Recruitment is frequently through gambling or in recent years, motorcycle gangs. In the last few decades, yakuza have expanded into drugs and other more serious criminal activity. They have also moved into sophisticated activities.
These activities make the relationship between yakuza and police in Japan a complicated one; yakuza membership itself is not illegal, and yakuza-owned businesses and gang headquarters are often clearly marked.
Yes, you can join the Yakuza as an American. That's because the Yakuza have the traditional Japanese warrior spirit that sees the foreigner as a threat. However, if you succeed, you'll have to carry out criminal activities since it's a criminal group.
If the gamblers are all yakuza, they can bet at least ten thousand dollars for one play. Sometimes they make more than a million dollars a day.
Three largest syndicates. The Yakuza are still active in Japan. Although Yakuza membership has declined since the implementation of the Anti-Boryokudan Act in 1992, the Japanese National Police Agency estimated in 2022 that approximately 11,400 Yakuza members were engaged in illegal activity in Japan.
While the Yakuza, Japan's organized crime syndicate, often plays a role in movies, they are not likely to target tourists. While in Japan, simply exercise common sense and don't make yourself a target. Keep valuables in a safe place and exercise caution.
Unfortunately, no such pathways to reintegration currently exist. Social acceptance is unattainable for most who renounce their membership in organized crime groups. As a result, they have no option but to resort to illegal activity to survive. I witnessed this myself during my study of ex-yakuza.
Four largest syndicates
The Yamaguchi-gumi is the largest yakuza family, with about 8,200 members. The Sumiyoshi-kai is the second-largest yakuza family, with 4,200 members. Sumiyoshi-kai is a confederation of smaller yakuza groups. Its current head (会長 oyabun) is Isao Seki.
One has to say no, because the Yakuza is an exclusive all-male organization. Within the organization many women can have business or managerial positions for different functions while working for the Yakuza but they cannot be members of the Yakuza.
These gangs controlled many businesses, engaged in sophisticated gambling and loan sharking activities, and invested heavily in sports and other entertainment. They also became involved in drugs, money lending, smuggling, and pornography.
As all yakuza members are required to have tattoos, people tend to associate tattoos with them.
The men of yakuza follow a strict code of conduct and hierarchy. They sport irezumi (a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing), slick back-combed hair, tailored suits, and are most avidly known for following unconventional rituals like yubitsume, the amputation of the left little finger.
Members of the Yakuza are strictly prohibited from hurting civilians. It's part of their core rules.
However, there's no apparent modern or historical basis for a white American being accepted into the yakuza, with the film's synopsis having little understanding of how the crime syndicates work.
Kenichi Shinoda (篠田 建市, Shinoda Ken'ichi, born January 25, 1942), also known as Shinobu Tsukasa (司 忍, Tsukasa Shinobu), is a Japanese Yakuza, the sixth and current kumicho (supreme kingpin, or chairman) of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization.
Many have ornate tattoos that often cover the entire body, marking them for life. But unlike the mafia in America, Yakuza don't hide their membership in the mob because it's not illegal in Japan to be a member of organized crime. And they are so much a part of Japanese culture, they parade openly.
During a matsuri – the Japanese word for “festival” – a man came up to her and invited her for a drink. He turned out to be the leader of a powerful Yakuza family. Part of her project also lays bare the women's “irezumi”, a Japanese tattoo that usually covers part or most of the body.
Do yakuza have wives? Contrary to the Western mafia wives, Yakuza wives have remained outside the sphere of criminal activity in this organized crime structure, limited to the emotionally receptive and financially supportive role.
"For the last 20 years, young people in Japan have had little interest in joining a gang because it's poorly paid, long hours and a violent way of making a living; people don't want that and they would rather have a proper job," he added. "So gang members are inevitably getting older and not being replaced."
But it should not mask the reality that, for the foreseeable future at least, the yakuza still runs Japan's criminal underworld.
Sega provided an update on its top franchises including Sonic, Persona, and Yakuza. The Persona series has topped 17 million in sales, while Yakuza (also known as Like a Dragon) has surpassed 20 million units sold.
More than a decade of police crackdowns on major gangs and economic uncertainty are making it harder for the yakuza to tempt young men with promises of easy money. Instead, they face decades of risk-taking on behalf of their bosses and longer prison sentences – all without the prospect of a pension.
The banking industry has a rule prohibiting former yakuza from opening bank accounts until five years after they leave a gang. This forces former gang members to explain to employers why they cannot open bank accounts, and makes job hunting harder.
Hirosue concluded that the reasons people join the yakuza can be categorized into social factors, such as parental abuse and familiarity with gangsters, as well as individual elements, including having a history in a gang and a tendency to pursue higher positions in certain organizations.