Construction companies begin to lay yakuza-free foundations

For those who don’t keep up with the Japan Times, Brett Bull has a great article up about efforts within the construction industry to drive out yakuza groups, focusing on the shitamachi behemoth, Tokyo Sky Tree. In November 2008, members of construction companies formed a committee designed to exclude gangster groups. A similar arrangement was conceived for the new incarnation of the Kabuki-za theater in Ginza, Chuo Ward, whose historic building closed this year. “We... Read More

Hiroshima councilman arrested for using yakuza as threat

One member of a city council in Hiroshima prefecture was arrested with three others September 21 for threatening a local man over troubles involving a woman back in May. The 67-year-old Etajima city council member reportedly conspired with a local Kyosei-kai yakuza and the president and an employee of a local automotive parts manufacturer to threaten the acquaintance in an Etajima restaurant on May 18. The council member approached the man and told him the yakuza were on his side,... Read More

Taito residents move to block Kodo-kai invasion

Residents in a Taito-ku neighborhood will launch an anti-organized crime community group October 3 as a reaction to the recent move of a Kodo-kai front company from the wealthy Azabu-juban into the area. The front company, known as “K Project” is headed by the leader of the Komatsu-gumi, a figure who is seen as being at the forefront of the Kodo-kai’s migration into Tokyo. The community group is working with lawyers to investigate a potential lawsuit that would... Read More

Man 'couldn't refuse' when asked by crush for child porn

A 38-year-old Kanagawa man was arrested September 24 under suspicion of loaning out to an acquaintance four CDs containing pornographic images of young boys. According to police, the disks contained a total of 9,800 images of boys believed to be between the ages of four and 10, both alone and being molested by adult men. The suspect is believed to have passed CDs to his friend twice last year in October and December, and testified that he did so because he liked the man and couldn’t... Read More

Singing cops throw away retirement plans to serenade fellow seniors

Could we somehow combine the two? From the sugary sweet yet sexy AKB48 to… retired cops?! Yasushi Akimoto, the producer and director famous for pandering to the desires of millions of 40s and 50s-ish salarymen in a socially-acceptable way with the infamous Akiba-kei idol group, has set an October date for the debut of his next project: OJS48. News of OJS48, whose letters stand for “OJi-San,” hit the Japanese media Tuesday. A bit of a misnomer, the group is formed... Read More

Playing the yakuza puppet master in "The Yakuza Diaries"

For all those who spent hours as a child delightfully flipping to page 28, back to page 11, then on to page 19 to discover their fate in the popular “choose your own adventure” books, this is for you. Someone took the time and wrote up a short yakuza version of those multiple choice stories, documenting the fateful night of one “Yamashita-gumi” member in The Yakuza Diaries. While the adventure is a bit short and there’s some creative license taken... Read More

Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learned From the Yakuza or the Cops That Arrest Them #3: If you love your family, don't shoot yourself to death

A few weeks ago, a yakuza boss who I only knew vaguely shot himself to death. He was badly in debt and facing charges of extortion. I’m sure he was guilty.  I knew his son from a story I did years ago on a Korean-Japanese Savings and Loan Bank that had folded  (Saitama Shogin). When I read the article about his death, I called the son and expressed my condolences. He was relatively calm about it all. He ran a pachinko parlor in Saitama and unlike his father had stayed... Read More

"Mister Vice Guy" (if you can guess who that is) interviewed in Australian Penthouse

In one of his classiest interviews yet, Jake lets loose in Australian Penthouse magazine to inquiries on regrets, working as a hostess, sumo, and just how hard it was to get those guys to review Yakuza 3. Read “Touring the Tokyo Underworld“ WARNING: To be expected from Penthouse magazine, but ads on the page are very NSFW.  Read More

Eikaiwa Underworld: Lessons Taught, Lessons Learned

By Jason Gray Early 2004. When teaching conversational English, at least in Japan, fascinating students are a rarity. This isn’t necessarily because there aren’t interesting people who want to learn English, but perhaps because they don’t reveal themselves as such (it should be noted that most English teachers don’t come across as fascinating either). It could be due to the obvious barriers of language and culture, or the context and limited time frame... Read More

Upcoming Event: Polaris Project seminar

Jake will be giving a talk about the law-enforcement side of fighting human trafficking at Polaris Project’s monthly seminar series, “You Know Human Trafficking?” Date: Saturday, September 25 from 7-9pm Location: JICA Chikyu Hiroba Seminar Room 301 (Map) (One-minute walk from Exit 3, Hiroo Station, Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line) Admission: 1,000 yen, 500 yen for students with ID To register for the seminar, please fill out this form (Japanese only), For more information,... Read More