The Yakuza Code Of Ethics: Compliance In the Underworld

The yakuza, Japan’s organized crime groups, have close to 79,000 members. It’s very hard to understand why they are tolerated in Japanese society and not simply banned. Part of the reason for this is that for many years the yakuza observed, to some extent, a set of internal codes which made them appear to be [...]

“No one is safe from the new yakuza.” ABC’s stellar documentary.

Child pornography, along with prostitution and drugs, allows the Yakuza – Japans 80 000 strong mafia – to rake in 50 billion dollars a year.

October 1st: Nationwide in Japan Anti-Yakuza Laws Go Into Effect: “Do Tell, We Won’t Ask.”

The new laws criminalize profit-sharing with the yakuza or paying them off. Both the yakuza and those who use them face severe punishment for illegal activity. The autumn of the yakuza in Japanese society has begun.

Cops To Close Curtains on Yakuza Hollywood: The Timeline

1957: The 3rd 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.

The Hollywood Reporter: Japan’s Entertainment World And The Yakuza

Even Hollywood is taking in interest in Japan’s entertainment industry links to the mob. Meanwhile, police are now asking for an explanation of the underworld ties from Shimada’s powerful agency, Yoshimoto Kogyo, which has been rapidly expanding overseas in recent years, signing deals from Hollywood to Shanghai.