Yamaguchi-gumi is the largest criminal organizations in the world. According to Japan’s National Police Agency, it is Japan’s largest yakuza organization, with membership of roughly about 45% of the 86,000 yakuza in the Japanese underworld and over 100,000 internationally. Named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi, its origins dated to as far back as 1915 in Kobe, Japan.

The Yamaguchi-gumi are among the world’s wealthiest gangsters, bringing in billions of dollars a year from extortion, gambling, the sex industry, arms and drug trafficking, real estate, construction kickback and whatnot. According to Fortune 2014, the gang made a cool US$80 billion (£53 billion; RM284 billion) in revenue, leaving Russian largest mafia group – Solntsevskaya Bratva – at distant second place with a paltry US$8.5 billion.

 

As expected, the Yamaguchi-gumi’s primary income comes from drug trafficking, follows by gambling and extortion. Japanese yakuza members do not shy away from their “profession”, openly have their office buildings and even have their own business cards and fan magazines. That is until a victim says enough is enough. Tired of being extorted, a restaurant manager in Nagoya is suing the yakuza group.

The man, who refused to be named for obvious reason, claims that the underlings of Shinobu Tsukasa, the head of the gang, extorted some ¥24 million (US$201,000; £133,000; RM715,000) from his restaurant for 5-years since 2008. Amusingly, he is demanding ¥32.2 million as a repayment and compensation in his suit filed against the big boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi group.

 

His lawyer told the Sankei newspaper that the mental stress inflicted on the restaurant manager was tremendous, hence the compensation claim from the top of the (Shinobu Tsukasa) organisation. According to Japan anti-organised crime law 2008, amended in 2011, it is a crime for anyone to pay protection money to a gang member. This law together with economic slowdown are making many business owners retaliate.

In fact, this is not the first time a business owner has ever sued yakuza gangsters. Last year July, a similar lawsuit was filed by a female restaurant manager, also in Nagoya, seeking damages for extortion and again naming Godfather Shinobu Tsukasa. She tried to recoup ¥10.85 million in protection money she paid him over 12 years, plus other damages and interests which totalled about ¥20 million (US$173,000; £115,000; RM595,000).

 

If more and more business owners could get their money back, plus damages, from yakuza gangsters with the help from Japanese judiciary, it would spell disaster to the underworld group. Although Kenichi Shinoda, also known as Shinobu Tsukasa, was infamous for killing a rival yakuza boss in the early 1970s with a samurai sword, he is not expected to perform the same stunt on the restaurant manager who is suing him.

Instead, the plaintiff could get protection from the yakuza bodyguards, cheekily speaking, in order to contain Yamaguchi-gumi public relation disasters. Instead of dragging Godfather Shinobu Tsukasa for court hearing, the multi-billion-dollar business empire boss would most likely prefer out of court settlement. Besides, extortion is not their primary business. It would hardly make a dent to the US$80 billion yearly “nine-fingered business”.

 

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January 13th, 2015 by financetwitter

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