Yakuza!

[KhawMengLee]

How true is this? sounds plausible...


If a yakuza member displeases or severely disappoints his boss, the punishment is often yubizume, the amputation of the last joint of the little finger. A second offense will require the severing of the second joint of that finger, and additional offenses might require moving on to the next finger. A man knows that he must commit yubizume when his immediate superior gives him a knife and a string to staunch the bleeding. Words are not necessary. The origin of this practice dates back to the days of the samurai. Removing part of the smallest finger weakens the hand for holding the sword. When a katana (the samurai long sword) is gripped properly, the pinkie is the strongest finger. The ring finger is the second strongest, middle finger third strongest, and the index finger does almost nothing. With a damaged hand, the swordsman became more dependent on his master for protection. Today this ritual maiming is entirely symbolic, but it serves to make a point with delinquent kobun, and it shows that the yakuza, like their Mafia counterparts, abide by the old saying: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

Taken from here:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/2.html?sect=25

interesting...:eek:

[Sinta]

I've heard about that too. :) Of course I was never really sure which Mafia it was. I presumed it was either the Chinese or Japanese, because I was told this while I was in Asia. I think it's actually true.

[Paburo]

yubitsume and tattoos all over the body are still used traditions among yakuza.
like you i was first sort of skeptical about all that... until i met a real one.
(actually these days i'd been thinking about writing some entry about the "night we hanged out with the yakuza" on my page. it'd be a bit 'crude' and 'taboo' story but i dunno. i think i'll still write it later, heh).

did you know yakuza actually means 893?

[Old Warrior]

Rent the Movie "Black Rain" with Michael Douglas. Not only do you get a glimpse of the Yakuza life, but there's a great Kendo scene.

[kendomushi]

Not only is removing the last joint of the little finger true, but in the past decade, as the economy worsens, more and more yakuza have gone out of business so to speak and try to make the transition to a legitimate life. This caused a boom of sorts in two fields, manufacture of prosthetic finger tips, and surgery to transplant the tip of the little toe to the tip of the finger. What a world we live in. lol

[Neil Gendzwill]

"The Yakuza" is a really cool movie from the 70s.

[KhawMengLee]

Is that the one with robert mitchum?


I like Black Rain better...


But Brother (with psycho Beat Takeshi) is a pearl:)

[Kendoka]

Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill
"The Yakuza" is a really cool movie from the 70s.

..if not earlier I think, however the cool thing about the 2 movies, Black Rain and Yakuza is that the same guy plays the part of a Japanese policeman who, of course is a kendoka.

Watch the earlier movie first then see if his technique has improved !

The actor is (I think) Takakura Ken

[Inouye02]

Takakura Ken was Kojiro Sasaki in the original Musashi movie..

[Neil Gendzwill]

I hated Black Rain. The only good thing about it was the brief kendo scene with Takakura Ken.

The Yakuza is with Robert Mitchum and Takakura Ken. It's not really a martial-arts movie, it stands on its own. The only swordwork is at the end when Mitchum and Takakura take out the bad guys headquarters armed with shotgun and katana respectively. That sequence is great.

[ben]

With you Neil. The Yakuza actually has a good story and is watchable on its own merits, not just as an MA curiosity. Fight sequence at the end - I give it ***** And its sense of place and time is really powerful. Even a seasoned Nippon-o-phile can find things of interest. Surprisingly few cliches. Can't remember the director...

A bit OT but of other films of Ken Takakura's, you gotta give "Mr Baseball" a try. It looks like a stinker from the video jacket (Tom Selleck as ageing baseball star sent to Japan for fish-out-water encounter in the Japanese leagues) but is really quite a watchable film. Again, people who've actually lived in Japan will find a lot to appreciate: the cross-cultural jokes are well-observed, not just cheap shots. Directed by Fred Schepisi I think...

b

[KhawMengLee]

Tom Selleck: "What now?!? You gonna tell me how to use the can?!"

*Walks into toilet. Stares at the squatting potty.*

"Hey, how do you use the can?!?"

[Raígma]

Isn´t that the movie where Selleck is told that taking a bath before a shower is like mastrubating before sex with a beautiful woman?
What kind of rite is this?
Maybe I just had a bad dream.

[KhawMengLee]

I used to hear that Europeans in the old days used to hate baths because they believed it made you sick and as well as that who'd want to sit in a tub of their own dirt and filth. I think the japanes ethink the same along the lines of sitting in a filthy pool.

The japanese bath is a relaxing soothing activity but also one should be clean before going in. Usually you scrub your body, or in the case of a public bath a buddy will scrub your back and you his/hers(note if you got tatoos all over your body ppl might think you are yakuza and will avoid you and try not to splash water on you), and then you shower before entering the bath.

[Kendoka]

Originally posted by Raígma
Isn´t that the movie where Selleck is told that taking a bath before a shower is like mastrubating before sex with a beautiful woman?
What kind of rite is this?
Maybe I just had a bad dream.

Should I take it from your comment, that YOU do not masturbate before sex with a beautiful woman?

Weird !!

:tongue: :tongue: :tongue:

[Tato]

This thread is loosing his... thread, and decency, and...

I gona tell my mama! you #@#!!! obsesed people!

:p

Rei

[Paburo]

tato c'mon.
if you get easily offended by kinky stuff like this....

you might not be suitable to read the yakuza story i posted.
and you might not want to jigeiko with me from now on :D :D

[sminki]

ugh. I for one, thought that the kendo scene in Black Rain was horrible. Better than most movies, granted, but still bad. People didn't do good kendo at all and no proper procedure taken before removing men, etc... That guy (Taka something Ken) breaking Michael Douglas' shinai in half was very unrealistic too.

And that was supposed to be the Osaka police department kenshi!!!!

[KhawMengLee]

How about the scene from The Hunted...some of the kendo looked good but the last person he hit with a weird waza...the kid was coming for men and he pushed the shinai aside with his forehand and went for the one handed men...

also same thing...no proper kendo ettiquette....

[Goyaman]

I shoulda checked this thread earlier, seems it's lost its momentum in the last few days and it's wandered from the original question, but I'll add a last-gasp post...

BTW, the movie "The Yakuza" was made in 1974 and directed by Sydney Pollack, who was a big-name director at that time. Good action and cast. There's a sequence that shows slow kirikaeshi at a kendo practice qued by a taiko, and then--inexplicably--Takakura Ken does the Iaido Ipponme kata before the practice ends. I guess Pollack thought that it would look cool and exotic.

The kendo sequence in "The Hunted" is kinda odd, since it shows the character of Takeda practicing with 4 other people at once...can you imagine doing jigeiko like that? Might be fun.

FWIW, one of my own favorite guilty pleasure movies is "The Challenge" (1982) directed by John Frankenheimer with the one and only Toshiro Mifune and Scott Glenn. No kendo per se in it, but you *do* get to see some sequences of practice with bokuto and tameshigiri. The dinner sequence is also big fun.

[stevemcgee99]

Here here on the ipponme during kirikaeshi comment.

Well, THe Yakuza is VERY cliche, just not in US cinema. It's a formula "meiji/taisho" yakuza flick, caled ninkyo. Unrealistic (using swords), full of giri, short hair, and starring Takakura Ken.

I stronly recommend The Wolves by Gosha Hideo. Has one of my favorites, Nakadai Tatsuya, and just rocks- with a great 70's japanese violent movie soundtrack!

I did like Black Rain however. I thought the way Douglass mispronounced "Sato" the entire time was very realistic.

And, I just saw Mr. Baseball- great flick! My nihongo teacher lent it to me- she's a Takakura Ken nut (otaku? I've been wondering about the correct use of that).

[KhawMengLee]

I just realised that the guy who plays Sugai(the big Oyabun who helps Mr Douglas get Sato) in Black Rain is Tomisaburo Wakayama. For those of the uninitiated Mr Wakayama is the big badass daddy'o who plays Ogami Itto from the Lone Wolf and Cub series.

http://www.mightyblowhole.com/lonewolf/babycart.htm

COOOOL:D

[stevemcgee99]

Wakayama is in many of the 70's ninkyo as well with Ken.

[weldon87]

yall should rent the movie Brother at blockbuster it has english and japanease in it,the movie is about the yakuza and omar epps is in the movie as well ,you see him when the main character comes to the U.S.
you'll see pinkies cut off and stomachs cut in as well as and many ppl getting shot by bullets.

[Hongsermeier]

A small back track here to the original question. Is it true? yes! I was in Japan last week. While out having dinner a group of three men walked in and sat down a couple tables away. They were very nicley dressed and it was apparent people gave them a lot of respect. I looked at my wife and asked very quietly "yakuza?".
She nodded her head but said nothing. When one of them got up and walked past us I did notice he was missing the first knuckle on his left little finger. This man was seated on the end of the table and poured the other guys drinks. So I assume they were higher ranked than he was. Neither of the other two were missing any of their little fingers.