The end of the Yakuza in Japan? An aging mafia fails to attract young people • FRANCE 24 English

[Music] this neighborhood used to be their kingdom these two gangsters are yakuzas for decades they control the illegal gambling and betting industries we were making almost 8 000 euros per day we used to make around 2 500 euros with each of our slot machines and would make sure that no other gangs entered our territory we were very powerful and violent this godfather is the head of a declining empire it is only made up of around 40 men today and half of them are in prison in japan it isn't illegal to be part of a criminal organization the yakuza even have offices like this one and exist as associations he is the founder of our clan he is everything to us but nowadays this aging dawn struggles to inspire new recruits the yakuza have dwindled to one tenth of their numbers from half a century ago the grey-haired gangsters have an average age of more than 50. he was also a yakuza we're losing the older generation the third largest city of japan used to be a yakuza stronghold and was the base for yamaguchi gumi by far the biggest group in the country even today nearly half of all yakuzas belong to it this lawyer defended one of his former bosses the godfather of all godfathers number one he was number one when he saw a hostess in a bar that he liked the look of he would take her arm and say but this all-powerful man would end up being killed when a war broke out between the gangs in the 1980s creating chaos in the country and leading to a number of civilian casualties this was the beginning of the end for the yakuzas the once tolerant police decided to take action against the shadow government the yakuza had infiltrated the stock market real estate airport management and even nuclear power stations these violent groups were everywhere in key sectors of the economy and the japanese started to think we don't want them anymore with a string of new laws the police targeted the mafia's finances anyone collaborating or financing the group risked being persecuted by law the yakuza began to lose they went from paradise to hell in 30 years the richest clan of japan became a penniless this lawyer would pay the price of this merciless fight having his license revoked the yakuza's main source of wealth comes from the pleasure industry like here in a red light district in ikibukuro in tokyo as you can see here there are bars and clubs offering sexual services which is a source of income for the yakuza this retired policeman fought the yakuza for decades all these places used to have to pay protection money to the yakuza anywhere between 150 euros to more than 800 euros per month per bar so when a clan controlled around 100 bars it could make 80 000 euros a month or sometimes much more than that this is what we've managed to put a stop to but the policeman isn't claiming victory yet i would describe the mafia as a bit like cockroaches they're very resistant today there are clans which are very good at computers especially the young yakuza and right now their priority is swindling covert related financial aid it's a real scourge [Music] the yakuza may have found new scams but their daily life has become a nightmare they are not allowed to open a bank account get an insurance policy or even rent an apartment the government has stripped them of their most basic rights back in osaka the asian gangsters of the azumi clan have a reason to speak to us they're eager to portray themselves and their families as [Music] since we're victims allowed to have a bank account we can't make bank transfers to pay for our children's school canteen so the school immediately recognizes that we're yakuza this isolates our children and our grandchildren schools sometimes refuse admission to children of gang members out of fear of being prosecuted for working with the mafia [Music] this evening the gang takes a walk in osaka's nightlife districts there was a time when they were much feared and respected today nobody recognizes them frankly i'm struggling to survive but what else am i supposed to do i don't know how to do anything else but to be a yakuza [Music] it's hard to feel sorry for criminals but even if it's met with little interest by most japanese people the integration of the yakuzas into society has become an ongoing challenge for the authorities offering them a future away from crime is their only hope for eradicating the mafia

Channel: FRANCE 24 English

Views: 1,746,161

Keywords: FOCUS, Japan, france24, gang violence, mafia, news, organised crime

Id: a670X6oCDWA

Length: 5min 58sec (358 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 26 2021