Oct 14 2008
A bloody dispute between two yakuza groups in a Japanese city has led to a historic fightback by local people, writes David McNeill in Kurume city
A REPUTATION for unpredictability and violence keeps journalists away from the yakuza, but a vicious turf battle between two rival gangs in this southern city has made them reluctant media fodder. The two-year war has produced seven deaths and over 20 shootings and bombings. Continue Reading »
Aug 27 2008
Japan’s powerful yakuza organised crime syndicates are mounting a widespread and “infectious” assault on the country’s financial markets that may have left hundreds of listed companies riddled with mob connections. Continue Reading »
May 31 2008
Two Japanese mafia dons who jumped a long queue to get liver transplants in the United States each made donations of £50,000 to the Californian hospital that operated on them. Continue Reading »
Dec 10 2007
TOKYO — A Japanese mafia boss was Monday sentenced to death over the killing of five people, including three bystanders, in shootings at a bar and a Tokyo hospital.
The Tokyo District Court found Osamu Yano, 58, guilty of ordering the shooting of a rival gang member in 2003 in a bar in Maebashi, 100 kilometres (62 miles) northwest of Tokyo, in which three bystanders were killed. Continue Reading »
Sep 30 2007
Police hunting the killer of English teacher Lindsay Hawker are scouring Tokyo’s red-light district amid claims he is being hidden by the Japanese mafia. Continue Reading »
Sep 14 2007
With her dyed-brown long hair and tight designer jeans, Shoko Tendo looks like any other stylish young Japanese woman – until she removes her shirt to reveal the vivid tattoos covering her back and most of her body.
The elaborate dragons, phoenix and a medieval courtesan with one breast bared and a knife between her teeth are a symbol of Tendo’s childhood as the daughter of a “yakuza” gangster and her youth as a drug-using gang member. Continue Reading »
