Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Upstart gangsters shake Japan's yakuza
AFP, Published on 19/12/2025
» TOKYO - When Takanori Kuzuoka began climbing the criminal career ladder, he didn't fancy joining Japan's old-school yakuza, with their tattoos, rigid hierarchy and codes of honour.
'Love for humanity': Low-crime Japan's unpaid parole officers
AFP, Published on 22/01/2025
» TOKYO - Teruko Nakazawa once intervened in a knife fight between an ex-offender and their mother -- all in a day's unpaid work for Japan's army of volunteer probation officers.
'Not proud at all': Japan's army struggles to recruit
AFP, Published on 11/10/2023
» TOKYO - A recent open day at a Japanese military base near Tokyo was a fun family outing but, despite the games and snacks, the army recruitment stand was bereft of visitors.
US arrests 3 Thais and 'yakuza chief'
AFP, Published on 08/04/2022
» NEW YORK: US authorities said they had arrested a Japanese yakuza organised crime leader and three Thai men who trafficked heroin and methamphetamine and tried to acquire surface-to-air missiles for rebel groups in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Tattoos still give Japan the needle as Olympics loom
AFP, Published on 17/12/2018
» TOKYO - When Mana Izumi got her first tattoo at 18, she wasn't trying to rebel or shatter any taboos -- just copy Japanese pop diva Namie Amuro's beach-bronze "surfer chick" look.