The Dark Side of Japan

Something that’s been around for a long time in the country is the Japanese yakuza or Japanese organized crime group. Yakuza have been in existence for over 300 years, tracing back to 1612 when they started to attract the attention of the government. They are organized into families and group members for mutual protection, having similar rituals and format to the samurai. In fact, it was believed that yakuza are descended from gangs of ronins or wayward samurais.