Yakuza!

**KhawMengLee** · 9th March 2003, 12:25 AM

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/gangster...2.html?sect=25

interesting...

**Sinta** · 9th March 2003, 12:30 AM

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** · 9th March 2003, 08:03 AM

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** · 9th March 2003, 08:06 AM

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** · 9th March 2003, 08:21 AM

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** · 9th March 2003, 02:12 PM

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

**KhawMengLee** · 9th March 2003, 05:47 PM

Is that the one with robert mitchum?

I like Black Rain better...

But Brother (with psycho Beat Takeshi) is a pearl

**Kendoka** · 9th March 2003, 07:10 PM

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** · 10th March 2003, 02:42 AM

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

**Neil Gendzwill** · 10th March 2003, 03:26 AM

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** · 10th March 2003, 07:38 AM

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** · 10th March 2003, 02:13 PM

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** · 10th March 2003, 10:35 PM

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** · 11th March 2003, 11:29 AM

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** · 12th March 2003, 12:07 PM

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 !!