As Japan's yakuza mob weakens, former gangsters struggle to find a role outside crime
KITAKYUSHU, Japan — Noodle chef Takashi Nakamoto moves so deftly as he boils, strains and arranges his signature plates of udon that it's easy to overlook the brutal reminder of his former life: his missing left pinkie.
Over three decades, Nakamoto rose through the ranks of the Kudo-kai, a violent syndicate of the once-powerful yakuza, a Japanese criminal network whose membership has been chipped away by more-aggressive law enforcement.
That effort has also led to a greater number of defectors like Nakamoto, who are trying to reinvent themselves after a life within the family-like hierarchies of the yakuza, ruled by a strict code of loyalty. Members are often conspicuous, with full-body tattoos and pinkies amputated by the mob as punishment for wrongdoing.
For years, the yakuza operated somewhat openly. It was monitored by police with the understanding that the yakuza would take care of petty crime on its turf and leave ordinary citizens alone. But now, Japanese authorities are applying more pressure as the yakuza’s power begins to erode.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japan-yakuza-crime-gangsters/2021/10/17/556a255c-2b0a-11ec-baf4-d7a4e075eb90_story.html
