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Janice Williams
NewsweekMarch 19, 2017
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Remaining Yakuza gang members reach a 12-year low.
Japan appeared to be winning its long battle against organized crime. The number of remaining yakuza gang members has declined for the 12th year in a row, with fewer than 40,000 members in 2016.
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Remaining Yakuza gang members reach a 12-year low.
Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" poses after an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Japan's National Police Agency released a report in March 2017 claiming remaining yakuza members were finally below 40,000. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters " data-reactid="44" style="margin-bottom: 1em;">Shoko Tendo author of "Yakuza Moon" poses after an interview with Reuters in Tokyo August 28, 2007. Japan's National Police Agency released a report in March 2017 claiming remaining yakuza members were finally below 40,000. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
In line with the declining number of yakuza members, Japanese authorities arrested 20,050 gang members in 2016, 1,593 people fewer than last year. The agency said the falling number of remaining members and arrests could be due to laws Japan adopted in 2011 that made it illegal for business owners to give money to gang members in exchange for protection, as well as changes authorizing law enforcement to prosecute mob bosses for crimes committed by their workers.
The JNPA first started keeping record of remaining group members back in 1958, but noticed the most significant and consistent decline over the past 12 years.
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The Guardian[/a]. By 2015, the JNPA had only 53,000 yakuza members on record with 23,400 members specifically belonging to the Yamaguchi-gumi, CNN reported.
Origins of the yakuza, which is a general term for Japan’s crime syndicates, are murky. There is no official record of when the gangs first started, although some people believe the organized crime groups’ history extends as far back as the 1870s with the inception of the Aizukotetsu-kai in Kyoto.
Along with illegal gambling operations, members of the gang who have been arrested over the years have been charged with extortion, blackmail, fraud and murder.
