Despite anti-gang ordinances, yakuza groups still hold stranglehold

Higashimon Street in Kobe's Chuo Ward is famous for its restaurants. Photo taken in August 2022 by Akihito Ogawa KOBE despite the crackdowns and anti-gang ordinances, yakuza groups still hold a stranglehold over some small business operators, as shown in a recent case here.

Just days ago, local authorities told a restaurant owner to stop paying 200,000 yen $1,530 in monthly protection money to a gangster. The man, a member of a group affiliated with the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation's largest crime syndicate, was ordered to stop harassing the woman.

The restaurant operator said she had handed over money to the gangster, who is now 76, for the past 10 years or so.

The Hyogo Prefectural Public Safety Commission issued warnings on March 24 based on prefectural ordinances against organized crime.

A long-standing custom known as mikajimeryo is a key source of income for yakuza gangs, which demand money with menaces from business establishments.

Numerous establishments, fearful of the consequences, dare not refuse and cough up whatever is demanded.

In such cases, those operators are often obliged to charge more for their services to cover their costs, risking the ire of regular customers.

The warnings in Kobe last week were the first issued by the prefecture in three years and mark the 16th time the authorities have acted based on local ordinances, according to police.

The owner of Kobe restaurant handed over 800,000 yen to the gang member between October and January on the premise of resolving possible disputes in her establishment, according to the police.

The woman maintained that it was to get help in dealing with troublesome customers.

The prefectural ordinance banning organized crime activities took effect in 2011. It stipulates that residents have an obligation to avoid contact with yakuza groups or seek help to resolve a problem.

There is a risk that establishments will continue to pay protection money, as a result of warnings. Those who don't comply with the warning will have their names made public.

The ordinance was revised in 2019 to give it more teeth.

It designates four districts as organized crime exclusion special reinforcement areas in the prefecture, Sannomiya in Kobe s Chuo Ward, Fukuwara in Hyogo Ward, Kanda-Shinmichi in Amagasaki and Uomachi in Himeji.

Those who provide them with money are subject to punishment, as are gangsters and restaurant owners. They can face up to a year in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.

Protection money payments are believed to have fallen due to the revision of the ordinance, but there are bound to be instances of establishments that are unable to cut their long-standing relationships with organized crime groups, an investigator said.

The number of gang members in Hyogo Prefecture has fallen steadily in recent years, along with the crackdowns mounted by the authorities.

Hyogo prefectural police said on March 23 that local yakuza numbers were at a new all time low of 600 as the end of 2022, down 90 from the previous year.

The number was less than 30 percent compared with 10 years ago and less than 20 percent of its peak. The figure has hit record lows for the last 14 years in a row.

The Yamaguchi-gumi, for example, now has 280 members, down 30 from the previous year, while the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, also locally based, has 170 members, a decrease of 70 from the previous year. Kizuna-kai remains with 50 members.

The total number of gangsters in the prefecture is less than one-fifth from its peak in 2005, when the figure stood at 3,260. The anti- organized crime law took effect in 1992.