/ 8 February 2007

In Japan, even the mob turns to part-timers

As Japan frets that solid full-time jobs are becoming scarcer, even the mob is turning to part-timers.

A police study out Thursday showed that part-time gangsters outnumbered full-time mobsters for the first time on record, even as overall mob membership went down.

The figures mirror trends in larger society, where the economy is enjoying its longest expansion since World War II, but critics charge that too many new jobs are part-time or temporary.

In the case of gangsters, the National Police Agency said part-timers — defined as those not directly affiliated with criminal groups — are useful for the mob to carry out deals such as drug and weapons sales and prostitution.

“They can more easily infiltrate businesses or political circles,” an agency spokesperson said. “But whether they are part-time or full-time members, they remain criminals.”

Japan’s gangster population went down by 1 600 to 84 700 in 2006, the police agency said. But part-time members rose to 43 200, outnumbering the 41 500 full-time gangsters.

Although Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, Tokyo saw a string of rare shootings this week in an apparent gang feud, leaving one gangster dead.

Japanese gangsters, known as the “Yakuza,” are famed for their loyalty, cutting off their little fingers as punishment for betrayal.

While the Yakuza traditionally have held interests in industries such as gambling and showbiz, police said that mobsters were also becoming increasingly sophisticated in money-laundering.

Japanese police had 127 cases of money-laundering in 2006, up 18,7% from the previous year, the police agency said, blaming the rise on the mob.

Last year a former Japanese banker working at Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse was acquitted on charges of laundering money for a Yakuza gangster. — AFP