Japanese Yakuza

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuza

Also known as gokudo, Yakuza are criminal gangs out of Japan. The Japanese police call them boryokudan (violence group), while the Yakuza call themselves ninkyo dantai (chivalrous organization). They are known for their strict code of conduct

Structure

Rituals

Yubitsume, the cutting of one's finger, is how you pay the price for doing something wrong. 1st offence is cutting off the tip of your little finger and it is given to your boss. Also many Yakuza members have full body tattoos. In Japan, they are known as irezumi, and it's done the old fashioned way, called 'hand poking' by the Japanese. By using a non electric needle, basically using a sharpened needle of steel or bamboo and inserting the ink that way. It can take years to complete and also be very painful. When yakuza members plays cards or games, they usually strip to the waist to display their full body tattoos to each other. But when out in public, they wear long sleeved shirts with high collars to conceal the tattoos as many establishments in Japan bar yakuza from coming in if they see the tattoos. When new members join, they are required to remove their pants to reveal any lower body tattoos if any.

Syndicates

In Japan, there are 3 very large Yakuza groups.

-Yamaguchi-gumi

-Sumiyoshi- Kai

-Inagawa-kai

Most Yakuza run businesses have a wooden board on the front door, to display name and emblem. Members often wear sunglasses and colorful suits so that their profession can immediately be recognized by civilians (katagi). They even walk differently. Civilians walk with an unassuming gait, where as yakuza walk with a cocky self assured strut. Also yakuza can flash their tattoos if needed. The Yakuza also helps out in emergency situations if the need arises. 

Crimes

Sex Trafficking

Pornography

Smuggling

Prostitution

Extortion

Blackmail

This sign is quite a common sight in Tokyo. It's usually seen outside bars basically saying that if you have tattoos that look like this, you're prohibited to enter. 

Yakuza gangster showing off full body tattoos

United States

The Yakuza is also present in the US. They're mostly relegated to Hawaii, where the Japanese population is higher than most places. But they can also be found in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle,  Las Vegas, Arizona, Virginia, Chicago and New York City. The Yakuza use Hawaii as a way station between Japan and the US, smuggling crystal meth and firearms back to Japan. They can blend in to the island because a good deal of the Hawaiin residents are of full or partial Japanese descent and because of the high amount of Asian tourists who visit the island regularly. 

How I Came to Love.......

The Beatles


How I came to love the music of the Beatles, is it wasn't really until senior year in high school when I actually started listening to these guys. My mom likes the Beatles, and like me, she also has the Beatles 1 album. I'm not sure why, but these guys' music is timeless, it'll never be phased out. Rap for some reason has pushed all kinds of music out until it seems like rap/hip hop is the only form of music. But there is no way that the Beatles music will ever be pushed out. Their music will last as long as there's fans out there and there is an unlimited amount of fans out there, including younger generations of people, like teens and young adults, like me. I'll be the kind of person who will listen nonstop to these guys for ever, until I leave this world. And what's actually kind fo cool is that in my senior class, there were quite a few people who shared a similar interest in the music of the Beatles, most of them were the high school band members and a few classmates as well.

The Rolling Stones


How I came to love the music of the Rolling Stones or the Stones as I call them is basically from hanging around my stepdad more than I probably should. But I see no problem with hanging around my stepdad. He's a cool guy, he introduced alot of the music he listens to to me. If it weren't for him, I'd have no clue who the Stones are, or who bands like YES, Van Halen, Bad Company or Paul McCartney is. Because at my house, for some reason, my dad or sister does not like the music of the Stones or the Beatles or anything that I take a particular liking to. They don't care for these musicians and I don't get bothered by that, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the thing that really burns me up is when my dad starts insulting those musicians by calling them names, such as calling Mick Jagger Billy Bass Lips and saying his dancing looks like that of a chicken, calling Ronnie Wood a wifebeater because of one alleged domestic abuse charge, Keith Richards the World's Ugliest Man, and my sister saying Charlie Watts looks gay. Now like I just said, I don't mind people voicing their opinions, but when these opinions get brutal, then that's the limit, I don't like insults. Now I listen to virtually everything, exept rap/hip hop, that music is nothing but noise and it's about nothing but committing crimes, raping/killing women and children, doing drugs, drinknig alcohol, not my kind of music if u ask me!!

Them now!

Sorry, just had to add this one. This is a picture they took to promote their 1978 Some Girls album. Personally, I like the one in the middle behind the wheelchair, Mick looks good as a woman!

Chinese/Japanese culture


How I came to love this kind of stuff is ever since 7th grade, in my history class we learned about the various dynasties of ancient China and Japan. And ever since then, I've been hooked on history of these 2 fascinating countries, and every year, my interest in them has significantly grown. so it's basically 7th grard history that has planted the seed for my interest in Asian history and that seed has grown into a beautiful tree of interest, lol!

In the world of Chinese culture, this is a major staple. Dragon dancing!!

This is most likely the form of martial arts known as T'ai Chi, the most nonviolent of the many forms of Chinese or Asian martial arts

Travel


This one is really cool to me. I've always been kind of adventurous and always had an overactive imagination. I've always wanted to travel to far away and exotic lands to see the beautiful sights in the world, and over the years, the place I want to see have significantly changed. I added a few to the list of places to see before I die. I want to see London before I die because that is where Abbey Road Studios is located and if you're a Beatles fan, you would kow this is the place where they made all their music before their tragic breakup. I want to see China and Japan because of the whole interest in culture and history thing. I want to see Australia because in Lightning Ridge, you cna go mining for opals, which, coincidentally, is my birthstone, and you can go see Queensland Zoo, which I will be seeing if I go there so I can pay my respect to Steve Irwin, aka the Crocodile Hunter, and I also want to see the Sydney Opera House, from pics I've seen of it it appears to be a work of art.

Aww, how cute! A Kangaroo!