Cultural Notes

The YAKUZA or the Japanese Mafia is accepted as a traditional widespread group in Japan. The have developed from the Japanese society and were particularly evident during the Edo Period (1603 - 1837). They have also originated from the kabukimono or hatamoto yako (servants of the shogun). They were made up of samurai who had no masters and dressed in unusual clothing and hairstyle, susceptible to theft and crime against the common people. However, some of the yakuza come from community police groups known as machi yakko (servants of the town) since the Edo Period was a time when the people of the community, not lords, protected the lands.

The name yakuza is the combined numbers eight, nine, and three. It came from the card game, "Oicho-Kabu" that resembled black jack. The highest sum of cards is nineteen instead of twenty-one. Adding eight, nine, and three will get a sum of twenty. The hand is 'useless' and it symbolizes the 'useless' rejects of society, which is the yakuza.

There are three general categories in which the Yakuza normally fall into. The tekiya (street peddlers), bakuto (gamblers), and gurentai (hoodlums). The tekiya were into trade, work, and market while the bakuto gambled in streets, towns, and highways. The gurentai formed after World War II when black market goods became widely distributed.

Yakuza groups are hierarchical in structure. The Oyabun or Kumicho is the head or the 'father' and the kobun are the children. They treat each other as family. Members of the yakuza offer their loyalty to their group after cutting off ties with their family. There is a senior-junior system in the group (senpai-kohai) where each one is a younger or older brother. Women are rarely involved in the yakuza except for the wife of the Oyabun whom they call "ane-san" or "older sister".

Yakuzas are closely tied to the Japanese economy. Their activities do not usually include theft. They earn their money through businesses such as merchandising, loan sharking, or through a protection system where they protect other businesses but with payment. They are not exempted from blackmailing. Some stocks that yakuza groups acquire aren't fairly gained either. However, there are yakuza groups who are honest and who protect the people or the communities under their territory.

BILIOGRAPHY:
Bruno, Anthony. "The Yakuza, the Japanese Mafia." Crime Library. 12 Mar 2006 <http://crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html>
"Yakuza." Wikipedia. 12 Mar 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza>
Riley, Phillip. "Yakuzas F.A.Q." Phillip Riley's Homepage. 12 Mar 2006 <http://www.geocities.com/phillipriley/japyakfaq.html >