In 1963, the number of Yakuza members and quasi-members reached a peak of 184,100. However, this number has drastically dropped, a decline attributed to changing market opportunities and several legal and social developments in Japan which discourage the growth of yakuza membership.
Numbers are shrinking because fewer young people see yakuza as an enviable career path, existing members are aging and earnings are shrinking as a result of a number of legal changes that have given the police far greater powers to bring the gangs under control.
Opinion: Japan's yakuza aren't disappearing. They're getting smarter. There were about 70,300 known yakuza members in 2011, but that number had dropped to 25,900 by 2020, according to the National Center for Removal of Criminal Organizations.
Over time the yakuza have shifted toward white-collar crime, relying more and more on bribery in lieu of violence, and indeed in the early 21st century they were one of the least murderous criminal groups in the world.
Members of the Yakuza are strictly prohibited from hurting civilians. It's part of their core rules.
The yakuza have been described as a “necessary evil” – while their involvement in criminal activities has always been recognised, their ability to monopolise and control the underworld, curbing the excesses of less-organised gangs and foreign groups, was seen as reassuring.
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.
The yakuza still regularly engage in an array of criminal activities, and many Japanese citizens remain fearful of the threat these individuals pose to their safety.
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.
The banking industry has a rule prohibiting former yakuza from opening bank accounts until five years after they leave a gang.
The effect on organized crime is that Yakuza syndicates still employ Walther P38 and Tokarev pistols from the 20th century, mainly smuggled in from China, Russia and North Korea.
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.
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.
The yakuza's influence in Japanese society was in a slow decline after strict implementations of the various anti-organized crime laws aimed to curtail their activities. Arrests of yakuza members and leaders have contributed to the fall of influence and number of yakuza members [source].
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.
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.
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.
The yakuza mainly make their living through unlawful b usinesses, such as gambling, drugs, prostitution and loan-sharking. Most of the money comes from gambling, most often from dice games. Each group has its own gambling room, which is usually behind a bar or restaurant.
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.
Actually, tattoos are fine in Japan. They're not illegal in any way. You may even see some people walking around with fashion tattoos, especially in Tokyo. Although some people in Japan have tattoos, they are usually hidden underneath clothing.
They also bonded with many military and sold weapons and some of the Yakuza were high up in the military, like one of the main General that conducted the massacre of Nanking… Did the Japanese Yakuza contribute to their country's war effort in WWII? Oh yes indeed they did!
Article 24-1 prohibits business owners from giving property benefits to the yakuza and its associates as payback for illegal demanding acts or illegal acts which benefit the business owner him/herself.
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.
The Yakuza comprises the major Japanese organized crime syndicates and is engaged in serious criminal activities, including human trafficking, drug smuggling, weapons trafficking, extortion, and white collar crimes.