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Ho-ly shit. Ok, so this is the latest in my series of blogs about moving to Japan. You can find the main part here, and the parts related to getting hit by a car here and here.
I just walked down to the convenience store by the nearby train station to pick up a beer to help me get to sleep gently. Walking past the bus stop connected to the station's parking area I ran into three Japanese gentlemen who were rather intoxicated. They said hi and introduced themselves in rudimentary English and I we had a short introduction in broken English on their part and broken Japanese on mine. They were three guys, a bigger one in a T shirt and nice trousers, a smaller one in similar clothing, and a third one with Japanese pop-star hair and a suit jacket over a T shirt. They seemed cheery and friendly enough that I was willing to have that conversation. The bigger guy took the opportunity to pull up the back of his T shirt to show me his tattoo. I don't know what it exactly was of, snakes on a tree and patterns I think. He showed me about a foot of his back and the tat stretched above and below the revealed area. I know enough about the Japanese mob to be scared at this point so I disengaged and went to the convenience store.
Coming back with the beer in the front pocket of my hoodie, the gents were still there. They said hi when I walked up and the big dude got in my way. This was mildly imposing, but I knew far better than to show fear in any way. They chatted with me in the barely intelligible mix of languages for a moment, and then the bigger dude started shaking me down for money. The guy with the jacket kept saying 'Japanese joke, Japanese joke' but I was pretty unable to get away. If I wanted to get out of there I would have had to run and I wanted to keep up a confident facade. I kept saying 'no money, no money' and I kept hearing 'money, money' and 'Japanese joke, Japanese joke'.
Whenever anyone passed coming from the station the conversation, such as it was, turned off, but I didn't want to just book it. There was a point where the tough threatened to smash me with a bike parked right behind the bus stop, lifting it up like a feather and swinging it gently back and forth towards me. I kept confident and kept laughing and talking until finally the tough guy was swept aside by the guy in the jacket. He asked if I wanted to go drink my beer at his place. I said I just wanted to drink it and go to bed. I'm not an idiot.
He broke me away from the trio, finally getting me away from the big dude who was stifling my progress, and walked me down the block telling me to go home. I told him I'd go home and we separated. As soon as I was out of sight of them, about a hundred meters away, I ran like crazy. The path to my apartment is a bit twisty so I looked back at every corner and made sure to evade any dudes chasing me, which they weren't as far as I can tell.
I'm now home safe. This was a pretty crazy ordeal. I've got some luck, eh? Hope you all have enjoyed the latest installment of my exceedingly eventful blog about Japan.
(If you know me personally, don't tell anyone I know about this unless you contact me. I don't want to scare folks close to me, especially after the hit by a car incident.)
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Holy shit man, you have the worst luck. This must mean something of an unseen awesome will happen to you in the near future.
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Wow i really really hope they didn't follow you home....
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Really impressive reaction, I've been in that situation before and it's especially daunting in a foreign country. At least it's a story, eh? 
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I've had a yakuza incident too! When I lived in Tokyo I saw a taxi driver cut into the path of another car and scratch it or something. Turns out the car belonged to someone very important as a younger guy in a suite came out, forced the elderly cab driver to repeatedly bow and apologize to some woman in the car.
Anyway... enjoy your time in Japan! I miss that country so much and I want to visit so baaad. Thankfully I think I'm taking leave around Christmas to go back for a week :D
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I thought the yakuza were more 'high-class' gangsters? This sounds more like street thugs. I have to say I'm surprised that it happened in Japan as I thought it was a pretty safe country.
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On October 05 2010 00:11 tomatriedes wrote:
I thought the yakuza were more 'high-class' gangsters? This sounds more like street thugs. I have to say I'm surprised that it happened in Japan as I thought it was a pretty safe country.
even the most high class of organizations like that have their lower thug like members
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On October 05 2010 00:11 tomatriedes wrote:
I thought the yakuza were more 'high-class' gangsters? This sounds more like street thugs. I have to say I'm surprised that it happened in Japan as I thought it was a pretty safe country.
Just like what you would expect in say... the mafia, while the higher ups might be super classy, the 'lower' street thugs are still just thugs.
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So you knew they were mobsters by that tattoo? I missed that part.
Crazy story though, I'd stay away from that alley... Or make friends with them.
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I'm pretty sure it was a joke. They saw you had beer and wanted to have fun and being the rebellious teens that they are, they make the joke of asking you for money yeah its weird but kinda make sense to me :/
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On October 04 2010 23:37 AnodyneSea wrote:
Wow i really really hope they didn't follow you home....
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they didn't. When I got home I turned out my lights and kept all noise off in my apartment just to be sure. I figure it was just a drunk thug trying to make a few bucks and his low level manager getting me away from him. Still, it was scary as fuck.
On October 05 2010 00:11 tomatriedes wrote:
I thought the yakuza were more 'high-class' gangsters? This sounds more like street thugs. I have to say I'm surprised that it happened in Japan as I thought it was a pretty safe country.
Everyone knows Japan to be a safe country. I'm having a pretty insane experience here so far.
I don't think they were street thugs. The tats are a pretty big deal here. They're gaining some casual acceptance among young people, but they're still pretty taboo. Big tattoos like that leave absolutely no doubt in my mind. They just seemed like low level dudes headed home drunk looking for a quick buck.
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Man... you just can't get a break. I've got your blogs bookmarked, I love 'em... But dude, on the other hand I want them to stop, you've had one shitstorm after another. I think it's time for you to win a huge lottery or something.
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On October 05 2010 00:15 GreEny K wrote:
So you knew they were mobsters by that tattoo? I missed that part.
Crazy story though, I'd stay away from that alley... Or make friends with them.
Yukaza usually have tats on them but I'm surprised some one on the street can be so careless in demonstrating his status, Like I said it was probably just some punk gangster wannabe.
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United States4126 Posts
Good thing there was one sensible guy in the group! Lucky you.
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On October 05 2010 00:16 haduken wrote:Show nested quote +On October 05 2010 00:15 GreEny K wrote:
So you knew they were mobsters by that tattoo? I missed that part.
Crazy story though, I'd stay away from that alley... Or make friends with them. Yukaza usually have tats on them but I'm surprised some one on the street can be so careless in demonstrating his status, Like I said it was probably just some punk gangster wannabe.
I don't think so. This tat was enormous and tats are considered really bad here. If he were just a casual young criminal he would be throwing away most chances at a normal career and possibly risking himself with the real mob. I've only been here for a short time, a chunk of which I spent in the hospital, but that's what I've heard about tattoos here. If anyone is more experienced here and thinks he was just some thug kid then I certainly would defer to more knowledgeable judgment.
EDIT: Also, I wouldn't consider myself unlucky. I think I've been extremely lucky. Given my crises, things could be waaaaaay worse. I could have easily been killed by the car or actually mugged in this latest situation.
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On October 05 2010 00:23 thopol wrote:Show nested quote +On October 05 2010 00:16 haduken wrote:On October 05 2010 00:15 GreEny K wrote:
So you knew they were mobsters by that tattoo? I missed that part.
Crazy story though, I'd stay away from that alley... Or make friends with them. Yukaza usually have tats on them but I'm surprised some one on the street can be so careless in demonstrating his status, Like I said it was probably just some punk gangster wannabe. I don't think so. This tat was enormous and tats are considered really bad here. If he were just a casual young criminal he would be throwing away most chances at a normal career and possibly risking himself with the real mob. I've only been here for a short time, a chunk of which I spent in the hospital, but that's what I've heard about tattoos here. If anyone is more experienced here and thinks he was just some thug kid then I certainly would defer to more knowledgeable judgment.
Yeah tattoos are super related to gang activity. A lot of public facilities (probably the wrong word) such as onsens and gyms won't let you in if you have visible tattoos.
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I've had a few run ins with them. Don't know if anyone's ever been to the geon matsuri in Kyoto (mid July) but there's usually a big crowd of Yakuza there.
My best instance with one them was with my buddy (he was drunk)
my buddy: yo man are you really yakuza
yakuza guy (he looks around for a sec): I drive a lexus.
He then walks off
Although there's a much bigger yakuza influence than you might think - almost all of the gambling goes down with yakuza (sumo wrestlers eg) and a lot of the brothels (they are somewhat legal) are run by them.
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It seems more like a "near miss" than a "run in" unless you really had beer with him, but ... wow really lucky that the guy in jacket helped you. You have some skills playing along with them.
I saw a movie where the chief of police and politician attended a public, TV broadcasted funeral ceremony of some yakuza head. If that really happens in real life, it really speaks a lot about the yakuza.
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What a story. Damn I hope they didn't follow you to your house.
I can't believe I missed your series of blogs though. I had quite some fun reading them during my boring lecture this morning, so thank you.
I am also highly interested in visiting Japan myself so I may have some questions for you in the future!
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edit: this is a fake story, because yakuzas dont talk/interact with strangers like that.
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On October 05 2010 01:27 youlijp wrote:
fake..
Why in the hell would this story be fake? Because it occured in a country which happens to make a lot of cartoons and video games?
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yakuza is a very interesting organization, from what i understand. i did alot of reading up on them because i was interested (due to samurai champloo). however, all this reading was done on the internet, so feel free to point out wrongness in the next paragraph
as i understand it, they belong to a lower caste of japanese society dating from the edo period, and are considered to be below the average laborer in social status. the Tatoos are rather expensive and painful, and take years to complete. I believe that the government treats them much like another government would treat a labor union. I dont think they're really in the business of assassinations and the like; that seems to be a hollywood fabrication.
what really interests me is what i read to be the punishment for mistakes. they would take a knuckle off your lowest finger on your non-dominant hand. the reason was that your sword grip relies on leverage, and so the less pinky you have on your left hand, the less strong your sword grip. it was to encourage reliance on the yakuza instead of brash individual action. this punishment was also exacted on people for the actions of their subordinates.
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man, that sounds scary, hope you're allright!
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Japan is such a civilized country, even mob is civilized. Imagine that in any others country, I dont think you can get away without losing some money.
As you said, you are very lucky!
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crazy stuff man, least you got outta there
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good instincts, and good read ;D
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I don't understand how you know it was yakuza? Just because you seen a bit of a tattoo?
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On October 05 2010 00:11 tomatriedes wrote:
I thought the yakuza were more 'high-class' gangsters? This sounds more like street thugs. I have to say I'm surprised that it happened in Japan as I thought it was a pretty safe country.
Yakuza is a system.
There are street thugs who may work for the Yakuza.
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AFAIK, yakuza members rarely interact with the general populace, so what you ran into were probably thugs potentially associated with yakuzas, but not actual members. Or they were just trying to have a little fun with a foreigner.
Scary stuff nonetheless, especially if you are still on full alert everywhere you go due to the cultural shock.
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Too bad you can't have a gun there.
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On October 05 2010 12:08 dogabutila wrote:
Too bad you can't have a gun there.
if you could have a gun, they would've had three.... or more. and they would've pulled it on him first.
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
On October 05 2010 03:16 Cambium wrote:
AFAIK, yakuza members rarely interact with the general populace, so what you ran into were probably thugs potentially associated with yakuzas, but not actual members. Or they were just trying to have a little fun with a foreigner.
Scary stuff nonetheless, especially if you are still on full alert everywhere you go due to the cultural shock.
I agree with this, also you need to look out for the area you are in, for them to shake you down for some cash, they must be low level and you must be in the ghetto area, but yeah, them having fun with you is probably the case, otherwise if they really wanted to take your money, they would have, but even highschool students could give you a hard time if they catch you alone and you're living in the ghetto.
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Korea (South)1897 Posts
Dude I just read your blog;
you should leave Japan and come to Korea and teach English;
I hope you recover and if you are in a rural area, it makes sense why some thugs wanted to rough you up, I dont' think that would ever happen in Tokyo.
But i hope you fully recover from the car accident and stuff.
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I just would've said, "ittekimasu!" and bailed. But then again, because of my muscle size, no one really messes with me, except one time this kid tried to prove himself in front of his buddies and it didn't end well =/
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On October 05 2010 12:52 29 fps wrote:Show nested quote +On October 05 2010 12:08 dogabutila wrote:
Too bad you can't have a gun there. if you could have a gun, they would've had three.... or more. and they would've pulled it on him first.
Every time somebody tries to rob you they have a gun right? And are waving it around?
Fun fact: The higher the number of robbers, the less likely any of them has a weapon.
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On October 05 2010 14:08 dogabutila wrote:Show nested quote +On October 05 2010 12:52 29 fps wrote:On October 05 2010 12:08 dogabutila wrote:
Too bad you can't have a gun there. if you could have a gun, they would've had three.... or more. and they would've pulled it on him first. Every time somebody tries to rob you they have a gun right? And are waving it around? Fun fact: The higher the number of robbers, the less likely any of them has a weapon.
it's the yakuza, not just random folks trying to rob him. the japanese mob is quite rich, so i bet these yakuza members would've had guns if guns were legal. no?
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The same statistics hold even for gang related activity. Street level thugs do not necessarily have guns. In a criminal structure, most of the money is at the top end. Most of the money is also made in rackets, gambling, prostitution, protection, extortion etc. Very little is made in actual straight out robbery. The lower level // street level thugs are the ones who might actually be involved in the day to day actions, collecting money running the operations, but actually see very little of it themselves. They generally do not carry weapons because the operations run smoothly because of the implied violence. "If you don't do as you are told, then the real bad men will come and FSU...."
So even though they are doing most of the work, they still are 1) not rich. and 2) not armed. If they were rich, why would they be shaking you down for money? The upper levels arn't concerned with the day-to-day activities of their street gang so long as the cash keeps flowing right and the cops don't come knocking. This works in your favor later on.
You need to understand the psychology behind robbery. The priorities for them are threefold. 1) They want your stuff. 2) They do not want to get caught. 3) They do not want to get hurt.
I dont feel like writing a dissertation, but it boils down to the fact that the threat they have is what makes you give up your 'stuff'. It is harder for 1 person to project enough of a threat to make you want to give up your stuff, as well as keeping you from running away without using a weapon.
This changes as more people accost you. By the time you hit three, there is no need for weapons. They have enough implied violence to get you to give up what you want, to keep you from running, and to keep a lookout. (it also helps if you avoid isolated areas obviously...). In these situations, a weapon actually works against them. At a glance, a weapon makes it obvious something bad is going on. It also makes it impossible to say "oh we were just messing around". That defense is also actually the most popular, as well as most successful to a police officer. It's impossible to determine if they were really actually kidding or not, unless they actually start to batter you.
This ties in to the upper levels not wanting police attention. Armed robberies are obviously more serious then strong arm robberies. The public tends to put more attention on armed robberies (they make for better stories etc.), and as such the police put more attention on armed robberies. Since they are wanting your money, but also do not want potential police attention, they will do everything to mitigate the possibility of police coming to call on the uppers. This is why multiple subject robberies tend not to involve weapons.
The best (safest), thing to do is to just swallow your pride, give them your money, and be on your way. If they keep you detained after you give up your money, be ready to fight for your life. The longer you prolong the contact, the more likely they get antsy (they don't want to get caught remember?) and start actual physical violence designed to get you to part with your money. If for some reason you have no money or they do not believe you or you didn't give them enough, then the best thing to do is to be alert, be confident, and be armed (and trained).
and shit, it turned into an essay anyways.
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Osaka27172 Posts
Give me a shout if you need to talk one of these days. Seems like you have had a bit of a rough transition.
I'll be in Hiroshima two weekends from now, but I'll be biking the Shimanami Kaido between Onomichi and Imabari in Ehime. That isn't really in your neck of the woods unless you go out of your way by a lot, but if you have nothing else to do and fancy a train trip, I could meet you in Imabari Sunday night and buy you all the beer you can drink. (I'm assuming you have to work Monday though  )
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Wow you're nice Mani. 'Buy you all the beer you can drink'. You're a classy guy
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Osaka27172 Posts
It would be an epic trip for him to make it, and he probably has to work anyway. Imabari is just a lot closer than Osaka is, that is all. I'll be drinking anyway
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Thanks a lot Mani. We'll see what happens. I'm sure we'll meet up sometime regardless.
To respond to some random comments:
I'm pretty sure these guys were actually affiliated with the mob. They were probably low level dudes on their way home from the pub, but the size of the tat that I saw and the way those things are seen here was convincing, at least to me. Also the tough guy was spectacularly beefy. At one point he lifted me off the ground like I was a house cat and shook me to listen for change. Fortunately the beer in the front pocket of my hoodie made noise in the plastic bag it was in and he didn't hear my wallet. He did try to take the beer, but not very hard.
Another random detail while I'm at it: It was probably really dumb of me, but the guy kept prefacing his 'money money' requests with 'you're my friend' and a grin, so sometimes after the friend part I said 'okane okane,' just joking around. I really think that the key to my success was not acting scared and keeping up the image of just kidding around with the guys.
Towards the start of the second meeting with them, the tough guy did put his hand in his pocket with fingers extended, shaped like a gun and pretended he had one. It was not convincing, especially considering the gun laws and where we were standing and I'm pretty sure he was just messing around.
On the issue of tattoos, they're extremely taboo here. Recently, especially among younger people, there has been some acceptance, but like madnessman mentioned, they still will bar you from gyms and onsens. They are also just socially unacceptable and will garner you dirty looks and bad impressions from lots of people. This tat was enormous, covering more than the large portion of back that I saw and more. I had never seen anything like that in this country before, and what I gather is that it's a dead giveaway.
I don't live in a ghetto area at all, at least I don't think so. It's a pretty nice little neighborhood outside central Hiroshima City. We were also standing at a lit bus stop just meters from a train station. I agree that they were probably not legitimately trying to mug me and were just fucking around, but I certainly think they were Yakuza. Like I said, probably a few affiliated guys on the way home from the pub.
I was scared as hell last night, but I know I got a good story out of it. Thanks for all of the supportive responses.
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Glad to hear you're ok, but as I might be thinking of living in Japan myself sometime in the future, this kind of scares me. I mean, I know nothing did infact happen to you, but still as you say, it seemed like things could have escalated if you didn't play it right.
Is there anybody else who is living or have visited japan and experienced anything like this? Is this perhaps something to be more wary of in some particular places in Japan?
The last time I visited Japan I went home a couple of nights/early mornings in Tokyo and Osaka all alone, and I can't really say I felt any different than walking home from the town where I live.
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On October 06 2010 00:51 VarmVaffel wrote:
Glad to hear you're ok, but as I might be thinking of living in Japan myself sometime in the future, this kind of scares me. I mean, I know nothing did infact happen to you, but still as you say, it seemed like things could have escalated if you didn't play it right.
Is there anybody else who is living or have visited japan and experienced anything like this? Is this perhaps something to be more wary of in some particular places in Japan?
The last time I visited Japan I went home a couple of nights/early mornings in Tokyo and Osaka all alone, and I can't really say I felt any different than walking home from the town where I live.
Japan is a very safe country. Nobody will tell you otherwise. I'm just leading a very exciting life since I got here. You generally won't be hit by a car, and as a foreigner you should probably have no contact with the mob.
If you have any questions about moving to Japan, just PM me. I can give you some advice regarding whatever. I won't pretend to know stuff I don't know about, though I will be able to find out information about things that I don't have firsthand experience with.
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On October 06 2010 01:01 thopol wrote:Show nested quote +On October 06 2010 00:51 VarmVaffel wrote:
Glad to hear you're ok, but as I might be thinking of living in Japan myself sometime in the future, this kind of scares me. I mean, I know nothing did infact happen to you, but still as you say, it seemed like things could have escalated if you didn't play it right.
Is there anybody else who is living or have visited japan and experienced anything like this? Is this perhaps something to be more wary of in some particular places in Japan?
The last time I visited Japan I went home a couple of nights/early mornings in Tokyo and Osaka all alone, and I can't really say I felt any different than walking home from the town where I live. Japan is a very safe country. Nobody will tell you otherwise. I'm just leading a very exciting life since I got here. You generally won't be hit by a car, and as a foreigner you should probably have no contact with the mob. If you have any questions about moving to Japan, just PM me. I can give you some advice regarding whatever. I won't pretend to know stuff I don't know about, though I will be able to find out information about things that I don't have firsthand experience with.
Alright, didn't really have the impression of anything else, but then again, I haven't been there a long time.
I am planning on spending a prolonged time there, but most certanly not before I graduate next year, and probably not within a couple of years after that either. Nevertheless, thanks for your offer!
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Nice dodge! You microed your way out of there better than I probably would've.
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On October 05 2010 01:34 gods_basement wrote:
I dont think they're really in the business of assassinations and the like; that seems to be a hollywood fabrication.
Forgive me for quoting a somewhat old post, but I felt this is something I had to correct.
The Yakuza, while more open than other mob organizations, is still a mafia, and thus engages in things like:
Assassinations (Bank managers, typical important people)
Sex trafficking (Tricking girls from impoverished countries/situations into coming to Japan, where they're forced into the sex trade. Buying unwanted girls from China.)
Blackmail/Extortion: (Threatening to reveal a company's dirty secret at a stockholder's meeting.)
The list goes on, but you get the idea. The quote above is what they would like you to believe no doubt. I'm not entirely sure of the level of acceptance they have in Japan, but I'm quite disgusted that they're able to operate out in the open like that. Perhaps it has a lot to do with fear and "implied passive aggression".
I'm glad you managed to get out of there alright, and managed to keep your cool. I hope I'd be able to keep the same level of composure in a similar situation. I had planned to live in Japan sometime in the future, so this worries somewhat.
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Most of japan is very pleasant. Just as long as you remember to get on the womans car in the metro if you are a woman. Unless you don't mind being felt up.
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I've been following your Japan blogs since the beginning - great stuff. Definitely sounds like a sketchy situation to be in, you were brave to shake it off and pretend it was a joke. Be careful, is Hiroshima really all that safe for foreigners anyways? Heard some weird things about it before.
Keep writing, your stories are fresh.
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Nice dodge. I would have just feigned the Tourist position, pretended to not understand then smile and kept walking. Honestly though.. . . Japan is a safe country and all but you really shouldnt have random conversations with drunk youths by bus stands at odd hours of the night. . . . .
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On October 06 2010 11:29 dogabutila wrote:
Most of japan is very pleasant. Just as long as you remember to get on the womans car in the metro if you are a woman. Unless you don't mind being felt up.
you'll get felt up everywhere in japan (as an attractive woman, or at least have a nice ass)
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My friend only told me about the trains.
Then again she's only 20 and looks even younger then that.
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