The Rise of the 5th Regime Yamaguchi Family

Very good documentary centered around the Nanbayasu Family, a Family operating under the huge Yamaguchi Family. We see many of the things of Yakuza Culture we normally do not see.

The Shintoist Rituals of the gangsters. The holy swords in the offices. The Family Flag and the philosophy behind wars. The small poor families, one of which operates out of an apartment complex, who seem to be operating not for money but for honor, or their interpretation of it. A Yakuza Elder Ritualist, who is at one glance just a neighborhood grandfather, and his philosophy on the Path.

Part 1

“The Yamaguchi Family is a Paramilitary Force.”

- Chairman Yoneoka of the Yoneoka Industries, a small family based out of Nihon-bashi, Osaka (Now a Otaku Enclave) They are known for their bloodthirsty temperament.

“You kill before you get killed. That is the Yakuza Way.”

- Waka-Gashira (Young Head, Underboss) Takeshi Kagotani of the Nanbayasu Family, based out of Sakai City, Osaka

“Not once have I ever regretted this life. Ever. I made my own decisions.”

- Chairman Hiroshi Yoneoka, 2nd Regime boss of the Yoneoka Industries, on his 14 years in the penitentiary

Part 2

“So as long as men continue to respect other men, the Yakuza will keep growing?” “Yes.”

- Chairman Ryuji Hayashi of the Hayashi Family, a small 30 member family based out of Kishiwada City, Osaka.


“A True Yakuza would never order his men to kill or die for him. Would a real father do that to his own children?”

- Yakuza Elder Kazuma Tsumura, on the Younger Yakuza

A Yakuza Way To Die

Real Gangsters have to go out like a soldier!!! Can't be caught with any hamsters or teenage girl pop CDs now can we? lol

The Yakuza as Positive Contributors to Japanese Society - “The Modern Yakuza Support Theory”

2007 - Writer Manabu Miyazaki has written a unique book on looking at the Japanese Yakuza (Japanese Mafia for lack of a better word) as a positive, contributing segment of Japanese Society and Culture.

He breaks the Yakuza into 2 stages of transition -

The Modern Yakuza is what he calls the “Society-Oriented” Yakuza of after World War II. These groups were created and nurtured by the larger society in general. They were a place where the weakest in society (the poor, the discriminated, etc) went for protection from poverty. He explains that they served a social welfare function - they provided food, jobs, minority rights etc to those who did not have the means or power to get them.

The Present Day Yakuza is the Yakuza of now, and they are called the “Profit-Oriented” Yakuza. As poverty in Japan has diminished, the Yakuza began to lose their foundation of existence - to protect the weak from poverty. But they began to find that as Japan grew richer, other segments of society, namely the corporate, entertainment, and industrial segments began to need them. They became what Mr. Miyazaki calls “The Lubricant that moves Society”. They began to provide services that were needed by the corporate, industrial, and entertainment world - debt settling, money loaning, stock trading, etc.

He wraps it up with the idea that the Yakuza are a part of Japan and will never dissappear. Instead of trying to destroy the Yakuza, we should try to coexist with them.

I think this is a interesting idea. Whereas traditionally the Yakuza has been thought of as something unacceptable and must be destroyed, Mr. Miyazaki puts it as something that will never go away, and actually serves positive functions. Instead of trying to fight a impossible battle, should we learn to live together with the Yakuza just like how we learned to live with people of other backgrounds and races?

I personally have had no trouble with them and think society does need people like this whether you like it or not.

A Gangster’s Palace - The TSK.CCC Building in Tokyo

Documentary on the Yakuza Castle built on prime real estate in Tokyo by Zainichi Korean Mobster, “Ginza Tiger” Hisayuki Machii.


Part 1

Part 2

The Japanese Uyoku (Nationalists)

90s era documentary on the Japanese Uyoku, or Japanese Nationalists. Shows the diversity beneath their stereotype as a group of extremists.

We see some groups that are more like a simple Shintoist religious organization, some that are centered around environmentalism, and some that are openly backed by the Yakuza.


Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

The Yama-Ichi War and the 4th Regime Yamaguchi Family

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Japanese Yakuza Backed Forgery Ring arrested in South Korea

1 minute 18 seconds -

A Japanese man and a Korean man with known Yakuza connections were arrested in Seoul, South Korea on allegations that they made US $2 million by selling 30,000 forged prepaid highway cards valued at US $130 each.

We Japanese should remember foreigners are not the only ones that come and commit crimes in Japan. We have to be fair and know that we also goto other countries as well.

Recent Shootouts in Kyushu Island Yakuza War

2 minutes 26 seconds -

News clip of recent shootouts in Japan's Southernmost Kyushu Island between Kyushu Island's largest Yakuza Organization, the Dojin (Road of Yakuza Honor) Association and a splinter group, the Kyushu Seido (Kyushu Island Road of Sincerity) Association.