Yakuza membership decreases for 14th straight year

April 12, 2018

Tokyo- Members of yakuza crime syndicates in Japan decreased for the 14th straight year to hit a record low in 2017, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

The total membership as of the end of 2017 came to around 16,800, down by some 1,300, or 7.2 pct, from a year earlier.

"Intensive efforts to eliminate yakuza groups have made it difficult for them to acquire funds and prompted a lot of members to quit," an official of the agency said.

The Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest yakuza group in the country, saw its membership fall by some 500 to 4,700. Members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, a splinter group, totaled around 2,500, down about 100.

There were eight incidents that are believed to have resulted from conflicts between Yakuza groups last year, down sharply from 42 in 2016. In the eight incidents, all of which were conflicts between the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, one died and four were injured.

Separately, five incidents occurred apparently due to conflicts between the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi and a splinter group called the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi from the end of April last year to the end of December in the same year.

Shooting incidents seen to have been caused by yakuza groups totaled 13 in 2017, leaving two dead and four injured. One of the two dead was linked to the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi and was shot to death in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, in September last year.

The number of yakuza group members, associate members and related officials who were found to have been involved in crimes last year totaled 17,737. Of them, 4,693 were involved in violations of the stimulant drugs control law, making up the largest group, followed by 2,095 for assaults, 1,874 for thefts and 1,813 for fraud cases.

In March this year, the Hyogo Safety Commission of the prefectural government added the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi to the list of designated yakuza groups, which are subject to regulations under the law against organized crimes. As of Feb. 1, members of the Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi totaled around 460 and those of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi came to some 2,000. Jiji Press