15 Facts About The Yakuza

1. The Yakuza is known for practicing Sokaiya, which is basically a form of bribery.

2. The Yakuza are believed to have originated during the mid Edo period from two separate groups of outcasts, the Tekiya (peddlers) and the Bakuto (gamblers).

3. The Yakuza have a lot in common with another famous Japanese institution: the Samurai.

4. The Yakuza are an extremely old crime syndicate with origins in Japan and a presence around the world.

5. The Yakuza delivered food, water, blankets and toiletries to evacuation centers in northeast Japan.

6. The Yakuza responded to the tsunami catastrophe faster than the Japanese government did.

7. The Yakuza have put down roots in California where they have made alliances with Korean and Vietnamese gangs and furthered their traditional partnerships with the Chinese triads.

8. The Yakuza have a firm hand in the pornography industry in Japan.

9. The Yakuza have been represented in media and culture in many different fashions.

10. The Yakuza have been known to make large investments in legitimate, mainstream companies.

11. The Yakuza have ties to the Japanese realty market and banking, through jiageya.

12. The Yakuza are Japan's organized crime syndicates, like the triads in other parts of Asia or the mafia in the West.

13. The Yakuza made a sort of rich, romantic, transcultural film.

14. The Yakuza becomes reacquainted with Eiko's daughter, Hanako, who is delighted to see Kilmer again.

15. The Yakuza is a 1974 Japanese-American neo-noir gangster film directed by Sydney Pollack, written by Leonard Schrader, Paul Schrader, and Robert Towne.