This was an interesting idea then, and still is. You have my vote as
far as continuing goes.
All opinions are, of course, my own and not expected to be taken without
a grain of salt. Use or ignore at your discretion.
=========================================
Yaukza.
"Yakuza"
I'll never know why anyone thinks of them as protectors of
any sort.
Are they? All I've ever heard is that they're socially tolerated
because they provide services that are thought of as a necessary evil, and
don't usually get into the high-profile crimes like murder. The police know
supposedly know about them, but have a hands-off policy unless they step
over the "line".
They're no better than any other sort of scum on the face of the
planet. They sell dope, they run numbers, they pimp whores, everything
other
organized crime syndicates are famous for. They terrorize innocent people,
they kill and maim without pause, they destroy lives. Lives like his.
This is something I'd like to hear examples of. Drugs, yes.
Gunrunning, yes. Gang wars/ turf wars, yes. Murdering and terrorizing
civilians? That I don't know about. Here are some clips from an article
about them:
According to Fujita Goro, a modern bard of the native Japanese criminal
class, the Yakuza were itinerant gamblers, peddlers, renegade warriors and
roving bandits. They served shoguns and municipalities and their legend
includes a distinct Robin Hood quality that recently emerged during the
recent Kobe Earthquake. The Yamaguchi-gumi Yakuza clan quickly mobilized
providing on the scene assistance to Kobe's earthquake victims long before
the national government resolved to act. Yakuza form a central theme in
Japan's popular culture and trace their origins to at least the 17th
century.
Yakuza strength rises and falls according to the tides of Japanese society,
with estimates of core membership ranging from 80,000 to more than 110,000
in the years from 1945 to 1996. Some authorities believe Japan's National
Police routinely undercount the Yakuza, numbering only those names found in
confiscated membership rolls, or recorded from routine police intelligence
reports.
Like the Sicilian Mafia and other underworld organizations, the Yakuza are
formed into families, but in Japan other distinctions emerge including that
of the oyabun - kobun (father role - child role) relationship, between
Yakuza chiefs and their underlings.
The Yakuza evolved into their current form late in the 19th-century under
figures like Toyama Mitsuru. This son of a Samurai founded the Genyosha
(Dark Ocean) Society, and later Toyama's top aide Ryohei Uchida founded the
Amur River Society (Black Dragons). Like organized crime in other cultures,
the Yakuza began to control construction labor and dockside labor, adding to
traditional areas of enterprise in the vices, prostitution, gambling, liquor
distribution, and entertainment. In the late 1960s or early 1970s the Yakuza
moved into the lucrative narcotics trade and in recent years have stepped up
their trade in firearms and other contraband. According to various sources,
Yakuza have formed alliances and working relationships with Chinese Triads,
Sicilian and American Mafia, Columbian drug cartels, Jamaican Posses, and
assorted other criminal organizations throughout the world.
Because of their unique role in Japan's history and popular culture, and
their usefulness in providing muscle to control labor unions, and providing
anonymous services to the public for a variety of typical underworld
products in vice and contraband -- accomodations between Yakuza, police,
ultranationalists, government, political parties, and secret societies seems
to be an accepted fact of life in Japan. Yakuza are active worldwide,
wherever criminal enterprises flourish. In addition, Yakuza will be
encountered in larger numbers and wield greater influence wherever large
communities of overseas Japan reside for work and study. The Yakuza have
been very skillful in the employment of intermediaries and the absence of
Japanese within a community does not mean an absence of Yakuza.
On March 1, 1992, the Japanese goverment passed the Act for Prevention of
Unlawful Activities by Boryokudan (yakuza or criminal gangs) Members. This
act designates the term "boryokudan" as a group with more than a certain
precentage of membership having a criminal record. It also identifies
organizations with strong violent or criminal tendencies. The act mainly
prohibits the boryokudans from realizing profits made from forms of
extortion not covered in previous existing laws, i.e., protection rackets.
(Life for the yakuza in Japan is getting harder. There are numerous reports
of members calling the police to get advice on going straight!)
The structure of the yakuza: As an example to explain the structure of
command of a yakuza clan, the Yamaguchi-gumi (as of November 1991) will be
used.
The oyabun, Yoshinori Watanabe, is the head of the clan, residing at the
Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters in Kobe. He obtained the position of the fifth
oyabun (or kumicho, supreme boss) in 1989. His original gang was the
Kobe-based Yamaken-gumi.
Kazuo Nakanishi remains as a saiko komon, or a senior advisor. He resides in
Osaka, with 15 sub-gangs under his control, giving him 439 members.
Saizo Kishimoto is the so-honbucho, the headquarters chief, with 6 gangs
(108) members under his control in Kobe.
Masaru Takumi is the wakagashira, or number-two man. He controls 941 members
in 41 gangs in Osaka.
Testuo Nogami is the fuku-honbucho, an assistant, with 8 gangs (164 members)
in Osaka.
Under the kumicho are various komon (advisors), Shingiin (counselors),
kumicho hisho (kumicho's secretaries), kaikei (accountants), and
wakagashira-hosa (underlings of the second-in-command).
Keisuke Masuda is the number three man (shateigashira), residing in Nagoya
with 4 gangs consisting of 111 members under his care. He also has severeal
shateigashira-hosa to aid him.
There are 102 senior bosses (shatei, "younger brothers") and numerous junior
leaders (wakashu, "young men"), making up then 750 gangs with 31,000 members
in the Yamaguchi-gumi. (Delfs, p 30-31)
I watch from the shadows, watch as their street-level thugs roam
the
city. I watch as a haggard-looking salaryman motions to an
ordinary-looking
guy, clasping hands as if in greeting. None of the wage slaves on the
sidewalk seem to notice as a tiny white vial is exchanged for a roll of
yen.
This might actually ATTRACT attention, since the Japanese bow to greet,
not shake hands.
The two exchange a few words and go about their business, one peddling
poison and another headed home with his fix. It's enough to make me sick.
I've watched shit like this for years. I watched as they killed
the
kid's mother. I watched as they torched his home, as they beat him for
confronting them. I watched as his pop told him that it didn't happen, and
that it had all been an "unfortunate accident".
This is rather extreme... are you going to be explaining what happened
soon?
Cloaked in the shadows behind the building, I spot the doorman
hanging around out back, cracking his knuckes as he glares at things he
can't see. He's high as a Virginia pine, from the way his bloodshot eyes
keep passing over me. Hell, even a kid could spot me if he looked hard
enough. This is gonna be a breeze.
This also sounds unlikely. I'm not an expert on illegal meth labs, but
I have heard that the people who work there are chosen for not using the
product themselves, especially in organized crime contexts. If that guard
was caught by his bosses high while on duty, they'd probably kill him
themselves.
He stops for a moment to light a cigarette, and I have to fight
down
the urge to laugh. His night vision just got shot down the tubes from that
match. It'll take his eyes forever to readjust. Guess that's my cue.
This, on the other hand, is well played. It's a typical mistake for an
amateur to make. While in the service, I even saw a few "professionals" do
that.
Harsh light spills out from the gap at the bottom of the
doorframe,
the sound of voices and thundering music sounding like a twisted beehive.
They make their toxins in their,
"in there"
mixing chemicals in a haphazard lab to
create the drug known as crystal meth, another form of cocaine. Why anyone
would want that shit up their noses is beyond me, but that's not
important.
The important thing is to get in there and shut it down.
Meth isn't a form of cocaine. Cocaine is refined from the coca leaf.
Methamphetamine is a synthetic stimulant. Almost all methamphetamine is
homemade from chemicals that are relatively easy to obtain. Cocaine comes
from South America. Southern California is known as the methamphetamine
capital of the world. (Yay for us, hmm?)
After only a few steps into the room, I feel the eyes on my back.
Looks like I didn't get them all. The knife leaves my hand as I spin,
hitting the remaining man square in the throat. That oughtta.... oh, FUCK!
I dive behind a table, knocking it over to form a shield before
landing. The report of the small handgun is lost in the roar of the
flammable chemicals bursting into violent flames. Friggin' idiot just HAD
to
use a piece, didn't he? Well, street thugs were known for brawn, not
brains.
The cloying smoke is starting to burn my eyes as the heat keeps
rising. It won't be long before the whole damn building becomes a huge
barbecue.
"SHIT!" Must be one of the guys from downstairs.
"PUT HIM OUT! SAVE THE MONEY!" I agree, but not in that order.
The way this is written, it sounds like Ranma is the one saying "put him
out". It would make more sense if written:
"SHIT!" Must be one of the guys from downstairs. "PUT HIM OUT! SAVE THE
MONEY!"
I agree, but not in that order.
Dewa mata,
LarryF