
A Dangerous and Costly Photo in Japan - curiously
https://news.vice.com/article/best-of-vice-news-2014-this-may-be-the-most-dangerous-and-most-costly-photo-in-japan
======
jpatokal
So a dash of soy sauce for anybody reading this article without some
familiarity with the background: Jake Adelstein is a reporter who shot to fame
with his book "Tokyo Vice", which is about being the first Western reporter to
cover the crime beat at a Japanese newspaper, not a small achievement.
However, in the five years since, Jake's articles have been basically all
yakuza all the time, and tend to imply that the yakuza are everywhere in
Japanese society, pulling strings all the time.

However, in actuality, the yakuza are slowly fading away. The police started
clamping down pretty hard in 1992 and have kept up the pressure ever since,
with many traditional yakuza businesses like protection money, extortion
becoming more and more difficult, and increasing societal pressure on yakuza
members themselves. Consequently, yakuza revenues and membership have
plummeted, and infighting between groups fighting for slices of the remaining
cake (drugs, gambling, illegal prostitution, etc) isn't helping. Here's a
summary, cowritten oddly enough by Jake himself, although he does somewhat
unconvincingly claim that the yakuza are just going underground in response:

[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/09/where-
have-...](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/09/where-have-japan-s-
yakuza-gone.html)

~~~
nodata
But leaded fuel was banned in Japan in 1986.

------
sdoering
Why is it, that whenever there is a FIFA WC or Olympics, that there seems to
be ties to organized crime, poor working conditions, bribery and so on, but
nothing ever happens, the games go through (every time) and everybody is
watching, what is just a show of "panem et circenses".

Why do "modern" societies accept these kinds of festivities, with all what is
surrounding them?

~~~
parados
I think that it is merely a consequence of when you have a small number of
people that get a huge benefit which is paid by the rest of society
contributing just a little each. It is greatly in the interest of the smaller
group to continue this by whatever means, even criminal ones. It is not really
in the interest of the rest of society to end this because, as individuals,
they contribute very little and it would take a huge effort to stop paying.

You get the same effect when, for example, governments subsidise an industry
such as agriculture. A tiny group benefits (and lobbies for this to continue)
but the cost to the rest of society is individually quite small, for example
in Europe around EUR 5-10/person/week.

~~~
hga
This is one of the things covered by public choice theory:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice#Special_interest...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice#Special_interests)

------
igonvalue
> In addition to serving as the vice chairman of Japan's Olympic Committee,
> Tanaka is also the chief director of Japan's largest college, Japan
> University, and the president of the International Sumo Association

I was curious to learn more about Japan University, but it seems that there
doesn't actually exist an institution that goes by that name! The Wikipedia
page for "Japan University" does not exist, and a Google search for "Japan
University" in quotes doesn't turn up any results for a Japan University on
the first page.

It seems that he's actually referring to Nihon University; Nihon means "Japan"
in Japanese.

~~~
maaku
The word "Japan" doesn't exist in Japanese, so I'm not sure what your point
is...

~~~
peteretep
His point is that it's weird to have translated part of an organisation name
where the organisation calls it something else. A bit like someone referring
to "All Japan Airways", instead of "All Nippon Airways".

~~~
georgemcbay
Well it is also weird that we can just call Japan Japan or Germany Germany all
the time as those aren't those countries' names, yet we still do it.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9VMY8X9rU8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9VMY8X9rU8)

~~~
kazinator
That is called an "exonym". Many languages have them.

In Slovakia, the St. Lawrence River forming part of the border between Canada
and the USA is called "Rieka svätého Vavrinca":

[http://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rieka_sv%C3%A4t%C3%A9ho_Vavrinc...](http://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rieka_sv%C3%A4t%C3%A9ho_Vavrinca)

~~~
smcl
Well that's a direct translation of the name and using the Czech/Slovak
version of Lawrence/Laurence/Laurent.

Rieka = river

Svaty = saint

Vavřinec = lawrence

A bit of fiddling around to connect the words together correctly (slavic
languages are odd in this regard) and you get "Rieka svätého Vavrinca"

note: I speak awful Czech and even worse Slovak :)

------
Fizzadar
After reading the article I spent the last half hour looking deeper into the
Yakuza. It's quite amazing just how integrated they are into Japanese society,
that they have a strong, highly respected morale code and the way they are
semi-legal entities that the government/police (mostly) ignore.

~~~
nhebb
> morale code

The yubitsume(†) will continue until morale improves.

† finger cutting

------
forrestthewoods
The fact that organized crime in Japan is so open and blatant blows my mind.
This type of behavior has no place in a modern society. So crazy.

~~~
deanclatworthy
Why does it blow your mind? Have we learnt nothing about democracy in the last
hundred years? Why do we still think modern society has no place for
corruption. I am sure societies two hundred years ago were saying the same
thing. In fact I would suggest that technology and the global economy we live
in has made corruption more accessible to the masses.

The fact is society has always been corrupt. It doesn't matter whether you are
living in a democratic, socialist, communist country or dictatorship - there
has and always will be corruption. It's human nature. You are _never_ going to
stop bad people doing bad things.

~~~
davidp
Your acceptance of this kind of corruption is the very thing that enables it
to flourish.

~~~
deanclatworthy
This is the argument I hear every time, and completely glosses over my last
sentence. People have been trying successfully for thousands of years to stamp
out corruption. It's a part of human nature.

In the case of FIFA (and reportedly) the IOC, delegates were given gifts. How
do you suggest stopping the royal family of Qatar (who we have no jurisdiction
or control over) giving a FIFA delegate a rolex? Short of putting an implant
in everyone's head uploading everything they do, say or think to some giant
all-seeing mainframe, I doubt we can track the actions of everyone and
therefore stamp out corruption.

It's not about accepting the practice of corruption, it should of course be
punished when proven. It's about accepting that it's human nature. You're
never going to stop murderers murdering, or robbers robbing. People have been
doing these things since the dawn of our existence.

I found some interesting reading around this subject [1].

> Earlier Enlightenment-era thinkers looked to society to bring structure and
> civilization in order to restrain naturally corrupted mankind from chaos. In
> 'The Confessions', as in his other works, Rousseau takes an opposing view.
> He asserts that man begins in a pristine, uncorrupted state at birth, and
> gradually becomes corrupted through the assertion of society upon the
> individual. The true state of nature, says Rousseau, is uncorrupted

Whether you believe society corrupts the uncorrupted human mind, or that
humans are born corrupted is up to you. _I_ believe that no matter what,
corruption is part of us, and part of being in a society.

[1]
[http://www.academia.edu/1922627/Rousseau_on_the_Loss_of_Iden...](http://www.academia.edu/1922627/Rousseau_on_the_Loss_of_Identity_and_the_Origin_of_Human_Corruption)

~~~
DanBC
> In the case of FIFA (and reportedly) the IOC, delegates were given gifts.
> How do you suggest stopping the royal family of Qatar (who we have no
> jurisdiction or control over) giving a FIFA delegate a rolex? Short of
> putting an implant in everyone's head uploading everything they do, say or
> think to some giant all-seeing mainframe, I doubt we can track the actions
> of everyone and therefore stamp out corruption.

The person who is offered the gift says "thank you, that is very kind, but I
am unable to accept gifts."

You then have a register of gifts. Anyone who is offerdd a gift notes that in
the register.

~~~
deanclatworthy
But what about those corrupt people that want to accept the gifts? And who is
going to enforce this policing of the gift registrar?

~~~
lmm
It makes it very easy to charge them for accepting the gifts once we find out.

------
jmnicolas
When I see a Yakuza with only one finger cut, I know it's a good one : he made
a mistake only once. I would not mess with this guy.

Btw I believe that like death and taxes organized crime is something no human
society can go without. I'd rather have the Yakuzas than say MS13.

------
bgun
How does "Streisand effect" translate?

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aidenn0
One of the names mentioned as a higher-up in the yakuza was clearly Korean; in
general ethinc Koreans are at a disadvantage in Japan, so it surprises me that
they can rise to high position in the yakuza.

------
chris_wot
How do we know these photos weren't photoshopped?

~~~
eru
As a layman, I don't. But there are certain forensics you can do to be more
certain. (Or at least be certain that it's a good `shop.) See eg
[https://superuser.com/questions/442352/detect-if-a-photo-
has...](https://superuser.com/questions/442352/detect-if-a-photo-has-been-
manipulated-or-faked)

------
gtirloni
More than 1bn for a single photo? I say bubble.

------
mistercow
> A police source said they will not specify the location of the injury
> "because it's something only the assailant would know, and we wish to weed
> out possible false confessions."

Whoa, Japan has cops who recognize that false confessions are a thing? Wish we
had those in the US.

~~~
veidr
Don't get too excited. Japanese cops are infamous for coercing and even
_creating_ false confessions when they can't solve, e.g., a high-profile
murder.

And for every Iwao Hakamada[1], you have to think there are many more innocent
people convicted, who didn't become big media stories and are still serving
time.

[1]: [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/27/japanese-man-
fr...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/27/japanese-man-freed-death-
row-retrial)

------
throwaway----
Jake "The Fake" Adelstein has been outed several times, and has a long-running
feud going with real journalist Christopher Johnson. eg

[https://globalitewatchdog.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/jake-
adel...](https://globalitewatchdog.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/jake-adelstein-
nathalie-stucky-plagiarism-defamation-japan/)

[http://pastebin.com/XBtNgf1P](http://pastebin.com/XBtNgf1P) (sorry I can't
find the original)

btw that top photo in the Vice article is a fake, trying to find the original
now....

~~~
a_bonobo
Are you Christopher Johnson? This is an obvious throwaway account. I've
sometimes stumbled over this weird feud, and it seems that Christoper Johnson
is not a "real journalist", but someone who may need psychological help.

~~~
throwaway----
lol nope, I'd hope the real Christopher Johnson would paint himself in a
better light than saying he was involved in a childish feud with a self-styled
reporter of the underworld.

You could say I'm just someone who is shocked at how badly everyone here wants
to suspend reality and believe the yakuza story. Anyone who has met Adelstein
knows within about 20 minutes of talking to him that he is just another Japan-
weirdo with a big imagination.

