Japanese mafia9/23/2023 ![]() That’s why any law criminalizing yakuza membership wouldn’t stand a chance in parliament.īut Tokyo is taking action against “asocial groups” such as the yakuza, mainly because of pressure from abroad. Many of the 63,000 yakuza members are known by name, and their leader is well connected in politics, even in Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party. This indirect fight against organized crime is so important because in Japan it’s not actually illegal to be in the yakuza. Clients would flee as they did from the Mizuho bank, one of Japan’s three largest, when its ties to the yakuza were revealed. Instead, they want to protect their reputations, which would be severely damaged if their dealings with the yakuza were made public. So far no sentence or fine has been imposed for violations, so companies are not motivated by fear of punishment. But now the yakuza is facing a threat to its very existence, as recent years have seen successive prefectures introduce laws forbidding companies from doing business with yakuza members, most notably in the banking sector.īefore, yakuza members were often given preferential treatment, but the new law is forcing many companies to cut their longstanding ties with the organization. ![]() When the economy was booming, organized crime flourished alongside it. Until recently, the yakuza and the Japanese economy followed almost parallel curves. Its income has dwindled over the past two decades, and now the world of organized crime, just like the legal economy, is setting its hopes on Abenomics, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s strategy to stimulate the economy by printing money without addressing the real problems. TOKYO - Like Japan itself, the country’s mafia - known as the yakuza - is still facing a long-term economic crisis.
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