Oyabun is a Japanese word that means “boss.” It’s the title conferred on the patriarch (or head) of a crime family. This is true of both the real-life yakuza and its fictional counterpart in the ...

The Yakuza operates through a strict hierarchy where every promotion brings greater authority but also greater sacrifice.

A retired Japanese yakuza crime boss. Fingers are often cut off as punishments or to ritually apologise for mistakes – Copyright AFP Frank Zeller When Takanori ...

A missing fingertip offers a clue to Mako Nishimura's criminal past as one of Japan's few female yakuza. Now aged 58, she has clawed her way out of the underworld and now spends her days helping other ...

Mako Nishimura fought her way into the Japanese underworld, but drug addiction and the slow demise of organised crime gangs almost destroyed her In almost 40 years, Mako Nishimura never lost a fight.

Comparisons between the HBO series Tokyo Vice and Sega’s action-adventure Yakuza might come off as especially jarring when considering the latter’s duality in tone and atmosphere. Yakuza games, ...