All language subtitles for Lords.of.the.Mafia.with.Robert.Stack.S01E04.Japanese.Yakuza.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

They evolved
from a noble race of warriors,

but have earned a darkened
terrible reputation

during the past 400 years.

Manipulators of governments
and massive amounts of money,

they can be powerful allies
but fearsome opponents.

Described by some as nothing
better than bullying,

drug trafficking,
flesh peddlers,

they are the organized crime
wave of terror from Japan.

They are, Yakuza.

The six sacred oaths
that bind together

one of the most sinister
and vicious crime networks

on the planet, the
Japanese Yakuza.

The ancient Japanese crime
syndicate known as the Yakuza,

has evolved into a global
criminal organization

that is not only involved
in the most evil of crimes,

but also operates massive
legitimate businesses.

Investigators have attempted
to penetrate the Yakuza

and became lost in
a bewildering maze,

an underworld where
truth and myth flick you

in the half flight of
traditions born centuries ago,

during the age of the Samurai.

Like many other
ethnic crime gangs,

the Yakuza can trace
its roots back hundreds

may be thousands of years.

Modern records trace their
origins back to as early as 1612

when people form groups
known as Kabukimono,

or the crazy ones.

These people were originally
called, hatamoto yakko,

literally, servants
of the Shogun.

The groups comprised
nearly 500,000 Samurai

that were forced into
unemployment in a time of peace

during the Tokugawa era,
forcing them to become Ronin

or masterless Samurai.

Many had turned into
bandits, looting towns

and villages as they
wandered throughout Japan.

Yet these fallen Ronin
cannot truly be seen

as the forebears of the Yakuza.

Instead, the Yakuza
consider their ancestors

to be the Machiako, or
servants of the town.

These people took up arms
and defended the villages

from the hatamoto yakko,
the shogun servants.

They were simple clerks,
shopkeepers, innkeepers,

laborers, homeless
warriors and other Ronin.

Everyone who was part of the
Machiako was an adept gambler,

which helped them develop
a close-knit relationship

with each other and
their leaders, much
like today's Yakuza.

The Machiako soon
became folk heroes,

praised by the townspeople
for their actions.

Their good deeds
have been described

as similar to
England's Robin Hood,

and they too became the
subjects of stories and plays.

But with that role came power,

and eventually power
began to corrupt.

What was considered
a noble endeavor,

began to feed on
profit and greed.

Perhaps the best way
to describe their role

is that the modern movie,
"The Magnificent Seven,"

is the American retelling of
the ancient Japanese legend

of the Seven Samurai.

These were people who could
be hired to do the dirty work,

tasks considered taboo
by the common people

or the ruling classes.

These Machiako gang
members included Bakuto

or traditional gamblers.

They were first recognized
during the 1700s

when the government hired them
to gamble with construction

and irrigation workers.

This was to regain part
of the substantial wages

the workers received.

Still, they remain people
who carried with them

an aura of care
for the common man.

It is an image still
fostered to this day

by the modern Yakuza.

Former legislator and
professor at law, Terry Gygar

says that even today, the
Yakuza sees itself in the role

of outlaw heroes of
the Japanese people.

They seem to be able
to tell themselves

that they are sort of outcasts,
but they're good outcasts.

They're the nice outlaws

who don't take from
the little guys.

And in a lot of ways, it's
been a great scheme for theirs.

It's very safe in
Japan, very, very safe.

One of the reasons it's safe

is that no petty
criminal would be gained

to operate on Yakuza territory,

and do things like
beat up tourists.

That's bad for the
image of the local gang,

and they'll be very severely
dealt with if they do it.

It was in the 20th century

that the Yakuza began to
grow in power and influence.

In Japan, they became
politically active

with some of their operations
receiving official sanction.

Various Japanese governments
even use the Yakuza

as an unofficial police force.

Dr. Joseph Siracusa
is a lecturer in
crime and punishment.

He makes a chilling comparison

when exploring the roots
of the modern Yakuza.

Well, they are the Cosa
Nostra, the mafia of Japan.

I mean, they've been
around for 300 years.

But when the Japanese
were let off the hook

in the early '50s, the
Yakuza had an opportunity

to become legitimate
and some of them did.

At one stage, the Yakuza had
more members in their gangs

than there were members of
the Japanese police force.

By now, a clear
cut gang structure had emerged.

At the top of the tree
sits the Oyabun, or Father.

Below him is a
Saiko-Komon, or advisor.

He in turn has a
staff of advocates,

accountants, and secretaries.

Next is a Waka-Gashira

who is second in
authority but not in rank.

This is a middleman who makes
sure the Oyabun's orders

are being carried out.

Of higher rank, but with less
authority is a Shatei-Gashira

who has underneath him the
brothers or senior gang leaders.

The structure then fans out
with each authority figure

controlling minor gangs
made up of what they call,

the children.

In turn, each child can
control gangs of his own,

and so it continues until
clans can have many thousands

of members in total.

As the Japanese economy
began to grow and prosper

in the '50s and '60s, the
Yakuza again grew with it.

The ancient rights,
rituals, and punishment

were refined by
wartime brutality into
a sadistic art form

by the Yakuza or bMryokudan,

as the authorities now call
them, the violent ones.

What you don't
seem to understand,

the kind of mistake you made
could mean serious trouble

for all of us.

We have been put into danger.

I don't like that.

Do you like that Michihiro?

No.

Kotoro, do you like
to be put in danger?

No.

Does anyone here disagree?

So that's why you must
learn from your mistakes.

You will show giri, the
strength of your devotion

by enduring yubitsume.

This will be a permanent
reminder of your
error of judgment.

You will thank us.

It was
the Bakuto or gamblers

who contributed to Japan's
tradition for gambling,

as well as the Yakuza's
traditional finger cutting

and the origin of
the word Yakuza.

The word comes from a hand in
a card game called hanafuda,

or flower cards, which is
similar to, "Blackjack."

Three cards are dealt per player

and the last digit of the total

counts as the
number of the hand.

A hand of 20, the worst
score gives a score of zero.

One such losing
combination as 8, 9, 3,

or in Japanese, YAK'UZ'A
which began to be widely used

to denote something useless.

This term began to
be used about bakuto.

They were on the whole,
useless to society.

Yubitsume, the custom
of finger cutting

was introduced by the bakuto.

The top joint of the little
finger is ceremoniously severed,

signifying a
weakening of the hand,

which meant that the gambler

could not hold his
sword as firmly.

Yubitsume was usually
performed as an active apology,

or giri to the Oyabun.

Further infractions would
either mean the severing

of the next joint or the top
section of another finger.

It is also used as
a lasting punishment

just before expulsion.

The use of tattoos also came
from the criminal aspect

of the bakuto.

Criminals were usually
tattooed with a black ring

around an arm for each
offense he had committed.

However, the tattoos soon
became a test of strength

as they were applied by
undergoing hundreds of hours

for a complete back tattoo.

The tattoo also marked a misfit,

always unwilling to adapt
themselves to society.

Asia Pacific, crime
reporter, author and advisor,

Bob Bottom, was only
a matter of time

before the modern
Yakuza brazenly emerged

as a potent crime force
on the world stage.

The Yakuza are so upfront,

they actually have their
officers in the main streets

of the cities of Japan, and
they have their names on them.

They don't hide
behind dark alleys

like they might in
Manhattan, or Soho,

or England, or somewhere.

They actually have formal
officers and declare themselves.

They often congregate
publicly and the like.

And so, they're
very, very upfront.

So if they did decide to really
expand, they number in the,

sometimes up to 40,000
in one Yakuza syndicate,

one would wonder
what would happen.

The Yakuza in Japan
run their own newspapers.

The, "Yamaguchi Gumi" newspaper.

They have their name
and their badge,

they all have little badges,

on the front of
their headquarters.

Their gang members wear badges

to openly proclaim who they are.

And they try and
portray themselves as
the fine old carriers

of the samurai tradition.

In the recent
earthquakes, for example,

one of the Yakuza gang
leaders gained a lot of fame

by being the first on the
scene with refugee relief,

with food, with aid days ahead
of the Japanese government.

This is the image they
love to show themselves as,

the fine old Samurai warriors

making their way
against the world.

By the '60s,

the Yakuza had an
estimated 184,000 members.

Bloody and violent gang wars

on the streets of Japanese
cities became a fact of life,

and weaknesses in laws
actually assisted the Yakuza.

Yeah, one of the interesting
things about postwar Japan

is, there were no crimes
up until recent times

against money laundering.

So they were able to take
their illicit profits

from other things and
then launder them legally

in the Japanese banks, and
securities, and exchanges

and things like that.

And as I said, there were
no laws against that.

So in a sense, they
were tolerated.

And the the gangs
only became ugly

when they started getting bigger

and they started to have
gang wars among themselves.

That's when the Japanese
public probably had to back off

and the police had to do more,

and the government
had to do more.

But by now, their
tentacles are everywhere.

It's like a generation of
the mob in the United States

have gone legitimate, you know?

The money is all out there
in the corporate world.

There's nothing you
can do about it.

Being assisted
in their crimes are not.

It was not long before
the crime bosses realized,

gang in fighting was
bad for business.

And for Japan,
business was booming.

As Japan's economic
miracle rolled on,

the Yakuza rode a wave of wealth

into the playgrounds
of the Pacific.

Cashing in on
cashed up Japanese,

they hit the tourist
trail to Hawaii

and other vacation isles.

A new gang structure evolved,

adapting to the rich new
world of the Pacific Rim.

The fertile fields
of commerce and trade

became hunting grounds
for Yakuza developers

and tour operators.

The method was coldly efficient.

Yakuza enforcers would
identify businesses

likely to be frequented
by Japanese tourists.

Once a business had
been identified,

they would approach the owner

and at first offer a
simple business deal.

The offer would be
that in return for
directing large groups

of tourists exclusively
to that business,

the gang would be
paid a percentage.

If the business
operator refused,

things would quickly turn
nasty with threats of violence

or the destruction of
the business premises.

These threats often extended

to the family of
the business owner.

Needless to say, very
few people refused.

Once the business became
almost totally dependent

on Yakuza controlled tourism,

it was then only a small
step before people found

that they no longer
owned their own business,

and that they were personally
owned by the Yakuza.

The first thing is that
they provoke an interest

in the country.

They show that interest by
moving in, buying housing,

buying real estate.

And we had a number of very
high profile Yakuza figures,

including the deputy head
of the Yamaguchi Gumi,

the biggest gang, buying a
penthouse on the Gold Coast

and using it as
a holiday resort.

Now, when the Yakuza start
doing those sorts of things,

they don't go on holidays
to soak up the sun.

They've got their eyes out
for business opportunities

and you know what's
gonna happen next.

The triads, the mafia
type organizations
are mainly involved

purely in criminal activities,
drugs, guns, whatever.

The Yakuza though, seem to
operate a little differently.

They use their
criminal activities

to give them a competitive edge,
you might say, in commerce.

Things like tourism,
for example.

If they are prepared
to be quite ruthless

about the way they operate
their tourism operations,

they can get a great edge over
normal people in the market

and therefore make
enormous profits.

Particularly, for example,

in the vertical
integration of tourism.

It was only
a short step for them

to move from doing shady deals
to place Japanese tourists

in friendly hotels and resorts,
to actually building them.

The gangsters were now
becoming developers,

but as always, they
had a very nasty edge

on their competitors.

A lot of the Japanese bubble
was based on real estate

where real estate values rose,
where there was amalgamation

of properties to
put up high-rise
developments, for example.

One of the Yakuza
stock in trade,

their most basic activity
was in the amalgamation

of real estate, where 30
or 40 small shopkeepers,

for example, were bought
out to build one high rise.

And when the Yakuza
became involved,

there was no competitive
tendering for their land.

They just suddenly discovered

that it would be far
healthier for them

if they sold out early to allow
the development to proceed.

Now, if you can do
that in a hurry,

you've got a big commercial edge

on any other land development.

A textbook
example of how the Yakuza

attempted to infiltrate
a foreign country

occurred at the very
start of the 1980s.

The Gold Coast in the
Australian state of Queensland

had become a major destination
for Japanese tourists.

And as Gold Coast
based criminal lawyer,

Chris Nyst explains,

in with the tourists
came the crime gangs.

Now, the 1980s was a real
money time on the Gold Coast.

The Japanese came here in force

and it was pretty
clear even at the time

that there was a lot of
money floating around

that was perhaps not
entirely legitimate money.

And there were certain shadowy
figures, Japanese figures

who sort of had that
kind of aura about them.

There was talk about Yakuza
and all this sort of stuff,

but they seemed to have no
visible means of support

and a lot of cash money.

There were a lot of transactions
going through at the time

that were of doubtful,
shady transactions

in real estate and so forth.

I recall at one stage
being in a civil case

and cross-examining a
Japanese real estate agent

who was resident in Australian
doing business in Australia.

And some evidence came out
that a client had handed to him

a paper bag that had 250,000
Australian dollars in it.

And the cross examination
went on and his evidence was,

oh, well this is pretty
standard practice.

You know, it was nothing
unusual at all about that.

And we went on, and on,
and on cross-examining,

and as it came out he showed
me $50,000 here, $200,000 here,

$300,000 in cash on
a day by day basis.

And these were things

that were going into
Gold Coast property.

They were going into
Gold Coast units,

beach front units and
this sort of thing.

So there was a lot of that
kind of activity by people

who could be identified with
the Japanese crime scene.

And there was also a lot
of activity in our casinos

and so forth.

And I think the
police in recent times

have become very aware of
that and have tightened up

on the surveillance
procedures, et cetera.

But there were people
who were ostensibly

turning over 100,000, $200,000
a night in our casinos.

And so, I suspect
that a large part

of the presence of Japanese
crime figures on the Gold Coast

during the '80s was all
about money laundering,

and cleaning up a
lot of the money

that they'd been taking
out of crime in Asia.

It was about
this time that authorities

in the United States and other
countries around the Pacific

began to become fully
aware of the spread

of Yakuza power and influence.

Two special undercover
officers prepared this report

for the Los Angeles
Police Department.

It gives striking detail of
the organization of the Yakuza

and the bMryokudan, their
methods of infiltration

of legitimate business,

and the key to their success
in using crime as an edge.

The bMryokudan are much
like Japanese corporations.

Most groups are highly
organized entities

with a strong emphasis
on family ties.

And the bMryokudan
relationship serving as a bond

which ultimately holds
the organization together.

Essentially today,
Japanese organized crime

has evolved into several 100
corporate bands of intellectual

and brutally loyal
international gangsters.

A bMryokudan member is
aggressive in attitude

and not at all like a typical
humble Japanese tourist.

He swaggers and has an
exaggerated, bold walk.

His facial features are tough

or hardened with the
so-called Black Eyes of Death.

When questioned
about his occupation,

the response is often reflective

of the type of
business established

or influenced by organized
crime such as bars,

coffee houses, restaurants,
nightclubs, pachinko parlors,

money lending, construction,
real estate management,

transportation and trucking.

There are also the associates,

those who have not gone through

the traditional sake
initiation ceremony.

It's often these associates
who run front organizations

and overseas operations, making
them difficult to detect.

These associates contend
with ordinary citizens

who are willing to deal
with the underworld

because it fills a
financial or civil need

that legal financial
institutions

and law enforcement
cannot provide.

These associates may be the
most serious criminal threat

to North America because they
maintain a very low profile.

They normally have
business experience

and are without the
usual outward signs

of bMryokudan membership
such as the tattoos,

missing fingers, and
flamboyant behavior patterns.

The Yakuza may claim
a link with history

in the noble warrior tradition,

but today the reality
is far different.

Often recruited
from street gangs,

Yakuza members are
mostly common thugs

trained in strong arm tactics
and shake down methods.

Mark Craig is a
former police sergeant

and lecturer in
intelligence studies,

and is considered
to be an expert

on the operation of
Asian crime gangs.

Craig worked for
three years in Japan

and says, A modern Yakuza
cannot claim a noble past.

That, in my opinion, would
be absolute, hyperbole.

That's just myth, because
one has to appreciate

that the majority of Yakuza
are actually recruited

out of the boxing
clubs, and judo clubs,

and pool halls of Japan.

They are the misguided youth.

The Yakuza are
basically started out

in the gambling
industry, unemployed.

But by and large their
activities were not looked upon

as criminal, this is
back in the Edo period

we're talking about now.

The days when Admiral Perry
sailed into Japan, okay?

We're talking history here.

This could have really
very little to do

with what we are seeing
with Yakuza activities,

certainly in the post
second World War period,

which is when they started to
move into the corporate world.

And like
any good business,

growth is important
at home and overseas.

The case with
Hawaii is rather unique.

That was one of the first major,
I guess, foreign locations

that they established
a presence.

For the simple reason being,

they followed the
Japanese tourists.

They followed the
Japanese businessmen.

Just like they did in Australia

in the mid to the late '80s.

They followed the
investment dollar

and the real estate development.

They gained a very
strong position in Hawaii

because the law enforcement,
they were very slow to react,

because again, it's
a secret society.

They were very slow to,

I guess appreciate the
full extent of the problem.

And now it's not possible
to eradicate them,

they're part of the landscape.

But the Yakuza
also have competitors.

Sometimes they can
be right next door.

Now in Tokyo around
the KabukichM area,

which is the entertainment
district, which the stronghold

of Yakuza operations in Tokyo.

The Chinese have actually
beaten them at their own game.

They're charging better prices.

A contract hit, for example,

is running at about 2,700
US dollars, very cheap.

They're not afraid
of the Japanese.

And there have been several
cases that I've read of

where they've actually
robbed these characters,

with a weapon in broad daylight,
which is just astonishing

because this is just
unthinkable in Japanese society.

And going back to
the Chinese again,

there was an incident in
Yokohama several years ago

where the Chinese looked to
extort a particular restaurant.

Now, even though
Yokohama Chinatown

is a Chinese
Chinatown, obviously,

the Japanese still were
collecting money in there, okay?

Now the Chinese moved in and
this particular instance,

the Chinese took a cleaver,
not unlike this cleaver here,

and decapitated a
waiter in full view

of the entire
restaurant as a message

that they are the new
kind of boys in town.

Even
in the underworld,

you need a business plan.

And the stricter the
execution of that plan

and the people you involve,
the bigger the reward.

The traditional scenario
is something like this,

earn your money through
criminal activities

and then launder it into
legitimate activities.

And for example,
the Yakuza in Japan

earn around about three, 3.5
million US dollars per year

through the distribution of
ice, which is methamphetamine.

Now that money has to
be laundered somewhere.

And if they can get it
abroad, which they can

through various front companies,

they invest in
legitimate business.

One example comes to mind on
how they sought to do this.

And they engaged an
international consultant

by the name of Prescott Bush.

Now Prescott is the brother
of President George Bush.

He runs an international
consultancy.

And what they did, through
some front companies in Japan

got him to purchase some
respectable companies

in New York and Texas.

And he received a $1 million
commission for his work.

He never knew he was
working for the mob,

and that's simply
how they do business.

Still, we have
seen as the '80s rolled on

and the Japanese
economic bubble burst,

things started to go bad in a
big way for the Yakuza gangs.

First a series of violent events
turned the Japanese people

against those who had been
regarded as their protectors.

No longer is it
considered desirable

to have a Yakuza
living on your block.

Up until the early
'80s, that was the case.

And I lived in Japan in the
early '80s, one felt safe.

Then actually, kind of
turf battles erupted

and it became very public,

and innocent people were
actually shot in the streets.

Japan is another country
where firearms are a no-no,

and very hard to get,

but the Yakuza don't seem to
have any trouble importing them

from places like the Philippines
and the United States.

Because of a number
of very public acts,

they kind of fell out of favor.

And it was round about
the early '90s, 92,

that legislation was
enacted, outlawing actually,

'cause previously
it wasn't a crime

to belong to Yamaguchi
Gumi or Inagawa-kai,

or any one of these
organizations.

So new legislation was enacted,

which in effect drove
these groups underground.

And that changed the whole,
I guess, the whole balance

and the whole kind of way
they interacted with society.

They were always
something to be feared.

Don't misunderstand that
'cause they're still ruthless,

but now they're an
unknown quantity

because they're underground.

So much out of
favor are the Yakuza members now

that attempts are
often made to disguise

once proudly displayed
symbols of courage

such as the ritual tattoos.

Some gangsters have even
tried a bizarre form

of plastic surgery.

What's emerged in
the last 10 years or so

is the sort of
application of prosthesis.

And it is not uncommon
for the particular person

to have an operation
whereby a toe is removed

and surgically sewn
onto the cut finger.

And of course, it's always
going to look mutilated.

But then with subsequent
plastic surgery,

it's not as easy to discern
as may have been in the past.

By the early '80s however,
one major crime syndicate,

the Yamaguchi Gumi controlled
over 2,500 businesses

ranging from loan sharking, to
pornography and prostitution.

While the big money flowed,
so did the violence and greed.

One of the group's leaders was
gunned down at a coffee shop

by fellow gang members.

The execution style murder
occurred in the city of Kobe.

Masaru Takumi, number two
man of the Yamaguchi Gumi

was enjoying his morning
coffee when the killer struck.

Kobe in 1985 was also the city

where over 1000 black
suited gangsters

gathered for the funeral
of their murdered boss.

400 riot police were on hand
to Watch over proceedings.

These gangsters are also
members of the Yamaguchi Gumi.

Their slain boss was
51-year-old Masahisa Takenaka.

It was in an apartment
building in nearby Osaka

where he was gunned down by
a rival gang's hit squad,

where the police head was
led by a Yakuza lieutenant.

He was caught, the
gunmen weren't.

Even as Takenaka's
body was taken home,

Japanese newspapers reported
that the Yamaguchi Gumi

and the police were in race
to find the three gunmen.

Takenaka had led the Yamaguchi
Gumi for only a few months.

And
it was his election

that caused a rival
faction to split away

from the Yamaguchi Gumi.

It was that group
that killed him.

They are the Ichiwa-kai,
many thousands strong.

Both gangs are Yakuza,

and together comprised
over 100,000 soldiers.

They are best
recognized of course,

by the missing little fingers
after they had made a mistake

and atoned through yubitsume.

This was not a healthy
regime to reign over.

Even their former boss
of 35 years, Kazuo Taoka,

although surviving many
assassination attempts,

finally succumbed to the
stress of being Oyabun

and died of a heart attack.

Following power struggles,
gang wars, and some success

from the Japanese police force,

there are about half as many
of them as there used to be.

The major gangs are kept
under constant surveillance

these days and a
continuing war of nerves.

It was a different
scene just months

before the funeral here
in Kobe, when the police

and the Yamaguchi Gumi
were out in force again,

that time was to inaugurate
their new leader.

Takenaka had won the
power struggle to the top,

and at that time in Japan,
the head of organized crime

made no effort to hide who
he was or what he does.

Here is a traditional
ceremony making him the head

of a 5.5 billion
dollar business.

With the drinking of the saki,

he assumes the mantle
of Oyabun or boss.

The Yamaguchi Gumi
is headquartered in
an office building

marked by the gang's
symbol for all to see.

There was no need to hide.

The Yamaguchi Gumi is
run like any business.

Has a board of directors
who meet regularly,

examine their achievements
and make goals.

If you're successful,

you might even make
the members honor roll.

But during this era of
increasing infighting,

the violence didn't end
within their own ranks.

The Yakuza is always
ready to go after anyone

who decides not to
play by their rules.

Oh yes, they've got
absolutely no qualms

about taking action against
people who offend them.

As a well known Japanese
film producer, for example,

dared to produce a film

which showed the Yakuza
as criminals and thugs

as opposed to the Samurai
image they like to portray.

Well, he had a run in with two
people with a samurai sword

outside his office, and
required hundreds of stitches

through his face.

And this is world
renowned film producer.

They'll do that to him,

they're not too worried
about little guys.

In the '90s, the high flying
gangsters were hit hard,

not from the efforts
of law enforcement,

but by bad investments.

The Yakuza's close ties
to the world of business

and commerce nearly ruined them.

When the bubble
burst, of course,

a lot of the banks
turned a blind eye

to who they were
lending their money to.

And there were a lot of Yakuza
billions, in fact, dollars

put out to Yakuza
development companies.

Non-performing loans were
therefore sourced to the Yakuza

and someone trying to go around
and get the Yakuza to pay up

on a non-performing loan is
not the healthiest activity.

The vice president of
a leading bank in Japan

found that out fatally,
unfortunately to his demise.

At that time,

the government launched
a major crackdown.

And probably since then,
since the early '90s,

the Yakuza have, well,
they've seen better days

and they're not looked upon

in the same sort
of historic awe,

as they may have
been in the past.

The Yakuza have gotta
be strangled at birth

because their whole objective
is to get legitimate.

And it's very, very hard
in a competitive society,

a free enterprise society
to find where this thin line

between tough business and
criminal activity falls.

And the Yakuza will always
fall on the wrong side.

But they're not that easy to
detect in a rugged environment

of business competitiveness.

If they can get established,

they are very, very
difficult to counter.

Far from retreating
to their Japanese homeland.

The gang simply began
to reinvent themselves

and continue to operate
primarily throughout

the Asian Pacific Rim
and the United States.

The west
coast of the United States

has traditionally been
a home for Asian gangs.

Chinese, the triads set up there

in the San Francisco region.

We've had the Yakuza,
we've got the Vietnamese

now being the worst of them
apparently in the United States.

But the Yakuza have got
a foothold in there,

which has allowed them to get
very legitimate businesses.

And many of the Yakuza
involvements now in
the United States

are very difficult to counter

because they're so
intimately tied up

with legitimate investment,
and that's what they aim to do.

The United States

is a very attractive target.

I mean, it is the home of
most of the money in the world

and almost every organized
crime in the world

looks at the United States.

And the time will come
maybe when the Yakuza

or others will also have
to team up with, say,

Islamic militants who wanna
punish the United States.

And people like the Yakuza
might make a common cause

with Islamic militants
or terrorists,

just for a season
in order to get in

or to bankroll
their organization.

So there are numerous
opportunities.

I'd say that the chances of
stamping them out are zero.

Anybody who thinks we
have done such a thing,

of course doesn't
know much history.

Also,
there's been a new spirit

by the Japanese government
to try and wipe them out.

Unfortunately,
the result of this

has been to make them even more
vicious, even more criminal.

They're now becoming more

and more involved in
organized pedophilia rings,

for example, of buying
young Chinese children

and shipping them
around the world.

A big ring was broken up
in Italy of all places,

where they found Yakuza
involvement in pedophilia.

So at the
dawn of the new millennium,

organized crime gangs, which
once claim direct descent

from the noble samurai
of Japanese legend

have evolved into peddlers
of flesh and death.

Author and criminologist
Dr. Paul Wilson

says this new chapter
in their history

makes them even more dangerous.

They will keep coming,

they're not afraid
of law enforcement,

and they can fall
back on hundreds,

sometimes thousands
of years of history.

Alarmed by the spread
of Asian crime gangs,

Australian authorities
have formed

a unique law enforcement unit.

The force combines the
skills of street police

with a mental muscle of
lawyers, accountants,

and electronics experts.

A veteran of 38 years
in what he calls,

the war with organized crime.

The general manager of the
National Crime Authority

is Peter Lamb.

Yes, in each of our
investigative teams

around the country, we have
lawyers, we have accountants,

we have analysts, and we
have technical experts.

A whole range of technical
trying to work together

in a team model.

Now that's not always been easy.

Police traditionally
quite aggressive,
they're paramilitary.

Some of the other disciplines
are not that way inclined.

But over a period of time

we think we've got
the formula right,

and everything seems to
be working quite well.

The reflect that anyway.

For Peter Lamb
and law enforcement agencies

in many countries,
including the United States,

the focus has changed.

They now know that
the new weapons

of the organized Asian crime
gangs are not swords or knives,

but laptop computers.

Yes, particularly in
the movement of money.

The electronic
commerce evolution has
provided opportunities

for the movement of
money around the world

at the blink of an eyelid.

And indeed, from time to
time there's no trail.

So we've had to move with
that or try and move with it.

We've had to create laws

that were compatible with
the current environment.

We've had to arrive at mutual
assistance arrangements

with other countries to
permit those type of inquiries

to be run in their countries.

Yes, a whole range of
things that we've gotta do.

But I think it's fair to say

that we're always
playing catch up,

we're never really ahead.

So
nowadays, a modern sleuth

on the trail of the organized
Japanese crime gangs

in his quarry are often
more than likely to be found

in front of a computer terminal

than walking the back
streets of our cities.

Still, there will always
be a job for the police,

whose work takes him
into the real underworld

of our society.

Ordinary citizens, however,
now also have the power

of computers and the internet.

Spreading the word from Japan

is a community striving
to expel crime syndicates

or bMryokudan.

This is a Japanese
homepage of the N-A-C-E-B,

the National Center for the
Elimination of bMryokudan.

The
anti-bMryokudan law

came into force
in March of 1992.

It stipulates that the National
Public Safety Commission

designate a public
corporation in the country,

designed to prevent unjust
acts by bMryokudan members

and to help the
victims of these acts.

The Japan Crime
Prevention Association

was designated as the N-A-C-E-B.

Their main activities
are publicity

and information
like this webpage,

training for counselors
to search and survey

so that all can see
violence reduction trends.

It is staffed by
lawyers, parole officers,

and former police
officers among others.

There is even information
on what to do if bullied

by bMryokudan, and how to
cope with this violence,

intimidation, or forcible
obstruction of business.

What of the future?

Experts say the Yakuza
may be badly wounded,

but the gang still has
its deadly tentacles

spread around the globe.

Is there hope for victory

Provided societies
are largely the same

as they are now, no.

The needs of organized crime
are so varied these days.

They need the capacity
to move money,

they need the capacity
for technology.

They need a whole range of
things they didn't need before.

As those things are brought
into the melting pot,

it's far more complex
to investigate.

But at the same time, it is,
I suppose, creating work.

It is developing expertise,

all of which make for a
totally different environment

than what we've
seen in the past.

And a far more complex one.

The Yakuza and
Asian gangs, generally

are renowned for
being very deadly

and having no hesitation
in killing people

to further their aims.

The Yakuza have always
been able to adapt

to changing times and emerge
with new modes of operations,

as they have done so
many times in the past.

Well, I'm a little cynical.

I don't think there's
probably any stopping them

at all, now.

They've got too big,
they've got too legitimate.

But what we have seen is a move
to be more vicious with them

and to be involved in
tackier types of activities.

I'd be staggered for example,
if we looked at internet porn

and didn't find the Yakuza
heavily involved in that.

They've traditionally
been involved

in sex related industries at
the fringes of criminality,

prostitution, pornography.

Recently we've
seen, for example,

them involved in
pedophilia rings

or the supplying of
underage children.

But I think it'll be a very,
very safe bet for anyone to say

that if there's any
internet pornography

and similar
questionable activities

being sourced outta Japan,
it's a Yakuza operation.

The Yakuza have had a bad
odor among the Japanese public

in recent years, particularly
the last 10 years

where we have all this
corporate scandal, et cetera.

And I know Japanese crime
enforcement, and the Interpol,

and the FBI, and others
say that the Yakuza

are on the retreat in Japan
and in some places eliminated.

And there are anecdotal stories

about Yakuza are wanting
to become legitimate

and to repair the damage in
their lives and all this.

But this is usually
mostly nonsense.

It's like the FBI saying

that they just about have
the mafia out of business

because John Gotti's sitting
in a prison somewhere.

For every John Gotti,
there's 100 John Gotti's

to replace him,

for every Yakuza there's
100 Yakuza to replace them.

Because the Yakuza is
a very glamorous life,

like the mafia and
the rest of it.

And it offers to
people an opportunity

to make a lot of money in a
very short period of time.

It gives them clout.

And as long as Japan and the
United States and other places,

as long as they worship money,

these people will be where
money can be worshiped

and obtained as
quickly as possible.

That's why the mafia
will always live,

and the Yakuza will always live,

and the Triad, and the
Tong and the rest of it.

As long as we worship money,
they know we to get it

and get it in a hurry.

As long as the Yakuza
represents a global menace,

the fight will continue,

but the skirmishes
will no longer be
fought in back streets,

brothels and drug dens.

The new battleground in
the war against the Yakuza

is now the corporate boardroom

and the cyberspace
of our increasingly
technological world.

I'm Robert Stack,
thanks for joining us.