Yakuza

Recently, numerical involvement in the Japanese organized crime network named the Yakuza has been on the decline. Law enforcement is going after gang members mainly centered around destruction of evidence and fraud. In 2011, new organized crime ordinances were introduced, further criminalizing business involvement with syndicates -- it is now illegal to do business or pay off the yakuza -- resulting in, most notably, many bank contracts with gang members being cancelled. This means that it is more and more difficult to actually make a living as a gang member, which is one of the key drivers of decreasing membership (https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00372/no-way-out-the-dilemma-of-japan%E2%80%99s-ex-yakuza.html).  

Reading this, gang activity felt shockingly out in the open to me. After some research, I learned that yakuza organizations are actually not illegal in Japan - they are registered and thus able to be heavily regulated. The organizations existing as semi-legal entities actually gives law enforcement significant power to do exactly what they are doing currently; imposing more and more restrictions and making gang membership less desirable.  All of these organizations have offices (with addresses accessible on many maps), many have strict codes of conduct, and actually seem to operate as businesses - making investments and providing labor. This level of establishment and connected shift towards white collar crime seems to be a more recent phenomenon; quotes in several articles regarding the yakuza indicated that now, business and profitability seems to be the primary concern for organization heads. As an indication of why there has been less inner-gang violence recently, one source indicated that these "gang wars" were "bad for business." https://www.blackpeakgroup.com/2016/08/japans-yamaguchi-gumi-split-and-the-formalities-of-gang-war/ Law enforcement's methods - regulating members out of jobs, bank accounts, and more, seems to have put gang members on the defensive rather than offensive. Indicative of this - "these days most gangsters are more focused on not getting caught for crimes rather than committing them effectively." (japantimes ^ ) Another quote from a gang member referenced that being in the yakuza was not as "fun" as it used to be and therefore much less appealing for him, due to an increasing focus on business, a high cost of membership via dues, and constant police evasion. 

One of the best examples of how law enforcement is approaching recent gang activity is related to the recent split of the Yamaguchi-gumi into the YG and the KYG (Kobe Yamaguchi). https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/09/30/national/media-national/gangsters-prefer-things-book/#.XNRgpNMzZ0s This split occurred in 2015 (the YG's 100th year in business), with an accompanying assassination -- but the police had security camera footage of the shooting, and quickly respond to this with a wanted notice and a crackdown. In 2016 (7 months later - the fastest recorded turnaround) the government declared that  the KYG would become the 22nd "designated crime organization" -  thus subjecting this group to governmental regulation. This designation and the accompanying limitations greatly cooled relations between the two groups. 

It's not just the police that are unhappy;  many yakuza leaders have expressed distaste at the current methods of profit - and one specific leader, Yoshinori Oda, former KYG underboss, held a press conference to declare he was starting a new organization focused on more traditional methods and values, with a humanitarian approach. They wanted to go into private security. And set up peace patrols within their territories to stop street crime. Previously, the yakuza has also been heavily involved in multiple natural disaster relief efforts (notably, responding faster than the government), and the YG apparently has a halloween party? with trick-or-treating for nearby children in their headquarters. They also have manuals for quite possibly all situations, which members are supposed to follow. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-yakuza-is-rebranding-as-a-humanitarian-organization Most notably, "the nuclear industry is also dependent on organized crime to provide laborers for cleaning up the disaster in Fukushima and to assist with putting power plants back in operation. This has been attributed to why the Japanese government declines to conduct background checks on workers or their dispatchers associated with the cleanup. Officials have admitted as much on the record." 

Reading this article, I was expecting a gritty account of gang dealings and crime, but that wasn't exactly what I ended up with. I came away with a shaky grasp of the yakuza's current and future role within Japan; as much as law enforcement seems determined to rid Japan of the yakuza, in many ways, the yakuza seem to be an intertwined part of Japanese society. Also unexpected was the sense of pride/nostalgia and distaste for petty crime expressed by many leaders and members - interesting to me because, on a base level, the yakuza is a gang. An interesting point brought up, and one I feel is quite significant, is that as more and more members are driven away from these organizations, very few re-integration programs exist. Very very few companies in Japan will hire ex-yakuzas, so a small fraction hold jobs after gang involvement, and many turn to more common forms of crime (https://www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00372/no-way-out-the-dilemma-of-japan%E2%80%99s-ex-yakuza.html). This is one of the biggest issues surrounding the current governmental approach to yakuza management, and a key aspect of Japanese society's future.