YAKUZA
Secrets of the Japanese Underworld!
By Hanzo Hattori
Paperback
$29.95
+ $9 Priority Shipping
+ $9 Priority Shipping
Yakuza are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. They are especially known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature, and several unconventional ritual practices such as yubitsume, or amputation of the left little finger as atonement for a debt they can never repay. The Japanese police and media call them "violent groups," while the yakuza call themselves "chivalrous organizations." The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster.
Traditional Weapon of the Syndicates
Many traditional Yakuza are trained in the use of the katana, or Japanese sword. Not only as a weapon to defend their territory but also to maintain the familial structure of the organization through etiquette and formal procedure.
Long before they were a video game or an anime series, the Yakuza have been a force to be reckoned with. Their origins date back to the feudal era of Japan. They have been portrayed a heroes of the people and villians that must be dealt with by law enforcement, the truth lies somewhere in between.
There is increasing concern in Japan that the Chinese Dragons – or other criminal groups that have moved from China in the past 30 years – are infiltrating the Japanese criminal underworld that used to be controlled by the indigenous mafia, the Yakuza. The Yakuza have been described as a “necessary evil” – while their involvement in criminal activities has always been recognized, their ability to monopolize and control the underworld, curbing the excesses of less organised gangs and foreign groups, was seen as reassuring. Their relatively irregular use of violence and the stress they put on following a traditional chivalrous moral code meant that for a long time they have been, if not accepted, somehow tolerated. The public perceives non-yakuza groups to be more violent and lacking a moral code. Gangs based on ethnic kinship have been active in Japan since the 1980s. But the Yakuza has always managed to keep them under control. Until now...
Paperback | $29.95
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