Even if you estimate the number of yakuza members in Japan at 80,000–that still seems like a hard quota to fill, especially in smaller cities in Japan where the yakuza presence may be slim.  Police officers in Saitama, while not confirming the exact number,  said about the quota, “It’s not an easy number to fill. It almost makes you wish there was a gang war between the Sumiyoshi-kai and the Yamaguchi-gumi again….just kidding. Sort of.”  However, officers in Osaka said, “20? We could do that in a week. This town is infested with yakuza. On loan sharking charges alone we can round up twenty.”

The National Police Agency allegedly set a quota for yakuza arrests nationwide. First the exclusionary ordinances, and now this. Life isn't easy for the nine-fingered guy. (Illustration from the Shizuoka Prefecture PD)

The National Police Agency would not comment and it is unclear whether the quota is actually for the police headquarters of each Tokyo, Hokkaido, Osaka, Kyoto and the other 43 prefectures or the police stations within each Police HQ’s turf. One thing is for certain, when the NPA starts establishing quotas on cracking down on something, they’re very serious about it.

One thing that hasn’t changed though is the tradition of designating certain months of the year Special Concentrated Crackdown On Organized Crime Month(集中取り締まり月間). In the old days, the organized crime control cops (known as マル暴刑事・marubokeiji) would call up the local crime bosses and warn them to be on their best behavior. In the last two years, that practice has ceased almost completely. The days when crackdowns on the Japanese mafia were done with civility and decorum appear to be a thing of the past. Even raids on gang headquarters are now often done without advance warning. Times are changing.

The company was not Olympus and the man arrested was not Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, the former CEO of Olympus.

However, Olympus is currently under investigation by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office, and the FSA/SESC for suspected violations of the same law. Olympus via its allegedly independent investigative committee announced recently that there was no evidence of organized crime involvement in the massive financial fraud the firm perpetuated for more than a decade. In that fraud, Olympus used a network of dubious companies. Individuals who have been found guilty of investment fraud and insider trading, managed at least two of the companies Olympus used to hide past losses: NEWS CHEF and J-Bridge.

In this particular case, the man arrested along with four others was Tsuyoshi Nakamura, former president of general contractor Inoue Kogyo Corporation. He was charged with arranging a fake capital hike in violation of the financial instruments and exchange law.

The police also arrested four others on charges of violating the law. Nakamura and the others are suspected of arranging a false 1.8-billion-yen capital hike of the company by issuing of new shares in September of 2008.
  Investigative authorities suspect that 1.5 billion yen of the total “capital hike” was money  circulated from an investors union known as Apple Limited Fund (Tokyo Chuo-Ward).   Yamaguchi-gumi members had a role in running the fund, but it is not clear whether it was front company or simply a “cooperative entity.” Police believe the fake capital increase was used to  raise the stock prices long enough for Yamaguchi-gumi members to sell their acquired shares at a large profit.

The Tokyo Police believe that formerly TSE listed company Inoue Kogyo was used by the yakuza as a platform to manipulate stock prices and cash in on leaked stocks. *artwork by Mari Kurisato. http://marikurisato.com

Nakamura and his associates are also being investigated for possible violation of the organized crime penal laws, specifically money laundering. Inoue Kogyo, which was listed on the second section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, filed for court approval for the start of bankruptcy proceedings in October of 2008, due to financing difficulties. It was delisted the same month.

This is not the first time a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange has been involved with organized crime. In March of 2008, Suruga Corporation, had its offices raided in connection with their use of a Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi front company to evict tenants from buildings that Suruga Corporation wished to acquire. The Yamaguchi-gumi members involved were arrested for violations of the lawyers law (弁護士法違反) . In Japan, only legal counsel has the right to negotiate eviction with building tenants. No one from Suruga Corporation was arrested for hiring organized crime members to do their dirty work; it was not a crime to utilize yakuza for business purposes in 2008. At the time of raid and the arrests, Suruga Corporation had on their board of directors a former National Police Agency Organized Crime Control Division bureaucrat and an ex-prosecutor. After the firm’s organized crime ties were revealed, banks refused to loan the firm money and they began corporate rehabilitation procedures in June of 2008. In the same month, the TSE announced they would be delisting Suruga Corporation–because of the firm’s financial difficulties–with no reference to the firm’s ties to organized crime. Suruga Corporation was delisted on July 25^th, 2008.

It should be pointed that Inoue Kogyo and Suruga Corporation were listed on the second section of the TSE, while Olympus is listed on the first section, so obviously different standards of corporate compliance and investigation are to be expected.  First section companies, we assume, would never, ever, get involved with organized crime. Not like those second sector guys.

ヤクザ倫理：なぜ日本の暴力団（ヤクザ）は長年日本社会で許容されましたか

by ジェイク・アデルシュタイン

日本の犯罪組織いわゆる暴力団（ヤクザ・極道）の構成員・準構成員は警察庁統計上では約8万人とされています。欧米人にしては「どうしてヤクザの存在そのものはまだ認められているのか」解せないところもあります。米国にはマフィアのファン雑誌は存在しないのです。マフィアの事務所もないのです。じゃあ、どうして日本では暴力団（ヤクザ）は禁止されないのか。歴史的な背景は別としてそれなりの理由と背景もあります。

古き良きヤクザには内部規律・倫理規定がありました。そして多くのヤクザは同倫理規定を守りきったのです。違反者は組織から破門されました。これらの倫理規定の厳重な施行は事実上、路上犯罪・一般犯罪を抑制する効果もあるとされています。

主に禁止された行為は

①   窃盗

②   強盗

③   破廉恥罪等

④   薬物の使用・譲渡

⑤任侠道として許しがたい行為

ほかの規則はヤクザ同士の付き合いを巡る規律。比較的に新しい規則は「当局と不必要な接触を禁ずる」。僕は読売新聞地方部で、埼玉県警の暴力団対策1-2課を担当した９０年代ごろ、暴力団専門家の刑事（マル暴刑事）はヤクザの事務所に立ち寄ってお茶を飲みながら情報交換することは通常でした。ヤクザと警察は、共存共栄という関係でもなかったのですが、凶悪な犯罪者を捕まえるためにお互いに協力した事件もありました。

倫理規定の話に戻りますが、当然のことですが、ヤクザはこれらのルールを守ると、空き巣・路上強盗・オヤジ狩り・強姦などの治安を乱す犯罪は抑制されます。言い換えれば、犯罪に走るような人格がヤクザになったら、一部の犯罪に手を染める可能性が低くなります。

現在、親分次第ですが、規律を重んじて厳守する組織はまだあります。

ただし、恐喝・脅迫・ゆすり（強請）は禁じられた行為に含まれていないのが不思議です。ヤクザ幹部から説明を求めました。彼はこう答えました。

「ヤクザに強請られている奴は大体、非道いことをやったんだからね。児童虐待や横領とか。悪行の報いを受けるべきだろう。我々は有料で社会正義を実現しているだけ。悪漢を懲らしめるのが、何が悪いでしょうか。君は記者でしょう。お前が政治家や行政機関の不祥事を暴露したりすると、それはよくないですか。お互いに悪い人に社会制裁を下していることでしょう。いいんでしょう」と丁寧に開き直りました。その場で反論できませんけど。反論をまだ考えています。（笑）

元総会屋は「我々は企業の監視役を果たしました。大手企業の醜聞を掘り出して脅した結果、相手が非を認めて襟を正したこともありました。まあ、それで金儲けもしました。だけど俺に言わせると、総会屋が動いていたなら、東京電力の暴走は差しとめられたかもしれない。お化け企業となったのは、総会屋がお尻叩かなかったから」と持論を熱弁します。むろん、彼は日本社会のためと思って活動したわけではないのです。私腹を肥やすのが本来の目的でした。といえ、彼の持論には一理あると否めないでしょう。

日本警察がこれほど厳しくヤクザをしめている理由は簡単です。多くのヤクザは倫理規定を守らないのです。「堅気に迷惑をかけない」という最大の不文律は空念仏となりつつあります。

後藤忠政元組長や某人身売買業者のようなヤクザは警察や世間の考え方を変えてしまいました。なぜかというと、二人は堅気を容赦なく搾取したうえ、後藤忠政組長が監督や一般人への攻撃を許し、殺しまで指示したか、黙認した可能性高いである。しかもヤクザ同士ならは別として敵と見なされた堅気の家族や友達まで危害を加えるようなことを容認していた模様です。

尊大な親分の言葉には非常に共感します。

「ヤクザは泥棒をやったり、強盗に関与したり、薬物をさばくほか、堅気またその人の家族や子供に手を出したりするんだったら、最早ヤクザじゃねえ。単なるマフィアですよ。掟を守らないヤクザはヤクザではない。愚連隊・ギャングと同様で人間失格です。ここまでヤクザは存続できたのは、警察や日本社会はから必要悪として認められたからです。単なる悪だったら不要です。内部からも外部からも任侠精神を持っているヤクザたるヤクザはどんどん消されていきます。我々の後継者は倫理規定や任侠なんて全く気にしていないのです。そういう建前さえどうでもいいと反省なき輩ばかりです。ヤクザがいなくなると、果たして日本の治安がよくなるかどうか、わらかないのです」と嘆きます。認めにくいが、彼の言葉には一理あるかもしれません。ヤクザにヤクザという稼業を辞めさせるのなら、仕事の斡旋や更正及び一般社会への復帰の道を作らなくちゃならないのです。そうしないと、ヤクザをつぶしたところ、より恐ろしい犯罪集団を生み出してしまう危険性さえあります。

確かに極道の社会では人道的な行動に励み、約束を守り、二枚舌を使わずに言動一致しているヤクザは絶滅品種に近い存在です。しかし、東北震災直後で古き良きヤクザが災害支援活動に励んだこともあり、ヤクザが必ずしも悪人と言えなくなりました。義理堅くて任侠精神を持っているヤクザ（少数）はまだいます。それを認めなくちゃならないのです。それが主流となれば良いけど。

 One of the two person teams that was used to kill Nozaki, former Goto-gumi member Takashi Kondo, (近藤毅), was himself gunned down in Thailand this April. Mr. Matsumoto may have functioned as the look-out. Goto-gumi assassination squads usually functioned with four to five people, often with no previous meetings—aka Reservoir Dogs style.Police sources believe that Matsumoto, instructed Mr. Kondo to flee to China. Matsumoto is also believed to have financially supported Kondo while he was in hiding, possibly with Goto’s financial aid.

This April, according to underworld sources, Kondo was promised a new passport and a new life by Tadamasa Goto, and left China for Cambodia where he entered Thailand and was killed in a bloody shooting match. The Thai Police are dubious that the Thai guide who turned himself in actually shot Kondo and his friend.

 Goto Tadamasa was the head of the Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi (山口組後藤組)until October 14th 2008, when he was forced out of Japan’s largest criminal organization, the Yamaguchi-gumi, which has 39,000 members. In his prime, he controlled over a thousand gangsters and affiliates, one hundred front companies and assets of over a billion dollars. He may also have been involved in the Olympus scandal as well which could have generated huge funds for the Yamaguchi-gumi Corporation. However, his back-door deal with the FBI to get a liver transplant at UCLA, along with liver transplants for three other yakuza, his insubordination, and his habit of condoning and/or ordering attacks on innocent civilians resulted in the organization council deciding to force him into retirement.

In December of 2010, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police (TMPD) arrested a former member of the Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi (Nobuyuki Yamamoto) for killing a real estate consultant,  Kazuoki Nozaki,  in a dispute over a valuable  building in Shibuya ward. The murder took place in 2006. A Goto-gumi front company was laying claim to the building and Nozaki-san was an obstacle in their plans. He was stabbed to death on the streets of Minato-ward. Yamamoto has denied receiving direct orders from Goto Tadamasa, his former gang-boss. An international arrest warrant for the superior of Nobuyuki Yamamoto was issued after Yamamoto’s arrest, a man known as Kondo Takashi (近藤毅) also a former Goto-gumi member. The TMPD felt they had a strong case on circumstantial evidence alone that Goto had ordered the hit but no direct testimony from someone receiving orders. Kondo, they felt, was the key to making their case.

Nobuyuki Yamamoto was convicted of murder on May 14th and sentenced to 13 years of hard labor, as requested by the prosecutor. The judged at sentencing noted, “It was an outrageous killing of an ordinary citizen.” According to the ruling, Yamamoto, who was a member of the Goto-gumi and under Goto’s supervision at the time of the crime, working with another Goto-gumi member Kondo Takashi (under international arrest warrant for the same murder), plotted together and on the evening of March 5th, 2006, they stabbed Mr. Nozaki to death on the streets of Minato-ward Aoyama area.

Kondo is unilikely to be prosecuted since he was assassinated in April before he could talk. 死人に口なし: Dead men have no mouths. (Harlan Ellison would appreciate this saying.)

On April 27th,  2011, a Thai tour guide was arrested after he confessed to shooting to death one Japanese tourist and wounding another while they were trekking in northern Thailand. The two “tourists” are former yakuza members.

Apichart Inphisak, the 41-year-old guide, was arrested at a friend’s house 30 kilometers from Chiang Rai. The pistol he said he used to shoot the two Japanese was confiscated, according to local Thai press sources. Japanese police sources assert that the two Japanese individuals were both members of the Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi. One of the individuals is believed to have involved in the murder of real estate agent, Nozaki Kazuoki, in 2006.

On conditions of anonymity, Japanese police sources said, “It’s clear that the two were assassinated on orders of former members of the Goto-gumi, possibly Goto himself. This makes prosecuting the case or taking it all the way up to the top extremely difficult.” The Thai English Newspaper, the Nation reported one of the victims as being “Takashi Kodo,  age 44,  of the Sedu-kai gang in Tokyo”. This was Kondo Takashi (近藤毅）of the Yamaguchi-gumi Yamaken-gumi Seiryukai. (山口組山健組誠竜会）which has 120 members. The Goto-gumi was closely tied to the Yamaken-gumi in the past. Other law enforcement sources place him as having been in the Yamaguchi-gumi Rachi-gumi Seiryukai (山口組良知組政竜会). Kondo was lured to Thailand from China where he had been in hiding. He allegedly was promised via a Goto emissary a new passport, a reward for keeping quiet, and a new life. He just ended up very dead. Police have confirmed that Kondo was the man killed. Local sources also note that the gun brought in by the Thai guide and the caliber of the bullet shot into Kondo don’t match. Further details are unavailable.

Earlier last month, the TMPD sent police officers to Thailand inquire into the death of Kondo and positively identify the body. The TMPD believe that Kondo may have been  killed on Goto’s orders. The Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office is reconsidering charging Goto with murder based on circumstantial evidence alone and possibly newer evidence as well.  Goto Tadamasa renounced his life of crime and became a Buddhist priest in 2009, and has been doing charitable acts. It may not be enough however to escape a lifetime of bad karma in the metaphysical world or justice in this world. Police sources note that Goto has been associating with a senior boss of the Kyushu Seido-kai (九州誠道会）and could possible be considering a return to organized crime.

Goto’s  biography, 憚りながら (Habakarinagara) (Pardon me…but you’re wrong), was issued last year by Takarajima Publications last year and was a huge best-seller. In the book, Goto brags of his political connections and shows no remorse for the attacks his own gang members made on the film director Itami Juzo in 1992. Itami had made a movie, The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion, (民暴の女) depicting the yakuza as a cancer on society and this had offended Goto. In the book Goto denied ordering the director to be attacked but praised the guts and initiative of his underlings who slashed up the face of the film director.  Former Goto-gumi members also assert that Goto was responsible for later having the director killed, by forcing him to jump off a roof-top at gun-point as to make it appear as if he committed suicide. The Goto-gumi member believed to have done the killing, Takao Mikuni (三國孝雄) a Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi Ishikawa-gumi Wakagashira, has been missing for two years. The last communication fellow gang member had with him was a cryptic conversation in which he said, “The old man (親父)is going to have me killed. I know too much.”

 Itami’s wife is still under police protection. Whether Goto will be arrested for the murder of Mr. Nozaki or Mr. Kondo is an unknown. What is definitely known is that he is a major suspect in both murders. He was kind enough to also mention me in the book with an implied death threat, punctuated by a note that he was laughing while saying it, making it hard to prosecute as a threat.

On June 16th, rough 8:40 am, someone fired a shotgun into the construction schedule sign posted at the building mentioned above. The police are investigating on weapons violations charges. Law enforcement believes that Goto would not likely shoot up what is now his own property and that it may be a sign of anger from other Yamaguchi-gumi members for orchestrating the death of his former subordinate–if he did so.

Memo: I wil admit to lacking objectivity in this case. I believe that in one way or another, Tadamasa Goto bears responsibility for the death of two close friends, and his failure to show real repentance for the suffering he inflicted on innocent people during his career makes me doubt the sincerity of his religious conversion. As on priest put it, “滅罪なき懺悔は懺悔にならない”–There is no real repentance without acts of atonement.”  Admittedly, unlike Shimada Shinsuke, according to police sources,  Goto has used some of his ill gotten gains to build a very good school in Cambodia, improve the local infrastructure, and make it possible for almost 700 children to receive a decent education. Whether that obviates what he has done so far or allowed his gang members to do–that’s a question only Enma (閻魔)–the final Judge of the Dead can really answer.

Each group has its own code of ethics, usually posted on the wall of the organization offices. The rules are intended to prevent yakuza from being involved in ordinary street crime, such as purse snatching or mugging. Some groups actually adhere to the rules.

The Yakuza claim to be humanitarian fellowships and while engaging in numerous criminal activity, traditionally they have internally banned certain types of crimes. Those who break the rules were expelled.

Depending upon the Oyabun (father figure), the leader of a group, violators are quickly expelled. The code here forbids: 1) the usage or selling of drugs, 2) theft 3) robbery, 4) indecent acts (猥褻) and anything else that would be shameful under ninkyodo (仁侠道) aka the chivalrous/humanitarian way.  The other rules are about relationships amongst yakuza. What is a fairly recent addition to the code is “do not have any unnecessary contact with the authorities.”  In the old days, it was not uncommon for detectives to drop by yakuza offices and have chats over tea. One thing that should be noted, extortion and black mail are not expressly forbidden. One yakuza boss explains this as follows: “If you’re being blackmailed by the yakuza, obviously you’ve done something bad and deserve it. We’re enforcing social justice and fining people for their misbehavior. What’s wrong with that?”

I spoke with one yakuza who argued that the Sokaiya (racketeers) 総会屋 actually functioned as a the fourth estate in Japan. By digging up embarrassing information on large corporations and threatening to expose them, they would sometime force the companies to correct the error of their ways and behave in a socially responsible fashion. Of course, the primary motivation of the sokaiya wasn’t social welfare but their own profits. However, I’m willing to consider all opinions.

The reasons the police are cracking down on the yakuza like they never have before is that there is barely a semblance of even lip service to the old codes. As one yakuza boss put it rather eloquently, “When the yakuza rob people, deal drugs, when they attack civilians, their family members, or their children–they’re no longer yakuza, they’re just mafia. We have existed this long because the police have allowed us to exist and we have cooperated with them to some extent. Those days are gone. We are being replaced internally and externally by thugs and gangs who make no pretense of having any codes at all. I’m not sure that will make Japan a better place.”

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's insightful documentary on the modern yakuza.

 I cooperated with the film production but Mark Willacy and the crew they did all the ground work even interviewing the family of the Mayor of Nagasaki. He was assassinated after refusing to capitulate to the yakuza or give them any share of the city public work projects. There is a long interview with Shoko Tendo, author of Yakuza Moon and some footage from Itami Juzo’s ground breaking film about the modern yakuza, MINBO NO ONNA (The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion).  Kishi Kohei-san, the head of the National Police Agency anti-organized crime division (警察庁暴力団対策課長） also makes very clear and enlightening statements on the nature of the modern mafia. If you want to understand the recent crackdowns on the yakuza, this film is one of the most enlightening things out there.

There are still some yakuza groups that uphold a certain code of ethics and not every yakuza is an evil person. Some smaller well-run groups may actually keep street crime low in their areas and function more or less as cheap security services, like SECOM, but only better.  However, the unwritten rules and the established codes of the traditional yakuza are breaking down as power consolidates among the larger groups and the yakuza become “Goldman Sachs with guns.” People like Tadamasa Goto, who’s members attacked and killed civilians;  Men like Susumu Kajiyama who built billion dollar loan-sharking empires, while driving debtors into suicide, both made the general public (堅気・katagi) targets of extortion and violence.

They did this while recruiting some of the “ordinary citizens” into their ranks, corrupting civilian society as well.   共生者 (Kyoseisha) aka “cooperative entities” also represent the new yakuza—people who are willing to work with violent thugs as long as they can make a profit. They know it’s wrong and evil; they just don’t care. They are sociopaths. The new anti-crime laws in Tokyo are meant to target these entities, not the people who are victimized by the yakuza.

The only flaw in the documentary is that it does little coverage of organized crime infiltration of the money markets and FX trading.  However, if you want to understand the yakuza on a gut level, and the impact they can have on the lives of innocent Japanese citizens, consider this film: Yakuza 101: An introduction to modern Japanese organized crime. It is worth seeing.

In other words, if you pay protection money to the yakuza, or use them to facilitate your business affairs, you will be treated as a criminal. You may be warned once, your name released to the public, and fined or imprisoned, or all of the above, if you persist in doing business with the yakuza.

However, what is particularly vexing to the yakuza, is that any payments to the yakuza are criminalized. For example, if the yakuza are blackmailing you or extorting cash from you and you pay them off, you are no longer a victim–you are also a criminal under the new laws. Thus, for most people the benefits of throwing yen at the yakuza to keep them quiet start to fade. Blackmail/extortion is a huge money maker for the mob in Japan. Roughly 45% of all people arrested for the crime (恐喝/kyokatsu) in Japan are yakuza members (circa 2010).  Hush money is big business but only when people will pay you to hush up. When they start going to the police as soon as you try to shake them down, the business model falls apart.

The Yakuza aka Boryokudan (Violent Groups) Exclusionary Ordinances Are Now Nationwide in Japan.

A retired police detective explains the law very simply, “The new laws will make the price of paying off the yakuza, in loss of face and in penalties, much more expensive than the actual cash payments to the yakuza.  It highly incentives firms not to cooperate or collude with organized crime, much as the revisions to the commerce law in December 1997, made it unacceptable for large listed companies to pay off sokaiya (総会屋) aka racketeers. After a few major company executives were arrested along with the bad guys for (利益供与/riekikyo) the pay-offs drastically declined, as did the number of sokaiya.”

The price for being publicly linked to the yakuza are not only public humiliation, increased police scrutiny, and possible punishment, but for businesses it can mean a huge loss of revenue, cash flow problems when banks refuse to loan money, revocation of licenses, and possible termination of rental agreements for office space. For any small business, being outed as a yakuza front company is more than likely to result in bankruptcy or eviction. On an individual level, it means being fired or forced to resign from your occupation, as was the case of popular comedian and TV host, Shimda Shinsuke in August.

The new ordinances do not have exclusions for foreign firms. They obligate all companies operating within Tokyo to follow the ordinance and to insert organized crime exclusionary clauses into their contracts, and make an effort not to do business with the yakuza and/or other anti-social forces. The Tokyo ordinance is unusual in that it includes, a “do tell, and we won’t ask” escape clause. If you go to the police, before they come to you,  and tell them that you have been working with the yakuza,  the police will exempt you from the ordinance and help you sever relations. (*Unless you have been using the yakuza to threaten people).

 The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has assembled a cross-divisional team of over 100 officers to put the new laws into effect. As one police source puts it, “There’s only one daimon (coat of arms) that’s allowed in the Tokyo now. That’s the sakurada-mon.*“

Prior to the law going into effect, in July of this year, President Obama, in an executive order, declared the yakuza a threat to the national security of United States and the world, and authorized seizure and freezing of any related assets in the US. Both at home and abroad, times are getting tough for the yakuza.The autumn of the yakuza in Japan, starts today, on October 1^st. A cold winter is on the way. There is growing pressure to remove the yakuza from Japanese society. They are unlikely to quietly walk away with a whimper but rather they will leave with a bang. It remains to be seen how ready Japan is for that recoil.

*Memo: A reference to the Tokyo Metro Police coat of arms, 桜田紋 (sakurada-mon). All yakuza groups have a coat of arms or crest –daimon: 代紋–that represents the group. The Yamaguchi-gumi coat of arms aka daimon is often called, hishi-gata because of its shape. Organized crime cops in Tokyo, because of their similarity in appearance to the yakuza they arrest, sometimes jokingly refer to the flower-symbol of the TMPD, as their own daimon (代紋). Sakurada literally means, “field of cherry blossoms.” Sakuradamon is also the name of the closest subway station to the TMPD Headquarters.

神戸芸能社 (Kobe Geinosha/Kobe Performing Arts Company) was established by the 3rd Generation Leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi in 1957. It marked the beginning of yakuza rule of showbiz.

The crackdown began in August when Japan’s most ubiquitous television host and comedian, Shinsuke Shimada, “the Jay Leno of Japan,” was fired by his talent agency, Yoshimoto Kogyo. Undeniable evidence of the star’s personal and business dealings with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest crime group, had come to light. Shimada was so popular in Japan that he hosted six different television programs before his fall from grace. On Aug. 31, the TMPD began questioning Shimada’s former employers about his ties to the yakuza and the company’s own corporate compliance with anti-organized crime national laws and its readiness for the new Tokyo organized crime exclusionary ordinances which go into effect in October.

But Shimada is only one of many celebrities with yakuza ties. In the last few weeks, extensive evidence has emerged that Japanese show business is saturated with the yakuza’s influence. Police records and sources, along with testimony from current and former yakuza members, have revealed that many powerful Japanese talent agencies and production companies are not simply fronts for the yakuza—they are the yakuza. For the rest of the story, check out this article on The Daily Beast.

The history of the yakuza and showbiz in Japan extends over four decades. We traced the historical growth of the yakuza into the entertainment industry and it parallels the evolution of the yakuza in Japanese society, and society’s changing viewpoints on their existence. In many way, the only real difference between the blatant yakuza front company that was Kobe Performing Arts Company (神戸芸能社) and the modern talent agencies today are that the yakuza bosses keep their names off the board of directors. They are still running the show behind the curtains but probably not for much longer.

Timeline: The Yakuza And The Entertainment World

1957: The 3^rd Generation Yamaguchi Leader, Kazuo Taoka, sets up and registers Kobe Geinosha (Kobe Performing Arts Promotion) under his own name. (The Yamaguchi-gumi is currently Japan’s larges organized crime group, w/ 40,000 members). They quickly become the most powerful showbiz brokers in Japan.

1961: The 3^rd Yamaguchi-gumi Yanagawa-gumi after successfully managing a pro-wrestling event for former Sumo wrestler Riki Dozan, creates it’s own promotion company, Yanagawa Geinosha (Yamanagawa Performing Arts Promotion).

1963: Jinsei Gekijo (Theater of Life: Hishakaku) is released by Toei films starting the yakuza film boom, which lasts several years.

1964: Kodama Yoshio (nationalist, former war criminal, and founder of Japan’s former ruling party the LDP), Taoka Kazuoka (3^rd generation leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi), and Machii Hisayuki, (head of the Korean mafia, Toseikai) elected board members of the Japan Pro-Wrestling Association. Pro-wrestling becomes tremendously popular in Japan.

1964-1965: The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department launches the first major offensive on organized crime. Kobe Geinosha is forced out of business. Taoka buys 4000 shares of Yoshimoto Kogyo(吉本興業） under his wife’s name  and the Yamaguchi-gumi begans to use the firm as a front company.

1971: Burning Productions, Japan’s most powerful talent/promotion agency is founded in Tokyo with the backing of the Inagawa-kai crime group. Founding members included a former driver for Koichi Hamada, an Inagawa-kai member in his youth, who later became a Japanese Diet member for the LDP.

1974: The 3^rd Generation Leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi (山口組三代目) begins filming. Yamaguchi-gumi boss visits famous yakuza film actor Ken Takakura on the set of the filming.

山口組三代目 was based on the autobiography of the 3rd Generation Yamaguchi-gumi Leader, Kazuo Taoka. Ken Takakura met him during the filming of the movie.

1975: The Yakuza, written by Paul Schrader, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum and Ken Takakura is released for US audiences. It shows a highly romanticized version of the yakuza.

1989: Ridley Scott’s Black Rain about two New York who cops become involved in a gang war between members of the Yakuza is released. Ken Takakura, in a major role change plays a detective who reluctantly teams up with the US law enforcement to bring down a yakuza boss. Rikiya Yasuoka, a yakuza associate plays a yakuza enforcer in the movie.

1992: Internationally acclaimed director Juzo Itami’s anti-yakuza dark comedy, The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion is released to critical acclaim. Gangsters from the Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi slash up the director in the parking lot in front of his home to express their dislike for the film.

In the same year, the first anti-organize crime laws go into effect, regulating the yakuza but not outlawing them.

1997: Juzo Itami allegedly commits suicide by jumping off a roof where his office is located. Police suspect it was a murder staged as a suicide but the investigation is squelched. Itami’s widow still remains under police protection

2001: Shots are fired into the offices of Burning Productions, twice on two different occasions.

2002: Internationally acclaimed film director and actor, Takeshi Kitano conducts a long interview with crime boss, Inagawa Seijo-Sosai, for the monthly magazine Shincho 45 (新潮45).

2005: Chihiro aka Yuko Inagawa, the 3^rd generation leader of the Inagawa-kai passes away. Japanese celebrities attend his funeral and wake and major promotional companies send flowers in his honor. The western Japan (Kansai) based Yamaguchi-gumi begins to take over the entertainment business in eastern Japan (Kanto).

2006: The National Police Agency sends a letter to the Japan Association of Civilian Broadcasters asking them to cut ties with the yakuza.

2007: Police files from the Organized Crime Control Division leak onto the Internet. They name Burning Productions as a yakuza front company and list a famous actress as the mistress of gang boss, Goto Tadamasa.

The widow of former Yoshimoto Kogyo CEO in a magazine interview reveals that well-known comedian and de facto manager of the company, Kausu Nakata, is deeply connected to the Yamaguchi-gumi.

Popular actor, Kenji Haga, and former world champion profession boxer and yakuza member, Jiro Watanabe, are arrested for blackmail.

2008: Several famous Japanese celebrities attend the birthday party of Tadamasa Goto. The weekly magazine Shukan Shincho (週刊新潮) reports it, causing a great scandal. They name the celebrities but not Goto in their article. The scandal and Goto’s deal with the FBI to get into the US for liver transplant result in him being expelled from the Yamaguchi-gumi on October 14^th.

2009 August: Takaharu Ando, head of the National Police Agency expresses dismay after several Japanese rock stars and celebrities are arrested for drug usage. NPA officials tell the press, “It’s important for celebrities to stop buying drugs and providing revenue to the yakuza.”

September: The NPA declares war on the Yamaguchi-gumi, implying that they will remove them from all aspects of Japanese society including showbiz.

2010: Habaringara (Takarajima Publishing), the autobiography of Tadamasa Goto is published. He boasts of his celebrity ties by name and derides Shinsuke Shimada, one of Japan’s most popular TV hosts and comedians.

2011: March Heisei Nihon Taboo Daizen is released by the publishers of Goto’s autobiography, which details the relationship between Shinsuke Shimada and the Yamaguchi-gumi Kyokushinrengo.

August: Yoshimoto Kogyo fires Shinsuke Shimada after conclusive emails detailing his business dealings and associations with Kyokushinrengokai are delivered to the firm by Tadamasa Goto. He frames his firing as a resignation in a hastily held press conference.

September:

1^st. Takaharu Ando, the head of the National Police Agency states to the press that, ““While all of Japanese society moves forward to eliminate the yakuza, it is very saddening that television celebrities, who have tremendous influence on the public, continue to have deep relations with organized crime. In order for Japanese show business to cut their ties with organized crime, the police would like to do everything to help.”

6^th. The boyfriend of Japanese pop idol, Ai Kago, is arrested for attempted extortion, while invoking the name of his backers, the Yamaguchi-gumi Kodo-kai faction. Allegations of other celebrities’ ties to the yakuza flood the media.

Mid-September. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department sets up a special task force of 50 officers in central Tokyo Police Department to investigate and prosecute talent agencies and celebrities involved with the yakuza, on any charges possible.*

 by journalist colleague, Gavin Blair, writing from Tokyo.

Japanese TV Host’s Resignation Shines Light on Showbiz Mob Ties

The yakuza have strong links to the entertainment biz, but the times may be changing as the government cracks down on gangs.