Sage-Tips

What do yakuza bosses do with the fingers?

The act of cutting off one’s pinky is called yubitsume, which literally translates to “finger-shortening” and it’s a huge part of Yakuza culture. In the gang, members are expected to cut off their pinky fingers as a show of remorse for an offence that they have previously committed.

Do yakuza wear pins?

The Yakuza get elaborate and colourful tattoos done all over their arms, torso and legs, so that the body appears dressed even when naked. Several mafia gangs have their own symbols, like the rhombus-shaped pins Yamaguchi-gumi (the largest Yakuza gang in Japan today) members wear on their lapels.

Is Yubitsume real?

Yubitsume is an act of self-mutilation that has become associated with members of the Japanese mafia, which is also known as the yakuza or boryokudan. Theauthors review this practice of the yakuza.

Do yakuza really cut their fingers?

In a ritual known as “yubitsume,” yakuza members are required to chop off their own digits to atone for serious offenses. The left pinkie is usually the first to go, though repeated offenses call for further severing.

What happens if you leave the yakuza?

Offenders can have their pinkies cut off and fired from the gang. However, the worst will happen if he commits a crime against another member or family of the Yakuza. Death is what awaits the perpetrator. The underground rules of the Yakuza world also require members to have tattoos.

What do yakuza call their boss?

oyabun
The leader of any gang or conglomerate of yakuza is known as the oyabun (“boss”; literally “parent status”), and the followers are known as kobun (“protégés,” or “apprentices”; literally “child status”).

Are yakuza friendly to foreigners?

Not really, they’re usually pretty friendly.

Do Yakuza use guns?

Gangs affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest organized crime syndicate, have ordered their members not to use guns in public to shield their senior leaders from criminal responsibility, sources said.

Why do yakuza cut their pinky?

Yubitsume (指詰め, “finger shortening”) or otoshimae is a Japanese ritual to atone for offenses to another, a way to be punished or to show sincere apology and remorse to another, by means of amputating portions of one’s own little finger.