IWTW ‘Explore’ is about highlighting different trends around the world and presenting audiences with both sides of the story in order to facilitate a better understanding of world issues and decision making in the spheres of the economy, society, environment, technology and politics.
What is it about?
Japan’s Yakuza: Inside the syndicate. With at least 50,000 members, Japan’s Yakuza gangs form one of the world’s largest criminal networks. Anton Kusters, a Belgian photographer, was allowed a rare glimpse inside a Yakuza family in early 2009. He documented the family for two years.
The Ya-Ku-Za means 8-9-3, a losing combination in a card game similar to Blackjack. The exact origins of the Yakuza are unclear, but they are thought to have descended from masterless samurai in the early 17th century. In the 18th century, these poor, landless bandits began grouping together, creating families.
The family Anton spent time with controls Kabukicho, Tokyo’s red-light district; its business is largely prostitution. Other Yakuza criminal operations include drug trafficking, money laundering, gambling and bribery.
The Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan’s largest organised-crime group. By one estimate, its revenue in 2014 was $80bn. In 2013, Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta mafia has a turnover of around $69bn.
In February 2011, towards the end of the project, Anton was at home in Europe, when he received a call from the Yakuza family. Miyamoto-san, a high ranking Yakuza boss, was in hospital after suffering a stroke. Anton returned, and was invited to attend the prominent Yakuza boss’ funeral.
Why should I watch it?
- More than 4.4 mln views since 18 sep 2015
- More than 45K likes
Full episode (by The Economist)
IWTW note: The opinions in the video don’t necessarily represent those of IWTW. The goal of IWTW ‘Explore’ is to inform its audience about interesting developments around the world through a selection of short and long documentaries. IWTW considers those documentaries to be great starting points for further discussion. I strive to update the selection of content should ‘better’ documentaries emerge over time.