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The term Yakuza comes from a losing hand in  gambling (893 or Ya-Ku-Za). However, in Japan, this once self-deprecating term has lost much of its original meaning. The term now widely resonates in Japanese pop culture in film, books, comics, and games. The Yakuza are anything but losers, it seems.

For example, SEGA director Toshihiro Nagoshi is already hinting that sales of the latest Yakuza title (part 4) are set to eclipse the earlier sales pace record set by Yakuza 3 in the east. Yakuza 3 launched with 350,000 copies sold on the opening day and according to a translation of Nagoshi’s blog, he states:

_{“Yakuza 4 was released on 3/18. It’s selling well. First day sales are number one for the series.”}

Yakuza 4 is poised to become one of the top selling games in Japan this generation but have you ever wondered how the Yakuza got to be so popular and have so much cultural currency in modern Japan?

I remember watching a documentary that suggested that the Yakuza rose to power after World War II, as the Japanese gangsters were better able to serve the community needs in the aftermath of the war because they could use “back door” or “illegal” methods to obtain goods, supplies, and even medicine.

However, in modern times, the clearest western voice we have on the Yakuza world is Jake Adelstein, a crime reporter in Japan. He has 2-part interview with up at Boing-Boing. It is really interesting reading on the public relationship and the often romantacization of the Yakuza.

Check it out:

Part 1 – Meet Jake Adelstein, a Jewish reporter who thinks like a Japanese gangster

Part 2 – The Politics of the Yakuza (Jake Adelstein Q&A Part 2)

_{[Source: Boing-Boing]}

Related Posts:

1. Yakuza 3 Re-Confirmed to have Japanese Voice-Acting and English Subtitles
2. Japanese First Day Sales: 03 Dec 2009
3. Japanese First Day Sales: 26 Nov 2009
4. Japanese Charts 16-22 Nov 2009: J-League 6 slips, Bayonetta hanging tight
5. Next Yakuza title to feature a Porn Actress?