It's time to prove your loyalty
Welcome to WatchMojo top 5 facts
In this installment
we're counting down the five most interesting
facts about the Yakuza.
With reportedly over a hundred thousand
members
These Japanese gangsters are perhaps
the biggest organised crime syndicate
on the planet.
So I guess we should tread lightly on this one.
Number 5
Yakuza are punished... physically
"Yoshi, what is wrong with you?"
"You shoot like a 'something' woman"
"You bring me shame upon you family".
If you mess up on any underground
organisation, you're going to end up
with more then just attention.
"What the hell is this?"
"It's a Sicilian message.
It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."
But the Yakuza tend to do things a little differently
'Yubitsume' is the act of cutting off
a section of the pinky finger as a means
to apology or punishment.
Though it may seem a little harsh,
the act is considered common place within the Yakuza.
The freshly amputated finger is presented to one's boss
as a means it symbolically pledging one's fealty
and atoning for a mistake.
"and man, against those pinkyless bastards
you had better come correct
aaaaaaaaaand you know this how?"
According to some sources,
the punishment apparently comes from the
belief that without a pinky finger
one would be unable to carry a katana
and thus would have to rely on their leader to protect them
or at least keep their word more often.
"Let that be a lesson to you
Yakuzo!
Aw man, I just totally lost face!
HAHA join that club."
Number four
Bosses and Subordinates forge a very strong bond.
(greets in Japanese)
The structural within the Yakuza
is quite similar to that of any other organisation
with the underlings answering to the overlings
in a pyramid-like hierarchy.
"I do not know these people-
sorry Hi I'm... Randy crew... leader
and-
why does this underling speak to me?"
But things went a little deeper than that.
The bosses or 'Oyabun'
and the subordinates 'Kobun'
have a father-son bond
where in the oyabun protection
is exchanged for complete loyalty from the kobun
so for example, if a kobun were to fall
into a financial crisis,
it'd be on the boss's shoulder to sort it out.
In order to symbolically establish this bond
the kobun and oyabun perform a ritual
known as 'Sakazuki'
in which they exchange sake cups
But how to determine whether a kobun
is worthy of protection or not
would you believe a written test?
Police investigating crime organisations
in Japan found a 12 question Yakuza exam.
Designed to test members knowledge
both of the rules of the gang and of anti-gang
legislation.
Number three
Their Tattoos Have a Long-Standing History
From fear of being mistaken for a Yakuza member,
many Japanese citizens avoid getting tattoos.
This is because body art
is a huge part of the gangs culture
and it actually has a rather long running history.
Back in the edo period
from roughly 1603 to 1868,
criminals were branded with a particular kind
of tattooing known as 'Irezumi'
This method of tattooing
has become a traditional albeit painful
means of entering the organisation.
Number two
Corporate Blackmail is Second Nature
Surely Yakuza are known for all their devious
exploits like gun smuggling, human trafficking
and even rigging sumo matches
But corporate blackmail is definitely
one of their forte.
Members of Yakuza factions
known as 'Sokaiya'
dig up all manner of dirt on their targets
be it shady deals, secret love affairs or otherwise.
When put in this position,
business leaders have little choice other than to pay up.
These Sokaiya intervention
often cause public scandals that
permanently damage execs reputations.
One such example comes from the late 90s
when Sokaiya members bought shares from Mitsubishi,
gaining access to their shareholder meetings
and threatening to reveal compromising information.
The company was paying out up to 13 million yens
to keep things quiet.
But by the time the police got involved,
things were no longer on the down low.
Number one
They Actually Have Their Good Sides
Though the previous entries
may have convinced you otherwise,
the yakuza have actually proved to be
quite compassionate when need be.
During the 2011 tsunami crisis
and the Tōhoku prefecture
it was the Yakuza who first jumped in to help
with the relief effort,
even before the government could.
Surprisingly, they did so quietly during the night
so that their presence would not become public knowledge
apparently carrying over 50 tonnes
of food and supplies,
the Yakuza proved once again to be
morally ambiguous.
And this wasn't the only time.
They also lent a hand during the 1995 Kobe earthquakes.
Just goes to show things aren't always
kudo and chido,
that is black and white.
"But I get it the bushido code, the whole Japanese
things, I get it-
what do you know about being Japanese?
I guess only the cliches really."
So what do you think?
Would you like to have a father-son bond
with your boss?
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(Sterling laughing mid-sentence)"Either way we're going to kill you"
(Sterling no longer laughing)"Oh...oh, right"