Crime in Japan

Although this traditional arrangement continues to exist, yakuza activities are increasingly replaced by modern types of gangs that depend on force and money as organizing concepts.

Although concentrated in the largest urban prefectures, yakuza operate in most cities and often receive protection from high-ranking officials.

In 1990, three large syndicates (Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai, Inagawa-kai) dominated organized crime in the nation and controlled more than 1,600 gangs and 42,000 gangsters.

[2] Yakuza the leader Takeshi Ebisawa, pleaded guilty to trafficking nuclear material that had been smuggled through Myanmar for an illicit arms deal.

On 9 January 2025, Yakuza confessed in court to his involvement in the trafficking of nuclear material, including weapon-grade plutonium, as disclosed by U.S. Attorney Edward Kim.

[3] Beginning in 2013, the National Police Agency re-classified the Chinese Dragons, Kanto Rengo, and bōsōzoku biker gangs as "pseudo-yakuza" organizations.

There is also evidence of foreign criminals traveling from overseas to take advantage of Japan's lax security[citation needed].

[32] Policies surrounding the punishment of these crimes and the protection of Okinawan women are few and far between, trials are most often handled by military courts-martial.

[32] State-led initiatives did not offer much to help face and punish these aggressions, civilians took matters into their own hands, in 1995 a group of women-led protests of over 85,000 people in the capital of the prefecture and started their own organization to protect themselves from these crimes: the Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence.