Reviews The Japanese Mafia. Crime, State, and Collusion By: Yuki Allyson Honjo The idea that crime is representative of moral failing is a potent one in our modern culture. Take for example, that execrable Fox TV show, Cops. One of the early “reality” television shows, the unblinking eye of the camera follows police as they chase the criminal and the hapless, grab drunks and addicts, and break up domestic “incidents.” Each clip follows with a cop musing thoughtfully that it was a tough job, but ever so rewarding to do right. To wit, the theme song proclaims “Bad boys, bad boys, what’ya gonna do, what'ya gonna do when they come for you.” Even the most logical of criminals, (e.g. the fictional Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lechter) is dismissed as ultimately pathological. The Yakuza, the very real Japanese mafia, occupy a place that is somewhere between fact and fiction. Or are they? He dissects the nature of the Japanese Yakuza by asking difficult questions.
The work is not without flaws. The Yakuza - Japanese Organized Crime Gang. Asian Gangs Japanese Organized Crime The Yakuza Known as YAKUZA by its members and BORYOKUDAN by the Japanese Police, organized crime in Japan, which was always traditionally local, and fragmented, has changed radically. Consolidated into much larger, more powerful groups since World War II, the Yakuza has now spread beyond Japan with powerful members taking up residence in Hawaii, Guam, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines and the Continental United States. Japanese organized crime now touches almost every area and level of crime including gambling, prostitution, extortion, loan-sharking, pornography, book-making, weapons smuggling and drug trafficking. The origin of many of today’s gangs in the United States can be looked upon as a strong similarity to that of the Yakuza.
Like many gangs of today, to protect their towns, neighborhoods and families from the destructive ronin, groups known as the machi-yokku formed. Most Yakuza members are not reluctant to be identified as such. History. Italian/Mafia. Overview Since their appearance in the 1800s, the Italian criminal societies known as the Mafia have infiltrated the social and economic fabric of Italy and now impact the world. They are some of the most notorious and widespread of all criminal societies. There are several groups currently active in the U.S.: the Sicilian Mafia; the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia; the ’Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia; and the Sacra Corona Unita or United Sacred Crown.
We estimate the four groups have approximately 25,000 members total, with 250,000 affiliates worldwide. There are more than 3,000 members and affiliates in the U.S., scattered mostly throughout the major cities in the Northeast, the Midwest, California, and the South. Their largest presence centers around New York, southern New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Their criminal activities are international with members and affiliates in Canada, South America, Australia, and parts of Europe. These groups don’t limit themselves to drug running, though.
The American Mafia. Gangrule – The History of the Mafia.