YAKUZA AND UK GANGS: Stigmatisation and policing
Introduction
Yakuza, one of the most notorious gangs in Asia, has existed in Japan for centuries as one of the most unique gangs in the world from both a sociological and political perspective. Unfortunately, most sociologists and criminologists from Europe and North America do not realise how unique Yakuza is, in comparison to gangs from other parts of the world, especially in terms of how they were regulated; therefore, Yakuza is ignored by many gang researchers. This exclusion could be a result of stereotyping from films, and consequently, there are currently only a limited amount of studies on Yakuza from a sociological perspective. Throughout this essay, comparisons will be made between Yakuza and gangs in the UK, focusing on two areas: stigmatisation and policing. Additionally, the limitations concerning these discussions will be addressed, and a conclusion provided at the end. The central discussion, concerning the stigmatisation and policing of the gang, will be illustrated through the comparison of Yakuza and UK gangs respectively. This essay will address the stigma associated with tattoos among the Yakuza in Japan and the portrayal of gangs in Britain as "folk devils." Additionally, it will explore the intriguing aspect of policing. Unlike other countries, Japan uniquely recognises the legality of gangs, specifically the Yakuza, making it the only nation that officially acknowledges such groups. In contrast, the UK maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards domestic gangs. The rationale for this study is inspired by the lack of published research that currently exists regarding Yakuza in comparison to gangs from both the UK and US. The reason for choosing gangs in Japan and the UK is entirely based on the author’s personal circumstances. Born and raised in eastern China, the author moved to Glasgow, Scotland, for university at the age of 21. During this time, he became aware of Glasgow’s negative reputation within the UK and even across Europe. Known as the ‘Murder Capital of Europe’ (Lucas & McKay, 2006), Glasgow is notorious for its high crime rates, especially gang crime. This reputation sharply contrasted with his own impressions of the city, although it is plausible that such impressions are based on crime rates from decades ago. Consequently, the author was intrigued by the gang activity in the UK and decided to conduct a comparative study between gangs in the UK and those in another country. The Yakuza in Japan was chosen for its uniqueness, as previously mentioned. Conducting the gang study across different geographical contexts is nuanced, and may assist in understanding gangs and gang crime between different countries under varying cultural and historical backgrounds. Additionally, the effects of globalisation may become more visible by doing such a comparison.
Stigmatisation
Initially, it is necessary to briefly introduce the concept of stigma. Erving Goffman defined stigma as ‘an attribute that is deeply discrediting’ in his 1963 book <Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity>. Individuals possessing such attributes would be relegated to a less desirable social identity category; for example, people might hold a negative attitude towards obese individuals, considering them to be lazy and gluttonous. However, it has been proven that there is a significant relationship between genetic disorders and obesity (Loos & Bouchard, 2003); therefore, an individual could be obese due to genetic reasons. Thus, stigma can lead to unfair biases towards certain groups of people. Stigma is a social phenomenon that leads to the rejection of individuals who are perceived as different, often through the use of labels associated with unfavourable characteristics. Such rejection can manifest in different ways, especially in public places, where stigmatised individuals may face challenges related to access, membership, debuts, and communication (Gardner, 1991).
Stigmatisation of Yakuza
Regarding the stigmatisation of Yakuza, tattoos appear to be the most significant attribute. Beginning with the author’s own personal experiences in Japan, when he was denied entry into a public hot spring in Kyoto due to having tattoos. Having been unaware of that policy in Japan at that time, the author subsequently searched online and discovered many intriguing policies in Japan related to tattoos. In fact, all of the hot springs, swimming pools and beaches in Japan prohibit individuals with tattoos to enter, demonstrating that tattoos are discriminated against in Japan. It appears that people in Japan tend to associate tattoos with criminal or anti-social behaviour; therefore, customers with tattoos could cause others to feel intimidated. Crucially, having tattoos in Japan may even limit employment opportunities, in addition to housing and social welfare options (Skutlin, 2019). In 2012, the mayor of Osaka conducted a survey concerning public sector workers in Osaka and threatened those with tattoos with dismissal, regardless of the size or visibility of the tattoo. Indeed, tattoos in Japan can be seen as a sign to avoid an individual, since others may experience discomfort or even fear when engaging with someone with a tattoo. This raises the crucial question: why do people in Japan hold such a negative attitude towards tattoos? Studies on the Yakuza suggest that tattoos are seen as symbols of criminality, as Yakuza members use them for intimidation (Aigbedion, 2013). Because tattoos are deeply stigmatised in Japanese society, they are easily associated with crime. For Yakuza members, tattoos enhance their intimidating presence, aiding in illegal activities like collecting protection money and debts. Consequently, tattoos have become synonymous with intimidation, leading to a generally negative attitude towards those with tattoos in Japan.
It is apparent that there is a clear correlation between Yakuza and the stigma towards tattoos, but is it the case that Yakuza caused this stigmatisation? In other words, were tattoos an acceptable norm in Japan before Yakuza started to use them as an intimidation tool, or were tattoos already frowned upon within society? Additionally, are there any other overlooked factors that have caused such stigma around tattoos in Japan? To discuss such causality, it seems necessary to look further back in history. From 1192 until 1867, Shogunate, the military dictator in Japan during that period, used tattoos to mark criminals (Arnason, 2014), which, incidentally, is also what the military in China did during that period (Reed, 2000). An example would be that a criminal who had committed a second theft offence would be tattooed with two lines on his arm. However, tribes in Okinawa and Hokkaido, two islands that are not connected to Japan’s main island, used tattoos as body art in their own culture during that period. Over the centuries, tattoos were used as a punishment for criminals that committed crimes such as theft, murder, or treason. Using tattoos as a punishment was outlawed in Japan in 1870, and since 1945 tattoos have officially been recognised in Japan as a form of body art (Arnason, 2014). Criminals that were tattooed during 1192-1867 changed their tattoos into more intricate patterns and combined them with traditional Japanese iconography to reclaim their bodies. Many researchers, such as Ankirskiy in 2014, highlighted the connection between full body tattoos in Japan in <The Water Margin>, also known as <Suikoden> published in the mid-14th century. <The Water Margin> is a Chinese novel about 108 courageous outlaws gathered together to rebel against the government and search for utopia. Many of the outlaws in the novel use full body tattoos to show their courage and perseverance, since tattooing during that period was extremely painful and slow. Indeed, Yakuza members also use full body tattoos to demonstrate their strength and perseverance (Siniawer, 2008). Furthermore, Yakuza members also use their tattoos to express their path of living and loyalty to their families (Chaplin, 2018), as so many gangs in other parts of the world do. Hence, we cannot conclude that Yakuza itself is the sole cause for the stigmatisation of tattoos in Japan, since tattoos were once a symbol of crime in ancient Japan, prior to the emergence of the gang. Yakuza choose to use tattoos to show their strength and perseverance and path of living as in the novel <The Water Margin>; however, their violent behaviours, such as using tattoos as an intimidation tactic, may have added to the pre-existing stigma in Japan.
Stigmatisation of gangs in the UK
Moving onto the stigmatisation of gangs in the UK, focusing specifically on the topic of ‘folk devil’. The concept of ‘folk devil’ was introduced by sociologist Stanley Cohen in his 1972 book <Folk Devils and Moral Panics>. In his study, the folk devils were considered these violent youth subcultures, who were affluent young people from different social classes, and caused trouble through their misbehaviours within society. This led to the media portraying this group as deviants, and they became publicly known as ‘folk devils’, creating a wave of moral panic as they were deemed as a threat to societal values. During the 1980s, there was a significant increase in street gang activity in the UK, especially in London and other major cities (Burke & Sunley, 2018). Issues such as high unemployment rates and social inequality caused young adults during that period to lose their focus in life and many sought a sense of belonging within gangs, leading to an overall increase in the number of gang-related activities at the time.
According to Cohen’s study, media plays a pivotal rule in the formation of folk devil and moral panic. In this particular case, the UK media portrayed the gang as an inherently violent group that could cause significant damage to society, through intimidating images and threatening headlines, in order to attract the public’s attention. The British sociologist and criminologist, Jock Young (2011), heavily criticises the media for the rise of ‘folk devil’: ‘It is not the glut of information that is the problem, but the glut of severely distorted information in a situation of very poor direct knowledge: it is the stuff of panic – the violation of reason.’ He goes on to summarise the process of the emergence of ‘folk devil’: Firstly, the media spread stereotypical images of the deviants rapidly, in order to create a rising spiral of alarm within society, causing people to become afraid of these deviants, before finally propelling the process of deviancy amplification.
However, such stigmatisation of ‘folk devils’ on gang members in the UK could overlook the personal background of people involved in these gangs. As previously mentioned, poverty and lack of education can be critical determinants of people joining gangs. Young gang members may be experiencing poverty and not possess skills to obtain employment due to a lack of education; therefore, joining the gang may seem like their best option. Additionally, social inequality can also be a factor, with minority groups receiving different levels of health care and education levels, and may be treated unfairly in the workplace. Research has shown that there is a clear correlation in the UK between an individual’s ethnic group, their level of education and their unemployment rate (Karim, 2013). The variation in unemployment rates between different ethnic groups is significant for those with lower education levels, especially for males. For example, from a 2003 study, the unemployment rate for male Caucasians with low education levels was 19%, while for the Caribbean, Indian/African Asian, and Pakistani/Bangladeshi groups it was 42%, 20%, and 46% respectively. Such social inequality may trigger higher crime rates for minority groups since they struggle to gain employment. In fact, there was a significant rise in crime rates and gang activities from the African and Caribbean population in London in the 1980s (Pitts, 2020), with high unemployment rates for these groups likely to be one of the main reasons for this increase. This appears to be somewhat similar to the situation that led to the rise of Yakuza in the 19th century, where the abolition of Samurai in the late 1870s caused a huge increase in the number of Yakuza members. With no employable skills, these Samurais had been trained to fight and kill throughout their entire lives, so when it was abolished many of them lost their focus in life and gradually turned towards violent crime, with many of them joining Yakuza in order to make a living (Kaplan et al., 1986). Therefore, simply demonising gang members as ‘folk devils’ may result in the social factors behind gang activity being ignored. The understanding of the issue can be distorted and effective solutions might not be implemented. Moral panic and folk devil issues associated with gangs in the UK are a complex phenomena that relate to historical, media and societal problems.
Policing
The next topic of this study concerns the policing aspect of both Yakuza and UK gangs, since the regulations of each by their respective governments varies tremendously and is worth investigating.
Yakuza regulation
In the early 1700s, Tokugawa Shogunate, the military dictator in Japan formally recognised the legitimacy of Yakuza, making Japan the only country in the world that publicly recognises the legitimacy of gangs (Wang,2022). Unlike gangs in other countries, Yakuza in Japan operates relatively openly; for example, they are allowed to open their offices publicly, while some Yakuza families have a website representing their family, with a corporate song and slogans to recruit more members (Kyoko, 2014). Additionally, Yakuza members often dress formally in public, with a pin showing the logo of their family on their suit.
Furthermore, the Japanese government will sometimes form an alliance with Yakuza. Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest and most powerful family amongst all Yakuza families, has formed alliances with Japanese government several times in history (Wang, 2022). In the period immediately following Japan’s surrender during World War II, social order in Japan was in complete chaos. Kobe, the city where the headquarters of Yamaguchi-gumi is located, was suffering from the collaboration between the local authorities and gangs from North Korea and Taiwan, which controlled the food market and led to a surge in criminal activity, including theft, murder and rape.
During this time, the police force in Kobe was rather limited and they were unable to prosecute criminal activity caused by gangs from overseas. Instead, the police department in Kobe started to seek ‘help’ from Yamaguchi-gumi, asking them to be the temporary ‘civilian police’ in the city and protect citizens from gangs from North Korea and Taiwan. Following this, the Korean War broke out in 1950, and the Yamaguchi-gumi started to work with the US army in Japan, distributing all the important material and supplies for them. Yamaguchi-gumi grew rapidly during this period, also made significant contributions to society, in order to change the public’s perception of them. For example, following the 1995 and 2011 earthquakes in Japan, Yamaguchi-gumi carried out emergency relief work even before the Japanese government did, sending supplies to disaster areas, while some cadres in the family even offered their offices to the government for free to help. Additionally, the gang maintained good relationships with politicians over an extended period, in particular, with right-wing politicians (Wang, 2022). The period between 1992 and 2015 was the most prosperous period for Yamaguchi-gumi, and their annual revenue reached around 80 billion dollars in 2014. They were so powerful at that time that they were even providing financial support to some politicians, in order to increase their influence in the political arena, and the gang quickly became an invisible force that was influencing the Japanese government (Wang, 2022).
Despite Yakuza being legally recognised by the law in Japan, nowadays there are many social restrictions on Yakuza members. With Yakuza becoming increasingly powerful within society and politics, the Japanese government implemented the <Yakuza exclusion ordinances> in 2011 (Reilly, 2014), which was a policy aimed at minimising the power and influence of Yakuza. For example, the law banned Yakuza members from opening a bank account or applying for a credit card, buying a mobile phone or a car, and renting or buying a house or apartment. As already discussed, individuals with tattoos were prohibited from entering certain public areas, such as gyms and pools, following the implementation of this new law (Alan, 2022).
The UK gang regulation
In 1999, the UK Home Office declined an invitation from a Eurogang workshop, declaring that the UK does not have ‘gang problems’, whereas in 2011, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced a ‘concerted all-out war on gangs and gang culture’ (Ralphs & Smithson, 2015), stating that ‘stamping out gangs in the UK is a national priority’. It is likely that this change in narrative regarding gang culture in the UK was a result of the 2011 riots in England, where 66 locations suffered public disorder involving 15,000 people, in retaliation to the news of police officers shooting dead a black man in north London (Bridges, 2012). Additionally, in 2009, The Policing and Crime Act in the UK introduced injunctions on US-style gangs in England and Wales (Ralphs & Smithson, 2015).
In the UK, gangs are considered illegal, and the government currently holds a zero tolerance policy towards gang activities. However, there are some points of interest concerning this. Firstly, The Policing and Crime Act of 2009 states that ‘US-style gangs are banned in England and Wales’ - how exactly do we define a ‘US-style gang’? Are they to be defined simply through their members’ appearance (e.g. Dress style or tattoos), or by other characteristics? Controversy around the definition of ‘US-style gangs’ may lead to the policy being inefficient or even its redundancy. In the UK, there are also gangs from other parts of the world; for example, from South east Asia, Turkey and Albania (Trevor & Katy, 2004). Injunction of US-style gangs could be misleading and lead to police inefficiency, and does not include gangs from other countries outside of the UK that cannot be classified as ‘US-style’.
Secondly, is this extreme measure of gang injunction really the best solution for gang problems? To illustrate, the report from Carr et al. in 2017 may shed some light. Using data from Merseyside, a quantitative study looked at the 24-months prior to and following the gang injunction policy and tested certain hypotheses. The results demonstrated the following: Violent crime by gang members declined following the implementation of the gang injunction policy within 24 months; the total Cambridge Crime Harm Index value of crime by gang members also declined, as did criminal victimisation of gang members. However, similar to what has been discussed regarding Yakuza and the stigmatisation of tattoos in Japan, it cannot be concluded that these results were solely a result of the gang injunction policy - after all, correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Indeed, the researchers admitted there could be various factors involved that caused these declines, and that there is no clear evidence that the gang injunction directly caused this reduction in gang activity. Also significant is that the researchers noted an overall decline in criminal activity in the Merseyside area during that period - not only gang crimes - therefore, such tendency in the data could lead to the results being biased. Therefore, the effectiveness of gang injunction policies remains elusive. However, the Merseyside police department estimated that the cost of injunctions for each gang was approximately 15,000 pounds. Compared with the cost of investigating crimes that could be committed by these gangs, it appears more cost-effective to implement the injunctions (Carr et al., 2017).
Limitation
The first limitation of this study is the causation of the Yakuza in the stigmatisation of tattoos in Japan. While the essay provides a historical context for tattoos in Japan, it cannot present the Yakuza as the sole cause of this stigma, nor does it delve deeply into the causal relationship. Important factors, such as the role of media in tattoo stigmatisation, were not discussed. Understanding the media's influence could help explain the connection between tattoos and the 'folk devil' concept: are tattooed individuals in Japan considered 'folk devils,' and what inequalities might result from this moral panic? Additionally, gang members in other countries, like the US and El Salvador, also have extensive tattoos. Do citizens in the US hold the same attitudes toward tattoos as the Japanese?
A 2006 study reported that 24% of respondents in the US have at least one tattoo (Laumann & Derick, 2006). Additionally, a 2021 statistical study revealed that 81% of participants felt safe and received quality treatment from nurses with visible tattoos (Nease et al., 2021). These results highlight a significant contrast in attitudes towards tattoos in the US compared to Japan. Further discussion is needed to explore how opinions on tattoos differ across countries.
The alliance between the Yakuza and the Japanese government also requires further exploration. Initially, this cooperation might have seemed like a last resort for the government. The Yamaguchi-gumi grew rapidly after World War II, during a time of chaos in Japan. The Yakuza likely seized this opportunity to ally with the government, although it may not have been the government's original intention. The Yakuza Exclusion Ordinances of 2011 suggest that the Japanese government later sought to sever ties with the Yakuza.
Lastly, this paper relied on a single study based on UK gang regulations, specifically from Merseyside. To effectively evaluate the impact of gang injunctions, further research is needed.
Conclusion
To conclude, this essay discussed the differences between Yakuza and gangs in the UK focusing on two areas: stigmatisation and policing. The former included discussions around the stigmatisation of tattoos in Japan and the ‘folk devil’ issue in the UK; while the latter discussed how Japan and the UK regulate domestic gangs. In Japan, Yakuza operates legally, with it being the only country to have legalised gangs, while the UK implements a zero tolerance policy towards gangs. Having addressed the limitations, further discussions regarding the role of the media on the stigmatisation of tattoos in Japan are required. Other potential areas of investigation would be to understand why other countries do not share these same attitudes towards tattooed individuals, despite gangs in those countries also being associated with extensive body tattoos. Finally, further research into the motives for the Japanese the government cooperating with Yakuza, and the age disparities between UK gangs and Yakuza, are still required.
Yu Ban
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