Japan’s largest yakuza family launches own website amid falling membership - Polidicks

[QUOTE]The Yamaguchi-gumi, the biggest yakuza group in Japan, has launched its own website with a welcoming song and an anti-drug message. The PR campaign comes amid the mafia’s weakening public image, falling membership, and police crackdown. At first glance of the [URL="http://zenkokumayakubokumetsudoumei.com/index.html"]website[/URL], which welcomes visitors with a sign reading [I]"Banish Drugs and Purify the Nation League,"[/I] one would not think that it represents a criminal organization. However, the site was created by members of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest mafia group, which is involved in activities ranging from prostitution to extortion and white-collar crime. At the top of the homepage is a video depicting a pilgrimage to a shrine by top echelon members, including its head Shinobu Tsukasa. The footage is accompanied by a folk-style theme song, called Ninkyo Hitosuji, which celebrates manhood and the life of a yakuza member. The ideal of this manhood has been glorified in various Japanese Ninkyo eiga, or ‘Chivalry films,’ dedicated to an image of a noble yakuza. [video=youtube;bs3nhxAP9Zo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs3nhxAP9Zo[/video] The webpage also has sections that offer glimpses into the everyday life of the group – a video showing its members pounding sticky rice for a New Year festival and photos of the emergency relief provided by Yamaguchi-gumi after the Kobe earthquake in 1993 and after the Tohoku earthquake in 2011. Experts say the group has created the site in an effort to revamp its image of “anti-social forces,” as it was branded by the police, and emerge instead as a humanitarian organization. [I]"By presenting an anti-drugs theme, it shows concern for social welfare [and] it shows pictures of the group doing emergency relief after the [Fukushima] and Kobe earthquakes,"[/I] said Jake Adelstein, a journalist and author who has written extensively on organized crime in Japan. [I]"The yakuza motto is 'help the weak and fight the strong.' In practice, it's usually the reverse."[/I] Others consider that the organization established the website as a reminder of its roots. The anti-drug campaign was first launched in 1963 by former oyabun (“father figure”) of Yamaguchi-gumi Kazuo Taoka who reportedly had strong opinion about drug use, according to Mai-nichi newspaper. The campaign was “dedicated to the eradication of amphetamine abuse.” Amphetamine-based stimulants came onto the Japanese market in 1931 and were applied to everything from fighting low blood pressure to motivating kamikaze pilots. At the end of WWII, the drugs were popular in combating fatigue and hunger. Meth addicts were hard to control as they committed a number of horrifying crimes. Mai-nichi explained Taoka’s firm stance against drugs by saying that [I]"after the war, many of [Yamaguchi-gumi] members began taking narcotics and about ten of [Taoka] top lieutenants became narcotic addicts.”[/I] The current oyabun, Tsukasa Shinobu, reportedly shares the views of his predecessor. Thus, the site may have been launched to remind Yamaguchi-gumi members to behave themselves. Drug use among the yakuza is frowned upon, and is considered to be a far worse crime than prostitution, gambling, or blackmailing. The group believes that using illegal drugs [I]“creates a weak country”[/I] and goes against the characteristics of a noble yakuza. The Japanese yakuza is considered one of the most feared criminal syndicates in the world, as well as the richest one. Members do not shy away from the public and have office buildings, business cards, and even fan magazines. From 1992 to 2010, the number of yakuza members and associates remained steady at roughly 80,000, according to the National Police Agency. However, as a result of security crackdowns and the tightening of laws, the criminal syndicate has fallen in numbers. The number of members fell to an all-time low in 2013, slipping below the 60,000-member mark for the first time on record, police said. The Yamaguchi-gumi, based in the city of Kobe in western, Japan took a hit last year. It has for decades been the largest syndicate, but according to Japan's police agency, it lost 2,000 members from the previous year, with 25,700 gangsters on staff in 2013. Police said they suspect the site may signal that the group is expanding its operations.[/QUOTE] [URL]http://rt.com/news/japan-yakuza-launch-website-953/[/URL]

Who would of thought that it doesn't look great to be part of a group which partakes in various illegal activities :O

I didnt realise we were back in the 90's.. Who has visitor counters on their sites anymore!?!

So will they pack their bags and relocate to stillwater?

This shit is bananas. It would be like a Mexican drug cartel buying a banner ad saying "Join the family! Click here!"

will they except filthy gaijins

[QUOTE=Richy19;44432996]I didnt realise we were back in the 90's.. Who has visitor counters on their sites anymore!?![/QUOTE] Actually...I think it's a pretty cool original idea. Well obviously not so original now, but I sometimes find it interesting to see how popular a page is. It would be cool if Facepunch started this and had counters for 'All time', 'This year', 'This Month', 'Today'

When are they going to Liberty City?

[QUOTE=Jetpack Bear;44433322]will they except filthy gaijins[/QUOTE] Doubt it.

[QUOTE=Jetpack Bear;44433322]will they except filthy gaijins[/QUOTE] Well if Japanese society doesn't like you than I could see that.

[QUOTE=Popularvote;44433317]This shit is bananas. It would be like a Mexican drug cartel buying a banner ad saying "Join the family! Click here!"[/QUOTE] The Yakuza are a [i]little bit[/i] better than a mexican drug cartel in terms of public opinion but that's mainly because instead of making the community live with them by force they walk the thin line the regular authorities won't do and people don't want them gone because they are doing various jobs better.

[QUOTE=Psychokitten;44433586]Doubt it.[/QUOTE] a huge amount of yakuza are actually koreans so maybe?

I like the translated bottom message. [QUOTE=website]We are a complete amateur in regard homepage. I think whether there is also a part somewhat unsightly. Please forgive. Come and have a point of notice something please e-mail . For inexperienced, it may take some time to reply.. Please forgive.[/QUOTE]

I'm convinced. How do I sign up?

[QUOTE=Jetpack Bear;44433322]will they except filthy gaijins[/QUOTE] If you're going to make a terrible joke, at least use the correct version of [I]accept.[/I]

[QUOTE=Richy19;44432996]I didnt realise we were back in the 90's.. Who has visitor counters on their sites anymore!?![/QUOTE] Don't forget the tacky clipart! :P

[QUOTE=assassin_Raptor;44435933]I like the translated bottom message.[/QUOTE] That's adorable. Sort of.

it looks like a vaporwave blog

Where do these people come from? I guess it's Obama's fault for something involving the Yakuza I don't know [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/cdTFjri.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Richy19;44432996]I didnt realise we were back in the 90's.. Who has visitor counters on their sites anymore!?![/QUOTE]Well they need to keep track of how many hits they've gotten.

[img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/irishcharliem/Collage.jpg[/img] These guys would like to have a conversation with the Yakuza about who the real hardasses are.

Fuck dude I'd join the Yakuza SO fast

[video=youtube;lR8uc7TlV7A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR8uc7TlV7A[/video] Real tough people don't try to act tough until they need to. [editline]2nd April 2014[/editline] So this really the Yakuza?

[QUOTE=SnakeHead;44436344][img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/irishcharliem/Collage.jpg[/img] These guys would like to have a conversation with the Yakuza about who the real hardasses are.[/QUOTE] You own a fedora or trilby I know it

[QUOTE=SnakeHead;44436344][img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/irishcharliem/Collage.jpg[/img] These guys would like to have a conversation with the Yakuza about who the real hardasses are.[/QUOTE] Too bad they all got caught.

[QUOTE=Andokool12;44436288]it looks like a vaporwave blog[/QUOTE] not quite internet 1.0 enough

They certainly have a beautiful sense of style from those pictures. Too bad it's all linked to murder, drugs, and crime. Quite the duality there.

i mean, look at the font, way too modern

Will I get to meet Kiryu if I join?

[QUOTE=SnakeHead;44436344][img]http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/irishcharliem/Collage.jpg[/img] These guys would like to have a conversation with the Yakuza about who the real hardasses are.[/QUOTE] What are you doing?