THIS IS MATERIAL FROM THE ICE CAVE. IT HAS NOT YET BEEN FORMATTED.
From: "Adam Marler"
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 17:28:49 PST
For me, I take a "Big Trouble In Little China" perspective on the Yakuza. Wasnt the character in that in that movie trying to summon up some sort of infinite evil from beyond space and time? While on the other hand you could use that standard Cyberpunk view of the Yakuza, the really high tech guys, with the monofilament whips and whatnot. What I use in my games is somewhat of a mix between the two. A recent scenario went like this: The agents, through one of their contacts find out about someone trying to buy up a bunch of ancient Japanese relics from museums and private collectors. The agents investiage this and get their asses handed to them by a bunch of Kung-Fu guys wielding monofilament whips and submachineguns. Once they survived that, they figured out that the Oyabun(The leader) is trying to whistle up Ye Eldritch Horrors, to use against his enemies.
Thats just my two cents worth.
From: Mark "Sanjuro" McFadden
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 22:14:54 EST
If you want to see how the Yakuza see themselves, you can't go wrong with "The Yakuza". Written/Directed by Paul Schrader (Cat People, screenplay for Taxi Driver, Mishima)
In the period when Ieyasu (sp?) became the second shogun (help me! I'm flailing! You know, the Golden Age of Swordplay, Seven Samurai time, when Miyamoto Musashi was establishing his rep) , the Yakuza acted as sort of a poor man's samurai. For a fee, they would protect villages from wandering bandits and ronin out wilding. At least, that's the way they tell it.
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 13:35:24 +0900 (JST)
From: Jay and Mikiko
Thats just my two cents worth.
The Yakuza you usually see in Japan (or at least, the Yak poseurs) usually have punch permed hair, pot bellies, tattoos, are are carrying a racing form in one hand. They may have a knife, but will only rarely have a gun, usually a low-powered one (except shotguns). I've never heard of anything stronger than a .32 revolver being seized or used in a shooting. Incidently, tattoos will get you chased out of many public baths over here.
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 09:00:30 +0000
From: Gordon Rennie
If you want to see how the Yakuza see themselves, you can't go wrong with
"The Yakuza". Written/Directed by Paul Schrader (Cat People, screenplay for
Taxi Driver, Mishima)
In the period when Ieyasu (sp?) became the second shogun (help me! I'm
flailing! You know, the Golden Age of Swordplay, Seven Samurai time, when
Miyamoto Musashi was establishing his rep) , the Yakuza acted as sort of a
poor man's samurai. For a fee, they would protect villages from wandering
bandits and ronin out wilding. At least, that's the way they tell it.
Similarly, the Sicilian Mafia have a romantic fairy tale about their own historical origins in which the Mafia began life as dashing freedom fighters protecting the people of Sicily from foreign invaders. Like the Yakuza story, this excuse for centuries of extortion and terrorisation should be taken with a couple of barrels of salt.
From: Steve Long
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 06:51:26 EST
Those of you interested in reading more about the Yakuza should check out:
YAKUZA, David Kaplan and Alec Dubro (the best one if you can only read one)
CONFESSIONS OF A YAKUZA, Junichi Saga
YAKUZA DIARY, Christopher Seymour
In a more gaming-friendly format, check out Hero Games's DARK CHAMPIONS, which covers not only the Yakuza but other forms of organized crime as well.
From: "Matt Stewart"
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 00:46:18 +1100
Hi….Just some thoughts on Eastern criminal fraternities in Delta Green.Cant help you out TOO much with the origins of the Yakuza though I can tell you that the Chinese Triads were supposedely the offspring of the secret societies that formed in the wake of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple.
Destroyed by suspicious government factions,the monks were said to have been slaughtered and only 5(the number varies) disciples escaped. Several of these survivors went on to establish secret societies and organisations for their own protection and to continue the Shaolin teachings(these teachings included the martial arts training that the Shaolin temple is famous for). Over the years some of these secret societies grew in power and along the way their ideals changed to be ultimately self-serving.Again my knowledge is minimal at best on this stuff but thats one of the stories I heard re the evolution of the Triad.
Who knows why the temple was destroyed? Were the monks more(or less) than they seemed?Or were they involved in stopping something that the people in power didnt want them to?I dont know Im just crapping on now…better introduce myself as Matt Stuart..card carrying Australian.Gunfondling isnt really my thing but martial arts is…Ive conducted demonstrations for the Aussie Armed Forces and been an enthusiast for a long time.To get off that mastubatory subject Im also involved in Special Ed and teach kids with disabilities that range from ADD(it DOES exist) to Austism blah blah blah.So I consider myself a card carrying lunatic and hope to fit right in…
From: "David Farnell"
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 23:03:30 +0900
Well, y'all knew I couldn't keep quiet on this for long. Adam wrote:
Ah, now, that's the Chinese tongs, not the Japanese yakuza. This may seem like a tiny point, but it will be a glaring one in Emerald Hammer once the China Chapter and Jay's Japan Chapter (and the related ones, like the San Francisco Chapter) get further along the road to completion. (Yes, I'm working on it again! Look for something in a couple of weeks.)
From what I've seen of the yakuza, magic and eldritch terror are far from their minds. I just can't picture an oyabun as a cult leader. Now, a wizardly Mythos-worshipping Unit 731 surgeon manipulating the yakuza into doing something for him, yeah.
The idea of the yakuza gang that was trying to kill the characters then turning around and joining them to wipe out the disgusting Mythos-worshipping cult that had been manipulating them really fits the image. (Say that 3 times fast.) Chinese tongs use supernatural assistance pretty often in the wilder films out of China. The yakuza certainly honor the gods, but they aren't into the supernatural. And the "polluted" nature of most Mythos magic would make it extra-repellent to Shintoists.
Oh, and Jay's description is spot-on. Regarding tattoos: if you have a tattoo and want to come to Japan to study judo, forget about it. The judo federation won't let you. You won't be able to use the public baths or swimming pools. And you probably will find it hard to get a job if anyone knows about your tattoo. That's how bad the stigma of yakuza tattooing is.
For Yak movies, see just about anything starring Ken Takakura. He played the Japanese (obviously) cop in Black Rain. He was also in The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum, probably the first American movie about the yakuza. When younger, he generally played "the honorable yakuza soldier," last of a dying breed, just out of jail (and he never ratted out his friends, even though he got an extra 2 years for keeping silent). The young turks in the gang are disrespecting the aging oyabun, and finally they kill him in a takeover bid. Resignedly, Ken gets out his wakizashi and goes to the HQ, knowing he'll die but needing to save the gang's honor through killing it off. After slaughtering every bad guy in the gang, he succumbs to his wounds in the arms of his girl. He dies without ever telling her he loves her, because real men don't say things like that—ever. And she respects him for it.
Note that I very much DON'T buy the "honorable yakuza" propaganda, but it's a good moral dilemma to have DG teaming up with organized crime in any country. Yaks are bully-boys who feel it's their right and duty to beat the shit out of anyone who crosses them and lord it over everyone, taking whatever they can steal. That said, some of them do have a sense of honor (mainly coming from their machismo), and could easily find themselves in a situation where that honor demands they help our own morally compromised agents.
(When you come right down to it, isn't DG a form of organized crime? With the same myth that "We're protecting people"? And wouldn't the reply, "But we're the good guys," also be used by the Yakuza, the Mafia, the Tongs, the Cosa Nostra, on and on? Not that I'm criticizing. The moral dilemmas are a major part of what makes DG so great.)
From: "Christopher D. Nichols"
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 12:20:28 PST
I've never got around to using this, but here a breif description of my notes on this topic.
This are three major divisions of the yakuza. First, there are the basic cannon-fodder and red-herring non-Mythos yakuza. These exist to make investigators waste time. Second, there are the Cthulhu Cult yakuza. They are in league with the Unit 731 guys from my notes in the Japan chapter of EH. Third, there are the Oyabuns (did I spell that right?) who answer to the Circle Eternal, a Mythos cult I picked up from a piece of fanfiction.
I doubt that this information is useful in any way, but you asked.
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 19:49:20 -0600 (CST)
From: Tenebrous Technologies
Not to mention EHP's flagship, 'Hong Kong Action Theater!'. Lot's o' stuff on asiatic bad guy groups.
From: Mark McFadden
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 00:07:31 EST
« Note that most Yaks are resident citizen Koreans or burakumin(Sp?) »
Something abot the phrase "resident citizen Koreans" reminded me of the head of the History Dept. when I was in college. I got to know him when he was my upstairs neighbor in the apartment I moved into. Anyway, when he was a child in Korea during WWII, he became part of a Japanese imperialist program. He and others of his age, the best and brightest of Korea's youth, were shipped off to Japan and raised as Japanese. The idea was that they would be raised to be the administrators for Korea when it became part of the Empire.
Things didn't work out that way of course. By the time the authorities could figure out his citizenship after the war, his family was incommunicado in North Korea. And he eventually became the head of the History Dept. at a small college in Nebraska.
ObDG: Wonder if they did that with any Tcho-tcho?
From: Mark McFadden
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 00:07:34 EST
There was a reference in the novelization of "The Yakuza" that there was a genre of Japanese pop music that is songs about and by the Yakuza. Analogous to American country-western. Sung in the traditional (at least in the book) Yakuza "diplomacy" stance. A medium horse stance with the right(?) hand offered palm up and the other placed flat on the left(?) knee. Or crooning like Sinatra with tie loosened and a drink held in a three-fingered hand.
Maybe with sleeves discretely rolled and letting some tattoos peek out. "that's one for my Oyabun and one for the road"
The song that was #1 With A Bullet when I was in Yokosuka was "Swim, Fish Cookie", the autobiographical tale of a bean curd fish cookie that ditched his vendor and ran off to sea were he does just fine for a few more bars. It was so popular that it generated two sequels and several attempts to cash in on the lucrative snack/open sea music market. Most notably "Fish Cookie Meets Mr. Jaws" and "Hustle Fried Octopus".
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 02:12:43 +0900 (JST)
From: Jay and Mikiko
I have to disagree here. The Yakuza tend to be closer to the right-wing, ultranationalist ideology. They're generally supporting the big sound trucks that want all foreigners — and they consider anyone not of Japanese blood to be a foreigner, even if their great, great granddad was brought here in the 1800s — out of Japan, so they tend to be down on Koreans in a big way. I think the Koreans have their own syndicate, generally handling the money from a number of the pachinko parlors. I'll have to check around on this.
Also, and I'm just guessing here, but I don't think the Yaks would be too fond of burakumin, either. I'll ask around, and if I find out otherwise, I'll post it.
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 22:02:51 +0100
From: Davide Mana
They should not be too fond of them all right.
After all, they're burakumin, right?
Meanwhile, this might be a good starting point for some more research
http://mprofaca.cro.net/mafind.html
[yes, I have some personal interest in the subject]
Take care, gentlemen.
From: "David Farnell"
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 19:41:29 +0900
Jay wrote:
And from what I've heard, this syndicate is connected with North Korea more than South—but that's just what's in the newspapers, and you can never trust them on anything that might have to do with political stuff. Now, if there's any country more suited to be a cult stronghold, it's N. Korea…
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Yak started out of the burakumin, but that's probably BSthe other explanations are much more common (unemployed samurai, gamblers, etc). However, just a little point: You may have picked up the word "eta," meaning the burakumin, from reading Clavell's _Shogun_. I've been told never, ever to use that word in Japanfrom what I was told, it's about the most offensive word in the Japanese language.
Oh, and Mark "Chicky baby" McFadden wrote:
I almost didn't believe this, but I should've known better. The paper yesterday carried a story about the newest big hit, "3 Dumpling Brothers on a Stick." It's about, well, 3 dumplings on a stick, a common snack, and how they're such good brothers because they've got a stick shoved through them a la Vlad the Impaler (synchronicity). It was just another song on an NHK (like the BBC, kind of) kids show, but it took off and is now the top seller in the country. The article went on to note that the same thing happened in the 70s with "Swim, Fish Cookie."
From: Mark McFadden
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:06:29 EST
« I almost didn't believe this, but I should've known better. The paper yesterday carried a story about the newest big hit, "3 Dumpling Brothers on a Stick." It's about, well, 3 dumplings on a stick, a common snack, and how they're such good brothers because they've got a stick shoved through them a la Vlad the Impaler (synchronicity). It was just another song on an NHK like the BBC, kind of) kids show, but it took off and is now the top seller in the country. The article went on to note that the same thing happened in the 70s with "Swim, Fish Cookie." »
When an animated rhinocerous starts pimping a snack food on Japanese TV, and the jingle goes platinum, we'll have come full circle. Of course, I'm still visualizing the daisy-chained Dumpling Brothers and trying to work in a Viagra theme. Hey, it's got a beat and you can dance to it.
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:07:22 +0900 (JST)
From: Jay and Mikiko
Ah, Dango San Kyodai. It's making fun of the resemblance between the words "dango" (dumplings) and "tango" (the dance). The words rhyme in Japanese. Naturally, it's sung to a tango beat. It's cute, and, therefore, irresistable to Japanese. God, I need a way out of this country.
From: Mark McFadden
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 13:50:42 EST
« "dango" (dumplings) and "tango" (the dance). »
When I was in Spain a short time later, apparently "Last Tango in Paris" had struck some cultural chord. I don't speak Spanish (yet), but you get the joke anyhow when a stick of butter is the recurring prop. There were no less than three nightclubs in Palma de Majorca with a major musical number with butter and conga lines as the dominant theme.
Hehe, winter in Palma, and apparently every 20ish babe (do only the hotties know about Southern Spain or something?) in Europe has a vacation about then. One week off and a relentless Spring Break determination to have fun before time's up. And a US aircraft carrier anchors in the harbor. Can you say critical mass?
If you live long enough, you'll have nothing but good memories. For the life of me, I can't remember what work I did in the daytime.
From: "David Farnell"
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 10:47:18 +0900
Hello, folks. I found a pretty good site with essays on organized crime all over the world. Here's the main list:
http://www.alternatives.com/crime/menu.html
And this one takes you straight to the Yakuza:
http://www.alternatives.com/crime/COUNT/japan.html
I'll try to find some more on Leng/Gesar/etc later today, if I have time (must hoe up my garden while it's not raining!).