Who Is Yakuza Better Than Mafia

Organized crime; is a group of individuals that work together to illicit profit through illegal and sometimes often violent methods1 and two of the most famous groups are the Mafia and the Irish Mob. The two groups can be traced as far back as the 1800’s and had originally formed together for their financial gain to improve their lives and to protect themselves against the corrupt police officers. However over the years they have developed this infamous reputation tying both groups together, when there are substantial differences between the two. For instance one is based in the country of Sicily and the other was formed right here in the United States. Both groups have different origins, histories, systems and traditions thus making both

The word Yakuza itself means ‘eight- nine- three’, which was a losing hand in an old card game. However the Yakuza have changed and adapted from their origins as gamblers. The Yakuza symbolizes many different things: freedom, power, money, trouble. Some may even find the intricate underground world of the Yakuza exciting. To most though, the Yakuza is a powerful gang comparable to the American mafia.

Mafia – this word is well known all around the world, which for many people creates negative visions and associations from the first glance, like violence, contract kills, trafficking of illegal goods, gambling, prostitution and so on. Despite all of these stereotypes and associations, only very few people can tell what actually “Mafia“ means. It is an easy guess, where this word has its origins – without a doubt it came from Sicily. Originally, Mafia or Mafioso means aggressive boasting or bragging and has origins from Islamic Sicily times in 9th century A.D. Mafias are concerned to be organized criminal groups with broad network of connections all around the world, which usually are penetrated inside the state apparatus and thus their existence is dependent on the state. I would like to present and analyse one of the most famous mafia groups in the world – the Cosa Nostra. I would like to include the background of its establishment, provide explanation of the original structure of this organization, look inside its activities in Italy and United States of America distinguish its image in media and pop culture and reality and justify the stereotypes of Cosa Nostra.

Once a new member to the group has become comfortable with the gang, the individual will become accepting of the activities of gang life. This eventually leads them down the path to finding it difficult to give up the perks of the gang life. These small Asian street gangs sometimes take orders from a larger, more powerful, Asian crime groups who are usually organized (much like the Yakuza or Triads). These gangs that are controlled by a crime organization are usually connected to higher crimes like prostitution, gambling, drug smuggling, assassinations, murders, or

Often when people hear the word gang, they immediately think of drugs, guns, and violence. When in reality there has been an ongoing debate that gangs are not no different from a sorority or fraternity. To demonstrate, a gang is similar to a sorority or fraternity because the members are dedicated to sister-hood or brother-hood. Sorority and fraternity life started long ago on college campuses for the improvement of the college campus. Gangs started for equality on the street. Gains promoted violence while fraternities and sororities began occupying their spare time with doing community service. Both gangs and Greeks are dedicated to sister-hood and brother-hood. Gangs can be defined as positive or negative depending on the person’s beliefs. In this particular paper, I will be discussing more in depth of the different elements of a specific gang and their lifestyles.

In this paper it was asked of us as a team to give an in-depth historical analysis of an organized crime group. With this class being about organized crime one would think to write about mobsters, but we decided to think outside the box. Even though when thinking of organized crime the first thought is The Italian Mafia and groups of that sort, one has to remember that organized crime comes in many different forms of organizations. From this class we were able to understand more on organized crime and who can be classified as an organized crime organization. Organizations that one would never really think of as having ties to organized crime may have some

The Mafia Manager: A Guide to the Corporate Machiavelli stated that, “The best way to enter our business is to be born into it. Our principles are of the highest; honor, solidarity and vengeance. We know there’s no justice for us except we earn it. We earn respect.” In today’s time, there are more than 33,000 street gangs with 1.4 million members harboring in the United States as well as the number more than tripling for the entire world (all of them from different racial backgrounds). The origin of the different gang organizations dates back to the early 1600s (Chinese Triads). In the beginning, there were only four types of crime organizations making them the “predecessors” of the gang organizations in today’s society; “1. Secret Societies,

The Mafia is a clandestine organization formed by a group of criminals born in Sicily, who exercise their power through blackmail, violence and crime. They fight to obtain the absolute dominion on a thing, generally employing unlawful means. This organization of criminals tries to get control of their criminal activities in an area. In fact, there are data that support the connection of the mafia with drug trafficking networks. The Mafia originated in Italy, but it is widespread in the United States of America.

In Yojimbo, Akira Kurosawa satirizes Japanese greed and corruption and portrays the growing influence of capitalism. During this time in Japan, the Yakuza clan was a very strong and dangerous group equivalent to the modern day mafia. The Yakuza clans’ ideals are relatable to two themes prominent in Yojimbo: greed and corruption, and rising capitalist influence. Kurosawa satirizes these two characteristics of the Yakuza clan through the use of mise en scene.

Members who violate codes and attack innocents such as family members and children are viewed as thugs by high rank members of the Yakuza and are expelled from the organization sometimes (77). A high ranking official from inside the Yakuza has stated, “ The Yakuza have existed this long because the police have allowed us to exist and we have cooperated with them to some extent. Those days are gone, as we are being replaced internally and externally by thugs and gangs who make no pretense in having codes at all.” (Kaplan 78). Many old generation Yakuza members believe the Yakuza itself has become deluded when various criminals who do not follow these codes of conduct join the organization. The traditional Yakuza members believe it is the reason why the Japanese government went after Yakuza. (79).

When people think of organized crime they think of the Italian mob and the Russian mafia. They are the ones that they see in movies and on television, and the ones that they hear about the most. However, they were created a couple centuries after their Asian counterparts, the Yakuza in Japan, and the Triads in China. These Asian syndicates were founded in the sixteenth and seventeenth century and consisted of merchants and other people in what was basically the middle class. They were just groups of poorer people who were just looking for protection or were trying to help other people. The first organized crime syndicates were a kind of Robin Hood, they helped the poor. They weren’t big or powerful, and they didn’t have large numbers. The

They were seen as heros by town people for defending their towns which is why the Yakuza see themselves more like them. Gentleman bandits who do bad for the greater good, but even this group slowly gravitated to things like gambling and protection until the law passed by the Shogunate broke the hold of both groups on the towns people. It is not known exactly when the Yakuza started but some believe it was around the mid 1700’s. In a time still governed by the Shogun, the modern day Yakuza started with two groups: the Bakuto, or traditional gamblers, and the Tekiya, street peddlers. Although the Yakuza have branched out from these two categories, the police today, in Japan, still use these two words to classify the Yakuza members.

     Exactly what is the Mafia? Mafia, more specifically the Italian-American Mafia, is a group of criminals organized into "families," and operating primarily in North America. Also known as La Cosa Nostra, at one time there were 26 families in the United States - roughly one for each major city. The Mafia composed of bosses of numerous families, mostly New York, was the overseeing authority for all of the other La Cosa Nostra families. New York City is the place of origin for organized crime in the United States. Currently, there are five families in the New York City outfit of the La Cosa Nostra. The five families are, the Gambinos, Genovese, Colombo,

Talal Asad published Anthropological Conceptions of Religion: Reflections on Geertz in 1983. The article focuses on redefining Geertz concept of religion. More importantly, Asad explores the importance of power in religion. Talal's views were simple, Geertz formula was too simple to accommodate different cultures. With this in mind, Zande divination is a notion that explains unfortunate events. The concept of witchcraft supplies the missing link and inexplicable situations lead to rituals, revenge, and oracles. According to Asad (1983: 243), "It was not the mind that moved spontaneously to religious truth, but power that imposed the conditions for experiencing that truth." Agreeing with this, Zande does not profess to understand witchcraft,

The Mafia way of life may seem like a romantic updated version of the western movie played out on the streets of the big cities where the good guys and the wise guys who share the same instincts and values do battle before an enthralled public but it is actually very different. The Mafia is really just a group of uneducated thugs making money by victimizing the public. Initially, the Mafia was setup as a prominent supplier of bootlegged liquor, but it has spread into many different areas of crime. During this research paper I will discuss three aspects of the Mafia which are crime, structure and decline in leadership.