For much of the twentieth century, organised crime in Japan was legal in a strange sense: gangs had offices with their emblem on the door, their own magazines and friends in Parliament. Twelve stops follow that history from the gamblers and street peddlers of Edo to the postwar black markets, the Sugamo prisoner who became the most influential man in the shadows, the wrestler stabbed in a nightclub, the laws that cornered them and the red-light district of Shinjuku. Approximate audio duration: 22 minutes.
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Yakuza: el crimen organizado que tenía placa en la puerta
Durante buena parte del siglo veinte, en Japón el crimen organizado fue legal en un sentido extraño: las bandas tenían oficinas con su emblema en la puerta, revistas propias y amigos en el Parlamento. Doce paradas recorren esa historia desde los jugadores y vendedores ambulantes de Edo hasta los mercados negros de la posguerra, el preso de Sugamo que se volvió el hombre más influyente en las sombras, el luchador apuñalado en un club nocturno, las leyes que los acorralaron y el barrio rojo de Shinjuku. Duración aproximada de audio: 22 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~22 min of audio · 28.76 km on foot (~7 h 10 min walking) · about 7 h 45 min in total
You are in front of a seated stone Buddha, almost four metres tall, squeezed between the railway tracks. It is called Kubikiri Jizo, the Jizo of the beheaded. This was Kozukappara, one of Edo's two execution grounds.
It is estimated that tens of thousands of people were executed here during the Edo period. The Jizo was raised in the eighteenth century to pray for their souls.
We begin here because the history of the yakuza begins on the margins of Edo. At the bottom of society, outside the class system, lived professional gamblers, street peddlers, leather workers and executioners.
The gamb…
2
The Day Labourers' Market
This crossing is called Namidabashi, the bridge of tears. The bridge no longer exists. In Edo, the condemned crossed it on the way to Kozukappara, and their families said goodbye here.
Around it lies San'ya, a district that does not appear on official maps. During the twentieth century it was Tokyo's biggest day-labour market. Notice the cheap hostels, with rooms the size of a bed.
Every dawn, hundreds of men waited on this corner for someone to hire them for construction. The recruiters, often linked to the yakuza, chose them, took a commission and kept part of the wages.
The works for the…
3
The Masters of the Stalls
You are next to Asakusa Shrine. If you come on a fair day, you will see rows of food stalls: skewers, fried octopus, little sugar fish. That world has had owners for centuries.
The tekiya, the street peddlers of Edo, organised themselves into groups with their own hierarchy. The boss assigned the pitches at each fair, charged for them and settled disputes. It was order, protection and business all at once.
That structure imitated a family: the boss was the father, oyabun; the members, the children, kobun. It was sealed with a ritual exchange of sake cups. The same ceremony is still used.
Du…
4
The Black Market
You are in Ameyoko, the market that runs under the railway between Ueno and Okachimachi. Fish, spices, sportswear, vendors shouting. It was born in 1945 as a black market.
After the surrender, Tokyo was a field of ruins. Official rations were not enough to survive on. Food, alcohol and cigarettes came from illegal markets that sprang up beside every station.
Ame means sweets: sweets made from sweet potato were sold here when sugar did not exist. Others say ame came from America, after the occupation army goods resold under the tracks.
Those markets were no man's land, and someone had to kee…
5
The Prisoner Who Walked Out With the Keys
Look at the Sunshine 60 skyscraper. When it opened in 1978 it was the tallest building in Asia. It stands on the site of the old Sugamo Prison.
After the war, the Allies locked up those accused of war crimes here. Some were tried and hanged on this spot. A small memorial in the neighbouring park recalls the executions.
Among the prisoners was Yoshio Kodama, an ultranationalist who during the war had made a fortune plundering strategic materials in China for the Japanese navy.
In December 1948 he was released without trial, on the same day as Nobusuke Kishi, who would later become prime mini…
6
Private Security for a President
You are in front of Japan's Parliament, the National Diet, opened in 1936. In 1960 this esplanade filled with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.
They were protesting against the renewal of the security treaty with the United States, which Prime Minister Kishi wanted passed at any cost. There were weeks of clashes. A student, Michiko Kanba, died here in a charge against the police.
President Eisenhower was due to visit Tokyo. The police warned they could not guarantee his safety in the face of the crowds.
According to many historians and journalists, the government then turned to Kodama…
7
The Law That Took Away Their Door
You are in Kasumigaseki, the ministries district. In one of these grey buildings is the National Police Agency. For decades its relationship with the yakuza was ambiguous.
The police knew where the offices were, who the bosses were and which businesses they controlled. They often preferred a known gang, one they could talk to, to the chaos of freelance criminals.
That changed with the economic bubble of the eighties. The yakuza moved into real estate and the stock market. They drove out residents to free up land, extorted companies at their shareholder meetings, lent money to banks and build…
8
The Wrestler and the Nightclub
You are in Akasaka. In the sixties this district had Tokyo's most exclusive nightclubs, where politicians, businessmen, stars and gang bosses mixed. Almost opposite here stood the New Latin Quarter.
Its most famous customer was Rikidozan, the father of Japanese professional wrestling. On postwar television he beat American giants with karate chops. For millions of Japanese he was a symbolic revenge.
His show was largely financed and protected by yakuza figures. In Japan, the entertainment world, promoters and gangs were deeply intertwined.
On the night of 8 December 1963, in the toilets of …
9
The Night of the Foreigners
You are at Roppongi crossing, under the elevated expressway. After the war this district was surrounded by American military installations. The soldiers brought bars, jazz and money in dollars.
In 1954 an American veteran, Nick Zappetti, opened a pizzeria here that became legendary. Film stars, athletes, diplomats and yakuza bosses passed through its tables. The journalist Robert Whiting told that story in a book: Tokyo Underworld.
Roppongi shows another side of the yakuza: their ability to do business with everyone. Clubs, entertainment agencies, imports, contacts with foreigners.
In the s…
10
Light From Shinjuku
You are at the east exit of Shinjuku Station, the busiest in the world: more than three million passengers a day. Look at the giant screens, the department stores, the crowd.
On 20 August 1945, just five days after the surrender, an open-air market opened in this area. It was organised by a family of tekiya, street peddlers with a gang structure.
Above the market hung an illuminated sign with a phrase that became famous: light comes from Shinjuku. In a city with no electricity or food, those lamps were literally the only thing lit up.
They sold pots made from soldiers' helmets, plates made …
11
The District of the Theatre That Was Never Built
You are under the red arch of Kabukicho. More than three thousand bars, host clubs, karaoke rooms and love hotels. It is the largest red-light district in Japan.
The name is an irony. After the war, local residents planned to rebuild this area around a great kabuki theatre. That is why it is called Kabukicho, the kabuki district. The theatre was never built.
What came instead were cinemas, dance halls and, soon, the night. And with the night, protection. For decades many businesses here paid a monthly fee to some gang.
Notice the signs with photos of young men styled like pop stars: they ar…
12
The Ones Who Outlasted Everyone
You are in Golden Gai: six narrow alleys with about two hundred tiny bars, some with room for five people. Writers, filmmakers and musicians drank here for decades.
Before 1958, when prostitution was banned, these places operated as covert brothels on the upper floor. Afterwards, the bars remained.
In the eighties, during the bubble, the land in Golden Gai was worth a fortune. Speculators, often with yakuza help, pressured owners to sell: threats, harassment, suspicious fires in the area.
Many owners and regulars refused to leave, and the district held out. That is why this corner of little…
How long does the "Yakuza: Organised Crime With a Nameplate on the Door" audio tour take?
It has about 22 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 28.76 km walking route (~7 h 10 min on foot). Plan roughly 7 h 45 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "Marked by the Law" (coordinates 35.7338, 139.7989). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Tokyo and pick "Yakuza: Organised Crime With a Nameplate on the Door". No account required to start.
