The Yakuza

Yakuzamachi-yokko – the servants of the town. Machi-yokkohatamoto-yakko or the servants of the shogun. Japan has for centuries had a strongly decentralized power system – that is, most decision-making wasp laced in the hands of local leaders and warlords. For local leaders (daimyo) to ensure that their desires were carried out, they needed their own armed forces and intelligence agents, since these were not provided by the central state. The country was united under Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) – the first shogun – under the overall rule of the emperor but governed by the shogun as a form of military government. Since shogun and daimyo regularly clashed over issues of policy and jurisdiction, the shogun’s servants, the hatamoto-yakko, frequently found themselves confronted by local troops and the hastily convened machi-yokko. The yakuza believe, therefore, that they have traditionally been the protectors of the small people and deserve to be supported by them. When bands of machi-yokko were driven off by the shogun’s servants, they were forced to flee to the wilderness or to live underground to continue their work. themselves claim their origin is in the acted as a form of town guard or militia when small towns or villages were threatened by

Others, however, tell a different story. They maintain that it was the hatamoto-yakkoyakuza. They came first to impose a foreign will on the local people and they have stayed to torment and bully them ever since. They claim the hatamoto-yakkokatanas – the swords of the samurai, who were the warrior caste of the past, famed for their nobility and sense of honor. themselves who were the forerunners of the wore extravagant clothes and wielded extraordinarily long

In any case, everyone agrees that the current name of the yakuza is derived from the numbers nine (ku) eight (ya) and three (sa) which total 20, which is a losing hand in the popular card game hana-fuda. In other words, they are considered for some reason to be unlucky ones who have become obliged to make their own way without access to land or family ties. Membership of the yakuza represents membership of a new family and its requirements for loyalty are intense.

From the end of the seventeenth century to the early years of the twentieth century, the yakuza settled into Japanese society, occupying one of three classes or roles. Firstly, they were the tekiya or street peddlers, whose main activities involved selling defective or stolen goods. Secondly, there were the bakuto or gamblers who worked various scams and cheats in the towns and highways. The third group was the gurentai or hoodlums who developed later and took as their role model al Capone and similar gangsters. All three types were expected to show entrepreneurial ability in identifying new sources of income and often they will have found it convenient to work together. Although these early yakuza worked primarily outside the law, there were sections of society willing to make alliance with them. The most important of these was the political far right, which wanted to see the return of supreme power to the emperor and a very autocratic form of rule established. Since the far right was forced to operate outside the main political system and viewed the yakuza as a remnant of the noble samurai tradition, they were prepared to use them. During the period marked by what is known as the Meiji Restoration (1868), far right interests gained power in government and awarded some official posts to yakuzayakuza members. As a result of the overseas expansion of Japanese colonies, therefore, interests were established in both Korea and in Manchuria in northeastern China and it is believed that connections continue to this day.