World Japan's Yakuza Cancels Halloween

[tom_mai78101]

TOKYO — It’s been over a month since Japan’s largest organized crime group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, split into two rival factions, and, ever since, people here have been waiting for something to go bump (or be bumped off) in the night.

But it appears the first victim in the looming gang war is nothing more or less than the gang’s annual Halloween festivities, which had become a yearly event at the Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters in Kobe.

Each Oct. 31, the gangsters famous for their permanent costumes (tattoos, missing digits and the like) invited ordinary citizens, mostly small children in “scary” outfits, to have fun with extortion, demanding Japanese candies and snacks.

In front of the Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters—and yes, all of Japan’s designated mafia groups have well-known headquarters—a sign has been posted in Japanese noting the cancellation of the annual trick-or-treat exchanges:

Every year on October 31st, as per custom, we have held a Halloween [event], but this year, due to various circumstances, the event has been called off. We realize this is causing great regret to those parents and children who looked forward to this, but next year we absolutely will hold the event, so please look forward to it. In great haste, we humbly inform you of this.

The 6th Generation Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters.

Read more here. (The Daily Beast)

Interesting read. Also this:

It’s not clear when the Yamaguchi-gumi began celebrating Halloween, but Kobe is an international city where, in some neighborhoods, a U.S.-like traditional Halloween has taken root. One Kobe resident in her thirties, who prefers not to be named saying anything related to the Yamaguchi-gumi, tells The Daily Beast she remembers her international school classmates paying Halloween visits to the headquarters even 20 years ago. She says that the first time her classmates went shouting “trick or treat,” the hapless yakuza who answered the doorbell was utterly befuddled. After trying to figure out what to do, he ended up giving each of the children 1000-yen bills ($10) and told them to go away.

And thus, perhaps, a tradition began.

 

[Slapshot136]

Well.. that was unexpected

 

[KMilz]

Man, Japanese gangs sound way cooler than American gangs.

 

[FireCat]

There's nothing cool about them!

 

[KMilz]

Uh, they set up trick-or-treat events every year but this one. That's pretty cool, man.

 

[Varine]

That doesn't sound like trick or treat, it sounds more like kids demanding candy or else the Yakuza is going to bust a cap in your ass.

 

[KMilz]

They're demanding candy from the Yakuza. They're a bunch of little Yakuza-in-training. Sounds way cooler than trick-or-treat.