New Gangster Exams for Japanese Yakuza
Japanese gangsters are facing an obstacle that can’t be beaten with a nunchaku – a pen and paper exam.
Spotted within the Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate, this Q&A session involved a 12 question paper that tested faction members’ knowledge of gangster lore.
One such question asked for a comprehensive list of taboo activities. The correct answer, as specified on the sample paper, included con jobs involving phones, stealing costly motor vehicles and disposal of industrial waste.
Furthermore, the paper stressed that all gang-related activities had to be approved by the big bosses.
This exam paraphernalia was uncovered by police when they were investigating a crime-related instance involving the Yamaguchi-gumi gang in Shiga Prefecture .
This particular group has a strong presence in Japan with its 40 000 members and thus, has adopted this unconventional method in order to save money. Recent changes to the anti-organized crime law ensured that crime bosses could be fined over the illegal actions of their respective minions.
Such minion actions could be anything from a shoot-out in a street to a bloody bar fight.
In addition to legal moves, civil action by concerned citizens against crime syndicates were becoming increasingly common and have might have contributed to the creation of this exam paper.
One such example was the efforts of Akasaka residents where they won a court appeal to exclude the Inagawa-kai gang from their neighborhood.
By shinigami on 22-09-2009
Comment by Doom
September 22nd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
cybercrime is where the real money is, yakuza need catching up^^
Comment by @Adamanta
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 am
Please don't think about Yamaguchi-gumi in terms of "organized crime disliked by citizens"!
I lived in Kobe for a year and was surprised to hear from many people how they spoke about "our dear Yamaguchi-gumi" – and it were educated people from the University too. Because Yamaguchi-gumi are caring about people, they helped them during the big earthquake even before the police and ambulances arrived, gave them food, water and warm things… Yamaguchi-gumi are not the "bloody bar fight" kind of mafia, they are good with commoners!
And I am glad to hear they are introducing written exams to prevent unnecessary violence
Comment by Pamela
September 25th, 2009 at 2:03 am
a thief is a thief is a thief………………………………………………………
Comment by lolol
September 29th, 2009 at 12:13 am
they are a mafia. they intimidate and kill people that openly speak ill of them, which is why no civilian has the balls to say anything on the record besides "we love yakuza, yeah!"
Don't be fooled. Yamaguchi-gumi is just as bad as any other organized crime assholes.
Comment by @Adamanta
September 29th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Still these civilians don't have to include in the conversation a remarque "By the way, our dear Yamaguchi-gumi made this and that…"
If the person who told that was afraid he just wouldn't mention it at all, imho.
I don't tell they are not a mafia, I just tell that they are far from be disliked by the citizens many of whom they saved back in 1995. And this is not the case of each other group of yakudza.
Comment by schnobe
October 4th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Wouaw! So crazy…
Comment by Adnan Muhammed
November 5th, 2009 at 11:50 am
good kind?! they kill people, they can take another persons life in cold blood that in no way is justifiable its people like u that i hate the most