ABSTRACT

For decades Japanese criminal syndicates, collectively known as the yakuza, enjoyed a highly visible and semi-legal status that positioned them in a grey area. Accordingly, also much of the yakuza’s business lies in a grey zone: night-entertainment, different forms of gambling, front companies and (fake) social movements. However, following the introduction of new stricter regulations, the yakuza are struggling to keep operating in the legal and semi-legal areas of their business, and have been pushed to explore new modi operandi, using (semi)legal actors and loopholes. Based on fieldwork conducted in Japan with current and ex-yakuza members, this paper analyses the yakuza’s response to the reduced opportunities to engage in legal activities. It is argued that this determined an increased involvement with predatory crimes for low-ranking members, while the decreased power in controlling markets allowed for the emergence of novel forms of crime.

摘要

几十年来，日本犯罪集团（俗称“黑药座”）享有很高的知名度和半法律地位，将他们置于灰色地带。因此，雅库扎的许多业务也位于灰色地带：夜间娱乐，不同形式的赌博，前台公司和（假）社交活动。但是，随着引入新的更严格的规定，雅库扎正努力在其业务的法律和半法律领域中保持经营，并被迫探索新的经营方式。，使用（半）合法行为者和漏洞。基于在日本与现任和前任yakuza成员进行的实地调查，本文分析了yakuza对减少从事法律活动的机会的反应。有人认为，这决定了低级成员对掠夺性犯罪的参与增加，而控制市场的权力下降则导致了新型犯罪形式的出现。