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abltsandwich
JFK = Jelly Donut




Registered: 06/16/09
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Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan 1
#14185747 - 03/26/11 07:45 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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This is pretty much the difference between countries like ours and countries like theirs.
Quote:
Tons of relief goods have been delivered to victims of Japan's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami from a dark corner of society: the "yakuza" organised crime networks. Skip related content
Yakuza groups have been sending trucks from the Tokyo and Kobe regions to deliver food, water, blankets and toiletries to evacuation centres in northeast Japan, the area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which have left at least 27,000 dead and missing.
Yakuza are better known for making money from extortion, gambling, pornography and prostitution, as well as for the often-elaborate tattoos covering much of their bodies.
But disasters bring out another side of yakuza, who move swiftly and quietly to provide aid to those most in need.
As with the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake, government workers were slow in reaching afflicted areas, and the 300,000 or so survivors, so yakuza groups stepped in quickly, and in many cases, were first on the ground.
Such actions stem from yakuza knowing what it's like to have to fend for yourself, without any government or community support, because they are considered outcasts.
Many gang members faced discrimination and come from minority populations such as ethnic Koreans or "burakumin" - those who work in businesses seen as related to death, such as butchers and leather tanners.
"Yakuza are dropouts from society," said Manabu Miyazaki, a prolific author who has written more than 100 books about yakuza and minorities.
"They've suffered, and they're just trying to help other people who are in trouble," said Miyazaki, himself the son of a former Kyoto yakuza boss.
Others see ulterior motives to the groups' charity.
"If they help citizens, it's hard for the police to say anything bad," said Tomohiko Suzuki, a journalist who has written several books on Japan's underworld.
"The yakuza are trying to position themselves to gain contracts for their construction companies for the massive rebuilding that will come."
One yakuza boss rejected such criticism.
"It takes too long for the arm of the government to reach out here so it's important to do it now," the Weekly Taishuu magazine, which specialises in yakuza affairs, quoted a top yakuza as saying.
"Our honest sentiment right now is to be of some use to people," said the boss, who declined to be identified.
GANGSTERS' CODE OF GIVING
Yakuza groups have so far dispatched at least 70 trucks to the quake zone loaded with supplies worth more than $500,000 (311,000 pounds), according to Jake Adelstein, an expert on yakuza who lives in Tokyo and is writing two books on the Japanese syndicates.
The gangs' charity is rooted in their "ninkyo" code, Adelstein says, which values justice and duty and forbids allowing others to suffer. "In times such as earthquakes, they put their money where their mouths are," he said.
Atsushi Mizoguchi a freelance writer and yakuza antagonizer who has written about organized crime for 40 years, also gives the yakuza the benefit of the doubt.
"Rather than a PR effort, I think it's actually good intentions," said Mizoguchi, who has angered the yakuza so much that he has been stabbed twice in attacks by gang members.
But yakuza shun the spotlight regarding their relief work.
Adelstein explains that there is an informal understanding between yakuza and police who tolerate the gangs carrying out such charitable work, but not seeking publicity for it.
"What they seek most is self-satisfaction," said Miyazaki, the son of the former yakuza boss. "It's not for pay, but for pride."
There are an estimated 80,000 yakuza in Japan. The Sumiyoshi-kai and Inakawa-kai, the second and third biggest organized crime syndicates, are believed to be the most active in the earthquake-tsunami disaster relief.
In a phone call to the Inakawai-kai headquarters in Tokyo, a man from the gang's "general affairs division" brusquely told Reuters: "We don't talk." A faxed request to speak with the Inakawa-kai's No.2 leader went unanswered.
Part of the reason for the yakuzas' reluctance to receive attention stems from stepped-up enforcement after a 1992 anti-gang law and increased crackdowns by the National Police Agency over the past year, which have heightened anti-yakuza sentiment among the public.
But there have been no reports of donations being refused -- perhaps because there is no indication who supplied them.
And, says author Suzuki, this is not the time to nitpick over the origins of emergency goods.
"When it's life or death, you don't care where your food comes from," he said.
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20110325/thl-uk-japan-quake-yakuza-b2e59e8.html
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I AM SWIM
doin' thangs



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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: abltsandwich]
#14185757 - 03/26/11 07:51 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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GANGSTERS' CODE OF GIVING

great post,
yakuza are
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gerryjarcia
biophiliac



Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 1,889
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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: abltsandwich]
#14185784 - 03/26/11 08:04 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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really interesting article. thanks for posting it.
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"We are all intoxicated. We were born into an insane asylum, a world crazy-making. We believe what we see and hear. The real myth is the myth of sanity, of rationality: it's a disease that is eating away at the earth. All the poisons flow from our denial. We deny madness, we forget our crimes, we dismember the corpse, we imprison our children. We need poison to poison the poison, to remember the sacred nature of intoxication, the green body of the young god." ~ Dale Pendell
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Samuel L Jackson
Bad Motherfucker


Registered: 12/10/09
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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: I AM SWIM]
#14185787 - 03/26/11 08:05 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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why do american gangs have to suck... these guys are pretty cool from what i can tell.
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Dosile Kouki
derp


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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: abltsandwich]
#14185792 - 03/26/11 08:10 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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that is cool as shit man!
<3 yakuza
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
Posts: 40,372
Loc: SF Bay Area
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The gangs' charity is rooted in their "ninkyo" code, Adelstein says, which values justice and duty and forbids allowing others to suffer.
That's pretty silly IMO; all humans suffer, there is no way to completely prevent them from doing so.

"Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world, but I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through misery and suffering."
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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I AM SWIM
doin' thangs



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Quote:
SamuelLJackson said: why do american gangs have to suck... these guys are pretty cool from what i can tell.
It's a yin/yang thang
west/east
/ win/fail

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luvdemshrooms
Two inch dick..but it spins!?


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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: Poid]
#14185811 - 03/26/11 08:20 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
Poid said: The gangs' charity is rooted in their "ninkyo" code, Adelstein says, which values justice and duty and forbids allowing others to suffer.
That's pretty silly IMO; all humans suffer, there is no way to completely prevent them from doing so.
I'm sure if you let them know you think it's silly they'll stop immediately.
-------------------- You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers
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Poid
Shroomery's #1 Spellir




Registered: 02/04/08
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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: luvdemshrooms]
#14185817 - 03/26/11 08:22 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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I'm not.
-------------------- Well I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them. -- Bob Dylan  fireworks_god said:It's one thing to simply enjoy a style of life that one enjoys, but it's another thing altogether to refer to another person's choice as "wrong" or to rationalize their behavior as being pathological or resulting from some sort of inadequacy or failing so as to create a sense of superiority or separation as yet another projection of a personal fear or control issue.
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stranger_danger
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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: Poid]
#14185823 - 03/26/11 08:27 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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bad ass ninja mafia = good people after all.... god damn asians, always surprising me and stuff.
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gerryjarcia
biophiliac



Registered: 05/29/10
Posts: 1,889
Loc: the woods
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Quote:
SamuelLJackson said: why do american gangs have to suck... these guys are pretty cool from what i can tell.
you're talking about the difference between a thousand year old culture (Japan) and a culture that is made up of immigrants and tyrants (U.S.). The U.S. is still in it's "teenage" years as far as cultural maturity goes.
We think the world revolves around us.
--------------------
"We are all intoxicated. We were born into an insane asylum, a world crazy-making. We believe what we see and hear. The real myth is the myth of sanity, of rationality: it's a disease that is eating away at the earth. All the poisons flow from our denial. We deny madness, we forget our crimes, we dismember the corpse, we imprison our children. We need poison to poison the poison, to remember the sacred nature of intoxication, the green body of the young god." ~ Dale Pendell
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GGTBod
Bod



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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: gerryjarcia]
#14185905 - 03/26/11 09:01 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
gerryjarcia said:
Quote:
SamuelLJackson said: why do american gangs have to suck... these guys are pretty cool from what i can tell.
you're talking about the difference between a thousand year old culture (Japan) and a culture that is made up of immigrants and tyrants (U.S.). The U.S. is still in it's "teenage" years as far as cultural maturity goes.
We think the world revolves around us.
I would say more like a toddler as a society goes, your country is just starting to stand up right and trying to walk.
USA is just over 200 year old, maybe in another 5000 years or so your society will be running and jumping culturally deep in heritage, well that is your governemtn does not whipe us all out trying to prove how great it is to itself.
I love when i see American tourists in my city, always amazed at anything they find that is over 500 years old, my step mother is a perfect example, we took her on a tour of all the local castles and Roman buildings and ruins in my area, everytime she was close to tears it gave me a new appreciation of all the historical shit that i had become sick of being told and shown since I was a boy at school. When you live somewhere with a rich history it is shoved down your throat from the second you understand language.
Sadly the biggests gangsters in Britain is our government and they made sure long ago that it was them who had their fingers in all the dirty pies for profit, looks like the Yakuza give more of a fuck about their people that our government does, maybe in a few more thousand years our government will behave by some moral code like the Yakuza
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zappaisgod
horrid asshole


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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: gerryjarcia]
#14185910 - 03/26/11 09:02 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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They are not good people any more than murdering mafiosi who perform specific acts of charity are.
The more appropriate analog for the Yakuza is the Mafia. It is not Bloods and Crips.
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GGTBod
Bod



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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: zappaisgod]
#14185915 - 03/26/11 09:03 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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mafia is also closer to government that gang
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I AM SWIM
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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: stranger_danger]
#14185937 - 03/26/11 09:13 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
stranger_danger said: god damn asians, always surprising me and stuff.
that's what ninjas do best
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VandiLLisM
Makin the Room Spin

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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: Poid]
#14186001 - 03/26/11 09:38 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Pretty sureee it means if they can prevent it than they must. Quit bein a dick
-------------------- She used to work at a sperm bank, but got fired for drinkin on the job
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stranger_danger
psychonaut



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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: I AM SWIM]
#14186011 - 03/26/11 09:41 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
I AM SWIM said:
Quote:
stranger_danger said: god damn asians, always surprising me and stuff.
that's what ninjas do best
i love that dorky ass movie.
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GGTBod
Bod



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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: VandiLLisM]
#14186021 - 03/26/11 09:44 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
VandiLLisM said: Pretty sureee it means if they can prevent it than they must. Quit bein a dick
Awesome contribution to the thread 
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gerryjarcia
biophiliac



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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: GGTBod]
#14186247 - 03/26/11 11:05 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
GGTBod said: I would say more like a toddler as a society goes, your country is just starting to stand up right and trying to walk.
USA is just over 200 year old, maybe in another 5000 years or so your society will be running and jumping culturally deep in heritage, well that is your governemtn does not whipe us all out trying to prove how great it is to itself.
I love when i see American tourists in my city, always amazed at anything they find that is over 500 years old, my step mother is a perfect example, we took her on a tour of all the local castles and Roman buildings and ruins in my area, everytime she was close to tears it gave me a new appreciation of all the historical shit that i had become sick of being told and shown since I was a boy at school. When you live somewhere with a rich history it is shoved down your throat from the second you understand language.
Sadly the biggests gangsters in Britain is our government and they made sure long ago that it was them who had their fingers in all the dirty pies for profit, looks like the Yakuza give more of a fuck about their people that our government does, maybe in a few more thousand years our government will behave by some moral code like the Yakuza
my friend and i were joking on the phone the other day about how america is so culturally young that we are just now in the "crowning" process of being born. the cord hasn't even been cut.
you're probably more accurate with the "toddler" analogy than the teenager. still makes for maddening times either way.
--------------------
"We are all intoxicated. We were born into an insane asylum, a world crazy-making. We believe what we see and hear. The real myth is the myth of sanity, of rationality: it's a disease that is eating away at the earth. All the poisons flow from our denial. We deny madness, we forget our crimes, we dismember the corpse, we imprison our children. We need poison to poison the poison, to remember the sacred nature of intoxication, the green body of the young god." ~ Dale Pendell
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VandiLLisM
Makin the Room Spin

Registered: 12/26/10
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Re: Yakuza Response to the Disaster in Japan [Re: GGTBod]
#14186303 - 03/26/11 11:18 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
GGTBod said:
Quote:
VandiLLisM said: Pretty sureee it means if they can prevent it than they must. Quit bein a dick
Awesome contribution to the thread  
JUST AS FUCKIN AWESOME!!!
-------------------- She used to work at a sperm bank, but got fired for drinkin on the job
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