Yakuza: A coin with two faces

In Japan, the Yakuza (also gokudō) is well known as the Japanese Mafia. But the Yakuza doesn't strictly apply as Mafia. They are involved in illegal actions like extortion and prostitution but they also have many legal businesses in Japan and outside of Japan. They help some people in needs and invest millions of dollars every year in legitimate businesses.

The biggest Yakuza family has even its own website

The Yakuza has a long History, Tradition and Structure. These three things sets the Yakuza apart from other Mafias.

History

The origin dates back to the 17th Century. Back then, it all started with gambling groups (bakuto) and stealing groups (tekiya). Both groups had a very low social standing because they were illegal. Stealing groups became more influential over time thanks to the businesses they created or took over. Gambling groups grew bigger and became also loan sharks. Both groups became over time the Yakuza.

Structure

The structure of the Yakuza resembles a family. Overall there is the oyabun (parents) and the kobun (children). This is very similar to the Senpai Kohai relationship that is very common in Japanese society. The parent group is the boss family. The children are the various inferior families that serve as accountants, law advisors, administrators, etc.

The entire Yakuza is dominated by Men but there were a few Women. Yakuza women are usually called Nee-san (older sister). Overall the entire structure is based on experience. The more experience (senpai) the more authority he has over others (kohai).

The parent families are Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai.

Photo by Eneas De Troya

Tradition

The most common tradition in Yakuza as we know them is the Yubitsume (finger shortening). This ritual or tradition is done as an apology or replacement for another life. A member may cut off his little finger to spare the life of another member or to apologize for an offense.

Back in the Edo period (17 century), Yakuza members fought with Katana and other swords. When you hold a Japanese Sword you grip it tight with you middle finger, ring finger and little finger. When a Yakuza member cuts off these fingers, he loses control and the power of his Sword. That is why a member has to cut off these fingers first after any offense.

Another tradition is Irezumi (insert ink), which refers to the full body tattoos. These tattoos are made over time by hand with sharpened bamboo sticks or steel needle. This takes sometimes years to complete. These tattoos are very painful and show that member can resist a great amount of pain (more respect).

They tattoo all the body even the genitals. The only parts they usually don't tattoo are the wrists, hands, part of the chest and neck and the ankles. The reason they don't tattoo those parts is because people would notice the tattoos on those body parts when they use a Kimono (commonly used in Edo period).

Tattooing the body so extensively and old fashioned damages the skin and its pores. That is why many yakuza members suffer from Liver problems like the Yakuza Godfather "Tadamasa Goto".

Although many families do participate in illegal actions like drugs and prostitution, there are also families that oppose illegal actions. One of the parent families (Yamaguchi-gumi) prohibits their members to participate in drug traffic.

Yakuza Help

Contrary to other Mafias, the Yakuza help also people. During the 2011 earthquake and tsunami the respective Yakuza families prepared shelter, food and other supplies for those who needed it. Some years before, during the Kobe earthquake they did the same. In both cases, they acted faster and more generous than the Japanese government.

Who are the Comfort Women

Japan History: This article discusses the controversial topic of "Comfort Women" throughout Asia. It tries to clarify the term and the history behind it.

Over the past years you might have seen, read or heard about the continuous dispute of comfort women. This term has caused and is causing a lot of controversial debates.

During World War two, the Imperial Japanese Army fought against many different asian countries such as China, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. As the Imperial Japanese Army gained territory, the army build camps where they forced natives young teenage women to become sex slaves. These Women are known today as "Comfort Women".

The term "Comfort Women" was not coined until years after the war. Around the 90's, the japanese term "ianfu (慰安婦)", which means prostitute, was translated to English as "Comfort Women"

Until today, it is hard to tell how many asian women were forced to become "Comfort Women". The estimates range from 50,000 to 400,000.

Around the 90's, different asian countries united and demanded apologies and compensation from Japan.

As for Japan, Japan paid different amounts to different countries to compensate and apologize. They paid South Korea about 800 million dollars and created a foundation called the "Asian Women's Fund" back in the 90's. The purpose of the foundation was to provide help, support and compensation to all the other countries that suffered under these forced actions. Twelve years later the foundation was dissolved (2007).

In Japan, the term and the history that is connected to this term is still very controversial (wikipedia). While other asian countries claim that there were about 200,000 to 400,000 "Comfort Women", Japanese History Professors say that the figure ranges between 10,000 and 20,000. Although none of this is an excuse for the past.

Photo by Lindsey Turner

Until today, Japan still has problems with the report that the United Nations published. The report calls Japan to apologize and compensate the survivors.

Japan asked the United Nations for a revision but the United Nations rejected that proposition.

Shocking Truth about Black Jobs in Japan

This article is about the continuous abuse of Japanese students through black companies (ブラック企業) and black jobs (ブラックバイト) in Japan 

Over the past decades, workplace abuse in Japan has been seen on several occasions. More recent events have lead to the formation of a new term for these sort of jobs. The term is "ブラックバイト" or "Black Job". It is a word that was partially adopted from German "Schwarz Arbeit" but in Japan it has a very different meaning than in Germany.

"Black Jobs" in Japan can be seen as an extension of the already popular term "ブラック企業" or  “Black Company”. The concept of Black Companies is similar to black jobs. In the case of black companies, the company would hire a large amount of young workers and then make them work overtime without payment.

The difference between "Black Jobs" and “Black Companies” is that black jobs refer to part time jobs while black companies refers to full time jobs.

※ Baito (バイト) is a Japanese term that refers to part time jobs.

The nature in Black Jobs lies in overtime. A young employee has to do a certain job in a certain time frame. The trick here is that the job CAN NOT be done within the time limits. The young employee then proceeds to do extra time by his own will in order to get the job done. Of course, he doesn't get paid for his overtime hours.

Meido(maid) by inlovewithjapan / © Some rights reserved.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license

These unpaid overtimes vary in length. They can go from 15 minutes up to an hour and above.

Usually, the employer knows that the employee is a student. But the Employer doesn't care about the student's studies.

Common cases of Black Jobs are "minimum sales". A worker has to sale a minimum number of Products within his or her shift even if they have to work more hours to do so. The problem in all this is that students don't know their rights.

Overall students are in a disadvantage because tuitions are getting more expensive while students are left with less money to live.

Bigger companies are not offering Black Jobs anymore due to media coverage but smaller companies that offer black jobs still remain.