The Yakuzi, Karmic adjusters, today..........

Sat Feb 28 19:40:56 CST 2009

FEELING THE HEAT 
Feb 26th 2009  

The cops are squeezing the robbers

"IN THE old days," laments the retired mobster, with a broad smile,
slicked hair and a heavily tattooed body, "the YAKUZA served a useful
purpose in society to solve civil disputes and keep the streets clean."
He draws on his cigarette, the stub of an amputated little finger
visible in his beefy hand. "Now", he goes on, "it has lost its SAMURAI
spirit to moneymaking."

Or perhaps, the YAKUZA--Japan's organised-crime groups that date from
the 17th century--are getting squeezed. For most of the post-war period
they operated openly: tolerated by the public, used by politicians and
protected by police. Crime will happen anyway, went the argument, so
better to know whom to call when it crosses the line. In the 1950s
ministers and industrialists relied on the mobsters and nationalist
groups to quash unions and socialists. The gangs upheld classic
Japanese virtues of manliness and loyalty--and paid for mistakes by
slicing off one of their fingers in atonement. 

But this orderly way of life is fraying. The floundering economy has
eaten into revenue from traditional activities that required muscle,
such as gambling, prostitution and loan-sharking. To compensate, the
groups have ploughed into financial fraud, stock manipulation and
cybercrime, giving rise to a new generation of gangster-nerds, more
interested in business than blackmail. Still, the YAKUZA boasts 84,000
members (of whom half are "part-timers") and is estimated to haul in as
much as YEN2 trillion (around $21 billion) annually. 

Moreover, the public has become slightly less accepting after bouts of
mob violence, traditionally hidden, that claimed innocent lives. On
February 20th around 160 people from Tokyo's Akasaka district sought a
court injunction to bar Inagawa-kai, a big crime syndicate, from
occupying an office building, arguing that it might bring violence to
the area. In August residents of the city of Kurume sought a similar
injunction against a local gang. 

A 1992 anti-mob law clearly defined illegal behaviour and penalised
companies with YAKUZA ties. It also established a non-profit group
called the National Centre for the Elimination of Boryokudan (crime
syndicates), to advise companies on avoiding the YAKUZA and rally
citizens to complain, as in the recent suits. But the law is not all
that it seems. The nationwide centres it created, grumble both senior
police and racketeers, provide lucrative sinecures for retired police
officers. This recalls AMAKUDARI, or "descent from heaven"--the
practice of rewarding government officials with cushy, post-retirement
jobs in the area of their official responsibility. 

Companies are "encouraged" to donate to the centres, and to hire
retired officers to help them comply with the law. Owners of
PACHINKO-parlours (venues for a popular sort of pinball) and others now
hire security firms using former policemen. Having YAKUZA at the door
invites trouble with the law. So companies are, in effect, paying off
the cops rather than the mob. 

Many bars and restaurants still prefer the YAKUZA to the police for
handling troublesome customers. The service is better. Still, the
breakdown of the traditional order irks the former crime boss.
Pondering the changes, he uses the word NATSUKASHII (nostalgia), as the
smoke from his cigarette wafts into nothingness. 

See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13184963&source=hptextfeature

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