U.S. Treasury freezes assets of Kodo-kai yakuza group

Good to see the US slap these filthy groups upside the head.

Wish the Jgov had the same guts and authentic desire to put a stop to these disgusting groups.

Now if only the US Gov had the same guts to stand up to the "yakuza" in their own country, namely the corporates and other rich "business men" that pay the US politicians to do their bidding...

So why can't the J-Gov place similar restrictions on these crime syndicates? - Because, (A) They are afraid to and, (B) there are syndicate members within the government and the police force keeping operations open.

Every few years we see a token arrest of some syndicate affiliated group or person, but it's only to make the public think the cops and government are doing their job. The fact is, they know who the leaders are, where they are and their operations, but do very little about it.

Japan is far too lenient with these mobsters...largely because conservative Japanese admire them. Indeed, there is big mob money in many major Japanese corporations, and no law to stop this practice.

The Yakuza have been an integral part of Japanese society and politics for a long long time. Many "retired" members have gone on to hold the highest posts in the government. So it's atare mae that the police can do little.

Wish the Jgov had the same guts and authentic desire to put a stop to these disgusting groups.

@Speed

Obviously it is an uphill, never-ending battle, but Japan's local governments and particularly police departments have made great strides against the yakuza compared with the situation two or so decades ago. In the spirit of "credit where credit is due," they certainly deserve credit for their efforts.

One example, it used to be that paying protection money to organized crime syndicates was a regular part of business for most retailers, these days thanks to local government and law enforcement support that is rarely the case. Some shopkeepers even have anti-organized crime stickers in their windows now (暴力団排除宣言の店 boryokudan haijo sengen no mise).

That is something you would not have seen several decades ago, and people in Japan — ordinary citizens, small business owners, company presidents, politicians, law enforcement — are by and large much less intimidated by the yakuza than they used to be (though it is still extremely rare to here a Japanese person utter the word 'yakuza,' strangely enough, instead they will use the word 'boryokudan').

Wish the Jgov had the same guts and authentic desire to put a stop to these disgusting groups.

Speed, my son, if the government cracked down on the Yakuza and jailed them all, 80% of the Diet would be in jail. The country would fall apart. It's nice to wish for such things, but this will simply push the Kodo-Kai out to somewhere else.

Money is a never-ending problem. Unfortunately the Japanese government has been too tolerant towards these groups and again it's time to step up to the plate and take responsibility concerning this matter. After all it is their problem.

murders everywhere.lol

lol?

Good work America, I think part of the problem in Japan is...Well the excuse they give is.... they know it happens but they can't prove it of find the culprits.

They're not worried. They'll make up the difference by collecting for NHK.

CrazyJoeApr. 22, 2015 - 09:55AM JST

Japan needs a statue similar to the RICO Act. (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). You need the proper tool for the job.

The law 組織的な犯罪の処罰及び犯罪収益の規制等に関する法律（平成十一年八月十八日法律第百三十六号）does that job.

@CH3CHO

Thanks.

If a government wants to seize assets, it helps if the assets it wants to seize are big. Crime families have big assets. Now if we could only get the US government to seize assets of some of our international corporate criminals and of billionaires who hide earnings and don't pay their taxes, we could solve the US national debt, and cut taxes for everyone else. We are talking of many trillions of dollars.

It's one thing to make fun of the US for its gun violence. We have that coming. I think organized crime must be worse in Japan, though. Japan has had its press dinged for their systemic flaws and the judicial system has a ton of problems with their forced confessions. I prefer taking my chances with the gun violence than living in a country that is being bled dry with corruption and inefficiency.

Dr Helen Caldicott a World renowned anti-nuclear activist has state that the Yakuza have the contract for cleaning up the exclusion zone after the Fukushima disaster . That you can not believe any data about the decontaminated area,s. So the Yakuza is that intrenched in the Japan Government. I can see a Casino licence being award very soon after the USA have put a stop to the Yakuza money laundering.

Now if only the US Gov had the same guts to stand up to the "yakuza" in their own country, namely the corporates and other rich "business men" that pay the US politicians to do their bidding...

Sadly, for most of that it's 100% legal... ESPECIALLY after the Supreme Court ruled that "Corporations are citizens just like people are, and must be allowed to donate to the candidate of their choice." There ARE still limits and you'll hear from time to time some campaign donor breaking the rules, but the rules have so many loopholes that it's like trying to stem a tsunami with a plastic bucket.

Maybe the j government would rather have organized crime without guns compared to the U.S. Which has disorganized crime with guns, murders everywhere.lol

As opposed to Japan? There must be no murders in Japan, huh? Oh, wait. Just in the top 6 in the crime section today we have:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/body-of-murdered-woman-found-in-ruins-of-house-after-fire http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/man-arrested-for-strangling-girlfriend

I'll agree with your one statement: There are murders EVERYWHERE, but it's not a "LOL" subject.

Yaks are bad, m'kay. but the Us government is getting ever more draconian - powers of seizure of assets and similar are excessive. Land of the free no more.

The seizure of assets is a standard practice worldwide. Where the U.S. stepped over the line was in their battle against drugs and money laundering. Laws were passed to combat drug money where if someone was found with a large sum of cash in their vehicle, that cash could be confiscated without any charges being brought against the driver. In order to get the money back, the driver would have to go to court and prove the money didn't come from illegal sources. Essentially, people were put in the situation where they had to prove something DIDN'T happen. If they somehow managed to prove a non-event, then they STILL would not get their money unless they signed a waiver removing their right to sue the police for taking their funds. What made it worse was the Federal law had a clause in it that made part of the funds confiscated available to the local police force that did the confiscation. (You can see where this is going.) Small-town police forces suddenly had an additional revenue stream! Companies sprang up that trained police forces solely on the Confiscation laws and the techniques to use to cause the person stopped to agree to a car search. On a police car dash-cam, one guy was stopped for some minor thing, and the officer kept asking if he could take a look in the car, to which the driver refused. The officer kept the driver there for AN HOUR after the ticket for the minor thing had been completed, all the while trying to imply that if the driver didn't let him search the car, then he would get in more trouble than just a ticket. To the driver's credit, he continued to refuse. The officer finally gave up and let the driver leave.

How do I know all this? The newspapers caught wind of the practice and started exposing the law for what it really was. Congress is now looking into how to change the law so that the police don't have an incentive to stop and search anyone they think might have money in the car.

What surprises me is that criminal organizations still keep money in the US. This kind of thing has been happening for years.

For that matter, I'm not a criminal organization and I wouldn't keep assets in the US.

Good move, but with today's cybercrime it's whack-a-mole.

Japan needs a statue similar to the RICO Act. (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). You need the proper tool for the job.

Maybe the j government would rather have organized crime without guns compared to the U.S. Which has disorganized crime with guns, murders everywhere.lol

If you think that the yakuza don't kill people with guns and other means you are mistaken. The difference between the US and Japan is that many of the crimes they commit are not reported as much as they are in the USA. Mobsters whether in the USA or not will kill each other. The thing you should take a look at is see how many "missing person" reports have been filed by family members of people who had reputed gang ties, and then you will probably get a closer look at how many yakuza killings go on. But then again, the J-press and Gov are probably not going to be forthcoming with those numbers.

Murders happen here in Japan also. Everyday there is a new post of some person killed by another. Yes they may not use guns, but it still happens. Just as with the USA, lower level crimes are disorganized in Japan the random killings and convenience store robbery that goes on happens here just as the USA.

Still, it is not a nice banner to fly if you think that the Japanese system of organized crime is much better, why don't you tell that to the many older people who have been scammed by the telephone operators into giving away huge sums of money to supposed family members in distress that have been run by organized crime. But according to your logic, that's a good crime since no bodies were left in the streets from bullet wounds.

@abe234. Oh but you're wrong. There is organized crime in the US too. Nothing to be proud of.

@ Torakichi

"if the government cracked down on the Yakuza and jailed them all, 80% of the Diet would be in jail. The country would fall apart. It's nice to wish for such things, but this will simply push the Kodo-Kai out to somewhere else."

They say the FEMA camps are ready for the Yaks in America.

If the government here did crack down on the yakuza, that would be the end of a lot of ex-pats' "Yeah, I was drinkin' at this yakuza bar one time..." stories. But other than providing losers with instant street cred among their loser friends, the yakuza are an entrenched part of how business is carried out here. As long as banks do business with them, as long as they stay embedded in the construction industry, as long as people need loans they can't get from banks, as long as people frequent pachinko parlors and prostitutes, there will be a place for the yakuza.

Yes CH3CHO I saw the interview and yes I said the same as you. Can she say that without any backlash? I was pointing out that if it is true, the Casino licence issue will get approval very soon.

I appreciate the efforts of US Treasury, but this sentence made me doubt their ability.

"Takeuchi is also linked to the Inagawa-kai syndicate, the third largest yakuza syndicate in Japan, through a symbolic brotherhood he shares with Kazuo Uchibori, the second-in-command of the Inagawa-kai," it said.

Yamaguchi-gumi and Inagawa-kai call each other enemy and are killing each other for decades. I do not think a big boss of Yamaguchi-gumi is assossiated with Inagawa-kai.

How much money did the Treasury confiscate? Is it just a toothless symbolic move to add a couple of names in the list? The organization has a lot of legal entities or paper companies which the US Treasury list may not cover.

By the way, the name Takeuchi Teruaki has been on the watchlist of Japanese police for a long time. If you try to make a bank account with that name, police officers will show up before you leave the branch.

Meanwhile, they do as they please here. Through every strain of business & politics. They honestly run this country!

Good lesson. Thank you, America ! Now everyone understands that it is way better to place money in Asian banks...

Yaks are bad, m'kay. but the Us government is getting ever more draconian - powers of seizure of assets and similar are excessive. Land of the free no more.

The Japanese "Boryokudan" is a legit organization that provides structure and necessity to Japanese culture. Kind of like the LDP.

according to your logic, that's a good crime since no bodies were left in the streets from bullet wounds.

Neither are good, but if I had to choose which I'd prefer, it's a simple decision.

John-SanApr. 22, 2015 - 01:58PM JST

Dr Helen Caldicott a World renowned anti-nuclear activist has state that the Yakuza have the contract for cleaning up the exclusion zone after the Fukushima disaster .

An "activist" and "renound" do not sit well in one sentense for me.

Can she offer any evidence of her allegation? If she had any, she should send it to police, or in case she does not trust Japanese police, she should open it to public in the internet. That would help the clean up.

Wait, she has not done so yet, and why? Chances are that she has nothing to support her allegation.

Conspiracy theory is tempting, but people should keep away from it.

Maybe the j government would rather have organized crime without guns compared to the U.S. Which has disorganized crime with guns, murders everywhere.lol