From "Ore Ore" to "Ore wa Yakuza da"–bank scammers adapting to the times

Scammers are adopting new techniques to swindle unsuspecting victims in bank transaction fraud in Osaka Prefecture, according to this article in Sankei News, claiming to be yakuza in order to get small businesses to deposit large amounts of money into their accounts. Previously, transaction fraud was done by scammers pretending to be a relative of [...]

Yamaguchi-gumi using pre-paid internet to sell child pornography?

According to an organized crime watchdog, police in Wakayama Prefecture have uncovered a child pornography ring that was able to set up a website selling DVDs by abusing the anonymity of pre-paid wireless Internet cards. Pre-paid Internet access through USB wireless modems are becoming increasingly popular, as use does not require a contract with a [...]

Local areas to beef up anti-organized crime legislature

There was news this week of four prefectures working on additional legislative measures to stop organized crime organizations from working their way into the operations and offices of legitimate businesses. In Ehime, it was reported by the Mainichi that on Dec. 15 the prefectural government started a project team for the creation of a prefecture [...]

Welcome!

Hello to all the viewers of 60 Minutes or the readers of the Washington Post who have stopped by after seeing the program and/or reading the article. We’d like to thank Lara Logan and the rest of the CBS News crew for visiting Tokyo, and hope everyone enjoyed the segment! Browse around the site to [...]

Economics 101: The Yakuza Barometer

A look at why the yakuza hitting the books is a sure-fire sign that the economy is hitting rock bottom, by Bloomberg’s William Pesek, with added flavor from Jake Adelstein. Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s underworld can tell you a lot about what’s happening in the legitimate economy. Gangsters are on the run as growth [...]

Hard Times For A Nine-Fingered Man

from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/japan/090205/even-gangsters-get-the-blues Even gangsters get the blues As Japan’s economy weakens, what are 80,000 gang members to do? By Justin McCurry Published: February 5, 2009 18:35 ET TOKYO — Kazuhiro Yamada may describe himself as an innocent victim of the recession, but he is unlikely to win much sympathy. Until he lost his job last [...]

Tokyo set for a turf war as recession-hit yakuza gangsters fight it out

An attractive residential backstreet, a highly desirable postcode and a hugely provocative bit of corporate relocation could unleash a murderous gang war on the streets of Tokyo.

Human Trafficking In Japan: An Older Report But Still Worth Reading

From 2006 to 2007, I worked on US State Department sponsored project to study human trafficking in Japan, and contributed a large portion of the final report. At the time, Japan had serious problems with a thriving trafficking industry.  I would reluctantly have to say that things have improved a great deal since the original [...]

Happy New Year! 今年もよろしく

Takayama Wakagashira : The Defacto Leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi is alive and well….more or less. 　2009 should be an interesting year for us all and an especially interesting year in the world of organized crime. Around the close of the year, Takayama Kiyoshi （高山清司), the number two in the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest organized crime group, collapsed at a “company function” and was briefly hospitalized in Kobe. The [...]

Yakuza bosses take legal classes to evade strict new law

Japan’s most powerful gangsters are mugging up on legal terminology in an attempt to skirt strict new laws that make them liable for crimes committed by their henchmen.