Becoming a yakuza is a very real option for disaffected Japanese youths. Joining is easy, and sometimes so is leaving. But after that, then what?
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00:00Few crime syndicates have captured the imagination like the Yakuza.
00:04Maybe it's the fascination with their elaborate, full-body tattoos or morbid curiosity about
00:09all the severed fingers.
00:10It's mysterious, secretive, and utterly ruthless, with a fearsome reputation around the world."
00:16Joining is easy, and sometimes, so is leaving.
00:19But after that, then what?
00:20The first step to starting a post-Yakuza life is leaving the organization.
00:25Details about separating from the group are scarce and anecdotal.
00:28Most former Yakuza aren't willing to speak about that life.
00:31"...like the mafia, the Yakuza insist on a ruthless code of silence.
00:36Any transgressions and the sentence is immediate death."
00:39But in a rare interview given to Insider, former Wakagashira, or second-in-command,
00:44Shinya Yuyuma, revealed that there are as many ways to leave the Yakuza as there are
00:48members.
00:49Each Yakuza cell operates under its own boss, despite the umbrella term, Yakuza, and leaving
00:54depends on the boss' preference.
00:56Yuyuma claims he had a good relationship with his boss.
00:59Even so, he won't say exactly what he had to do to leave, which is telling.
01:03"...What's it like to be a Yakuza?
01:05I could write about that."
01:06"...Yes, but then I'd have to kill you."
01:08We can clarify one misconception, though.
01:11It's somewhat common knowledge that Yakuza members can be identified by their missing
01:14pinkies.
01:16It's true that members who've broken rules or angered their superiors engage in ritual
01:20amputation called yuritsumi, or apology.
01:23Afterwards, the severed digit is given to one's boss, who might bury it, freeze it,
01:28enshrine it, or whatever else they can think of.
01:30But this doesn't happen as payment for leaving the Yakuza.
01:33"...It's not an easy thing to do.
01:35But it intimidates people."
01:37In fact, Yuyuma told Insider that it's more common for people to leave the Yakuza by vanishing
01:42rather than by asking to leave.
01:44But one's former gang associates aren't the only problems faced by an ex-Yakuza.
01:49People with ties to criminal organizations have severely restricted options in Japan.
01:53They can't open a bank account, get a loan, sign a rental agreement, and more.
01:58In many ways, members of the Yakuza are marked for life.
02:01The Asahi Shimbun quotes an unnamed former member who said,
02:05"...I was concerned whether someone like me, who has been a member of a gang for a long
02:09time, could really live a normal society."
02:11For him, leaving and starting a new life was especially difficult because he'd risen in
02:15rank and made a name for himself, owed favors to people, developed relationships, and all
02:20that goes with that.
02:22Upon leaving, he tried to change everything about himself, down to his accent, word choice,
02:27gait, mannerisms, and more.
02:29Still, some neighbors know who he used to be.
02:32"...There are a lot of establishments that won't let Yakuza in.
02:36Public baths, golf courses, some restaurants."
02:40Some former Yakuza live more openly.
02:42For example, while he was in prison, Yoshitomo Morihashi studied law and even passed the
02:47bar exam.
02:48Ryuichi Komura, who dropped out in junior high school, took advantage of eight years
02:52in prison to study and pass a judicial scrivener exam.
02:56Tatsuyu Shindo, meanwhile, went to seminary and became a priest.
03:00Then there's Magomi Hashimoto, who got into politics.
03:03As a fourth-generation Zainichi, descended from ethnically Korean people who were often
03:08marginalized in Japan, Hashimoto got roped into the Yakuza at a young age through his
03:12mother.
03:13On and on it goes, and each situation is as unique as the last.
03:17Out of all the challenges a former Yakuza faces, you might think their massive tattoos
03:21are low on the list, but not in Japan.
03:23A Japanese person with tattoos, especially on the arms or torso, is immediately identified
03:29as Yakuza.
03:30They're marked as a person who wants to intimidate others.
03:33The tattoos are a major impediment to finding work.
03:36After leaving the organization, Shinya had his tattoos removed from the wrists to halfway
03:40up his forearms so they wouldn't be visible, even in a long-sleeved shirt or business suit.
03:45That being said, not all Yakuza have tattoos, but the longer someone is in the group, the
03:50more likely they are to have ink.
03:52Speaking with Vice, traditional tattoo artist Horiyoshi III, who was tattooing a Yakuza
03:56member during the interview, said he never works on the face or hands, explaining,
04:01"...beauty is in what you can't see."
04:03Each of his designs is a personalized story full of symbolic items like koi, which swim
04:08upstream and represent overcoming adversity.
04:11But no matter how personal, those stories need to be covered or erased if a former Yakuza
04:16really wants to integrate into law-abiding society after leaving the organization.