When the “blue-collar yakuza” are let loose, they may turn to violent crime. It hasn’t happened yet. The larger crime groups are run like corporations. And they have quickly realized that there is a hell of a lot more money to be made manipulating stocks then there is shaking down the local pachinko parlor for protection money.

However, one of the more ironic things about yakuza offices in a neighborhood is that those areas still tend to have very low levels of street crime. Even the dumbest mugger knows better than to tackle someone on yakuza turf.

Hmmmm, without an established method of advancement, and an outlet for the more adversarial youngsters, do you think there may be internal ‘control’ issues for some of the more street based factions?

Coupled with the shift in focus from the street to the more lucrative high-tech crime, I’m wondering if perhaps the Yakuza’s wealth of frustrated foot soldiers may actually result in a sharp rise in violence.