"dark and sometimes dangerous triad of ties among gangsters, businesses and politicians has a long tradition in Japan"

Sounds familiar...

Becoming westernized I see......the master plan is working!

What about covering up executions?

/Damn you, WelldeadLink

Bondith: What about covering up executions?


Hey now, it's perfectly normal for two sumo wrestlers to die of the same mystery ailment within hours of each other, the day they were supposed to deliver detailed testimony of how deep organized crime had impacted their sport.


Still, they went forward with plans to hold a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo. But shortly beforehand, the two men died--hours apart, in the same hospital, of a similar respiratory ailment. The police declared there had been no foul play but did not conduct an investigation. "It seems very strange for these two people to die on the same day at the same hospital," said Mitsuru Miyake, the editor of a sumo magazine. "But no one has seen them poisoned, so you can't prove the skepticism."

So previously unethical organizations are forced to abide by the law in order to survive? That, in itself, is not a problem. Go after them for the shady stuff, like illegal drugs, and gambling.

I would welcome them over who is in control of banks in the US. You want severance pay? Hold out your hand....

The yakuza are actually pretty interesting. Regulated crime is such an oxymoron, yet somehow works in Japan.

Yomoxu
Regulated crime is such an oxymoron, yet somehow works in Japan Ankh-Morpork.

FTFY

I just returned from Japan and while there read a couple issues if the international herald tribune. One had a reprint from another paper that was an interview with a retired chief of some Tokyo police section that dealt with these guys, though they did not call them Yakuza, they used some 3 or 4 word phrase like socially violent groups or something. I could not find the article online, and do not remember the source paper.

But he sounded like a pretty smart guy, with interesting ideas on how to get rid of these groups. It was more than just cracking down on them, but changing Japans culture of shame and privacy that cause people to shut up and just endure being targeted by these thugs rather than seek help.

One thing that struck me, was the estimate of membership. I do not recall the exact number, but it was way less than 100,000 nationwide, somewhere in the 40,000 range. Heck, the U.S. has that many in NYC alone.


In Japan they might be able to pull this off. Their culture may support this kind of change, where others might not.

Of course, I am likely completely wrong. Armchair traveling and 10 days in country make me as much an expert on Japan as they do an expert on brain surgery.

tomWright: , though they did not call them Yakuza, they used some 3 or 4 word phrase like socially violent groups or something.

The Farking article links the phrase you are looking for: "anti-social forces"

Headline made me cut my pinky finger off.

dryknife: Headline made me cut my pinky finger off.

Just don't question their nationality or they'll cut off your head.

Y'know Japan, there are plenty of GOOD Yakuza...

Bondith: Yomoxu
Regulated crime is such an oxymoron, yet somehow works in Japan Ankh-Morpork.

FTFY

Hey you! Wanna buy an octopus? In a bun?

Fail in Human Form: dryknife: Headline made me cut my pinky finger off.

Just don't question their nationality or they'll cut off your head.

[i41.tinypic.com image 320x240]

Those freckles.... I'll be in my bunk.

I always thought the Yakuza were a well run line of business. Dealing in things that need to be kept out of sight, trying to keep violence to a reasonable level.

I don't know what the Yakuza deals in, but most of our ramshackle violent gangs would be out of a job if not for our drug policies. And I think the protection racket gave way to corporate security services.

wildcardjack: I always thought the Yakuza were a well run line of business. Dealing in things that need to be kept out of sight, trying to keep violence to a reasonable level.

I don't know what the Yakuza deals in, but most of our ramshackle violent gangs would be out of a job if not for our drug policies. And I think the protection racket gave way to corporate security services.

Pinkerton Detective Agency gave way to cooperate security services. They started out as outlaw hunters but were used by businesses to do security and all sorts of more shady stuff during the industrial revolution. Relative killed by a gunslinger? Pinkertons. Need a strike broken? Pinkertons. Need a competitor sabotaged? Pinkertons.

\very effective and always to the first and highest bidder

The Yakuza have a solution for whistleblowers:

/hot, but not as good as Machine Girl