Yakuza
Iam sure all of us have heard about the Yakuza. If you dont, Yakuza are traditional organized crime groups in Japan. A Yak a derogatory term that refers to the Yakuza. The term is used by Japanese young people and foreign persons familiar with Japanese culture. Today, the Yakuza are among the largest crime organizations in the world. In Japan, as of 2005, there are some 86 300 known members.
However, one of the rituals that the Yakuza pratices is the Yubitsume.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."
Basically i feel that this collectivist culture of the Japanese would tell them how to act. Take for example Yubitsume. They would naturally have to react to the situation and no words are necessary. Cutting off a finger is also a culture of theirs as it is a form of punishment for them once they've done something wrong. However normal human beings like us do not practice their culture thus we tend to perceive them as different. Yakuza's are also very widely stereotyped as gangsters, thus if you have a tattoo similar to the yakuza's you'd be perceived as a gangster naturally.
4 comments:
yakuza is a very well known gang in Japan, famous for their crime activities. they are also very loyal towards their gang
yes they are very loyal towards their gang as when they do something wrong, they would immd cut off their finger without any questions asked...
ok maybe not immd but when they get caught for their wrong doings!
gross.. having to cut off a finger just for 1 wrong doing. well, from this you can see that MY culture is different from THEIR culture =)
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