The yakuza, Japan's organized-crime syndicates that have reaped riches from extortion to human trafficking, are finding their ranks decimated by the same strategy U.S. authorities used to jail Al Capone: going after the money.
In the government's latest move against the gangs, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), Japan's financial regulator, on Nov. 5 began inspections of the country's three largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MTU), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), and Mizuho Financial Group (MFG), to determine whether they are complying with regulations meant to curb transactions with criminal organizations. Spokesmen for the three banks declined to comment on the inspections.
The government's efforts are having an impact: Yakuza membership plunged 11 percent in 2011, to 70,300, and fell an additional 10 percent in 2012, to 63,200, following annual declines of about 3 percent or less since 2004, according to data from Japan's National Police Agency. The yakuza have generally been tolerated because of their long history and ties to corporate Japan and politicians. While membership in the gangs isn't illegal, laws enacted nationwide in 2011 made it illegal for anyone to do business with gang members. That same year, a U.S. executive order required American financial institutions to freeze yakuza assets.
