Yakuza Japan's Criminal Underworld

Known for their striking full-body tattoos, Japan's gangsters comprise a criminal class eighty thousand strong - more than four times the size of the American mafia. This title tells the story of Japan's crime syndicates, from their feudal start as bands of medieval outlaws to their emergence as billion-dollar investors in real estate, and more.

"A fascinating study of how criminal enterprise can infect the very heart of modern capitalism. Here is the backstage world of political influence and organized crime in the world's second largest economy... by far the most detailed and even-handed study of this important and neglected subject."—John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

Reviews of original edition:

"A superb study of Japan's underworld that is both entertaining and revealing. The authors miss none of the color and curious detail of the yakuza style, but at the same time go far beyond surface observations."— Far Eastern Economic Review

"The book is laden with fascinating information, some of it heretofore unavailable in English."— Washington Post

"Blend the Mafia with the Masons. Let them simmer a while, then fold in the Ku Klux Klan and you'll have the yakuza…. Important and timely… Yakuza will serve for years as the source document on Japanese organized crime."— San Jose Mercury News

"State-of-the-art investigative reporting…must reading for those who consider themselves already highly conversant with yakuza activities…disturbing."— Journal of Asian Studies

Known for their striking full-body tattoos and severed fingertips, Japan's gangsters comprise a criminal class eighty thousand strong - more than four times the size of the American mafia. Despite their criminal nature, the yakuza are accepted by fellow Japanese to a degree guaranteed to shock most Westerners. "Yakuza" is the first book to reveal the extraordinary reach of Japan's Mafia. Originally published in 1986, it was so controversial in Japan that it could not be published there for five years. But in the west it has long served as the standard reference on Japanese organized crime and has inspired novels, screenplays, and criminal investigations. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition tells the full story of Japan's remarkable crime syndicates, from their feudal start as bands of medieval outlaws to their emergence as billion-dollar investors in real estate, big business, art, and more.