured the steady flow of cheap labor that fueled the industrialization boom. During this time, many of the modern gangs that currently rule over port cities like Tokyo, Kobe and Fukuoka got their start by providing and organizing labor.

The most important trend that emerged from the Meiji restoration period concerning organized crime was the marriage between criminals and political parties. Throughout the late 1800s, organized criminals (most of them with a background in Bakuto) led and organized political rallies for their patron politicians. The largest Bakuto groups controlled thousands of people through gambling networks and encouraged even more to attend rallies through physical intimidation. They also used muscle to break up rallies held by rival politicians. By the late 19th century, regional elections were being broken up by right-wing groups who threatened violence against those who voted for the rival progressive party. By then, criminal organizations had aligned with the right-leaning Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) — a relationship that continues today.

Post-War and Occupation

Yakuza in its modern form really came into being during the chaos of post-war Japan. Universally, organized crime thrives in times of disorder under a weak state. Japan following its defeat during World War II was ripe for such an evolution. Most major cities and their infrastructure had been destroyed either by intensive fire bombing campaigns or nuclear attack. The Japanese military and its resources (both material and human) were strewn about East Asia. Food was either scarce or non-existent given that supply chains had broken down. This combination of lacking basic needs, unaccounted-for supplies and a strong demand for reconstruction created the perfect environment for organized crime. Additionally, a communist threat from the east meant that the U.S. occupying forces would, after the immediate threat of nationalism dissolved, support right-wing groups over communist-linked left-wing parties.

Following its defeat, Japan faced severe food shortages. Daily government rations during 1946 and 1947 barely kept the population alive, much less provided support for a period of reconstruction. Furthermore, people skipped work to search for food — further cutting into productivity. Where the government failed to provide for its people, organized crime stepped in, supplying food and eventually other useful items in black markets.

Immediately following the Japanese surrender in 1946, farmers could earn 30 times more selling their rice to black markets than to the government. But food on the black market was expensive. If people wanted to eat, they had to sell off valuables like jewelry, heirlooms and other prized possessions. A flood of Japanese military goods, unaccounted for after the surrender, also made their way into street-vendor booths and bartering deals. Black market dealers became at the crux of the post-war Japanese economy.

In lean times, access to things like food and clothing could be highly profitable. By the end of 1945, an estimated 17,000 black markets had emerged nationwide. But these markets would not manage themselves. So, in a return to the days of the Tekiya vendors, various Yakuza gangs stepped in and provided order for the chaotic marketplaces. Because of the profits involved and the desperate circumstances, vendors were often the victims of thefts and shakedowns. As Yakuza gangs solidified their hold over neighborhoods and towns, they established their own territorial boundaries and financial sources.

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