To learn more about the Yakuza check out antonkusters.com/yakuza

Organised criminals are very friendly as long as you don't interfere in their business. I'd rather live amongst a mafia than around crackheads that would stab you for $20

@minmogrovingstrongandhealthy

11 ай бұрын

That is spot on. I can't imagine living in places like Cali or many other human dumps in USA where there are billion homeless cracked out people in just one state. F__k that noise. USA loves to point fingers at others and play the victim while playing the world police under the NATO moniker but ever since this pathetic country exist they proven undeniably that they are parasites who can't fix their own problems and just create more problems each year. Factual history and their results speak for itself in endless volumes. I had more pleasure living among "organized criminals" who are a "problem" then what ever NATO is ... these "criminals" didn't dropped uranium bomb sowers on my head and on civilians through the decades, NATO did. They didn't brought us incompetent systems but Vatican, USA, EU, NATO, ... did.

@rustyrocket9117

11 ай бұрын

Guys not wrong...

@porsche928s4

11 ай бұрын

Fax new York was better under the mafia then how it is now

@a1phamalestud

11 ай бұрын

Facts just don’t mess with their money or reputation and you’ll be ok

@alexjackson936

11 ай бұрын

If those where my two choices, sure. Otherwise, I’ll stick to my nice neighborhood that has neither lol

Since you contacted them correctly and shown you weren't afraid of them. They decided to work with you. If they can easily turn their illegal business into a legal one, it makes sense to do that. Going legit keeps law enforcement off them, and it can allow them to push out others who are not doing it legally.

@DougRatmanLMAO

11 ай бұрын

Thanks Sherlock

@aimanazrie8944

11 ай бұрын

the keyword here is "tax"

@FokkerBoombass

11 ай бұрын

Guy probably helped them set up a legitimate front for a much more illicit business lol.

@davidhollenshead4892

11 ай бұрын

They likely violated copyright as a negotiating move. As they knew that the copyright owner knew that they could continue to sell bootleg dvd's & cd's if the negotiating failed...

@mayuravirus6134

11 ай бұрын

That's what money laundering money is cleaning dirty money by illegal means and put it on a front where its legal like mattress

Watching this video in my Tokyo hotel. Looking out my window I’m literally looking at a blacked out Benz with a 333 license plate.

@user-cr4sc1ht9t

11 ай бұрын

There are a lot of Toyota Alphard/Vellfire vans these days because they're not exempt from aging problem, and also easier to hide inside should the rear passenger has to. Gold badging is gone as well, but rest of the story still applies. Blacked out, not slammed or too tacky, あ88-88 on the plate, doesn't seem like typical corporate sedans...

@iNICK7MANUTD

11 ай бұрын

Cap

@MERCEDES-BENZS600GUARD_V12

11 ай бұрын

.

@ethan_mtgaming8032

11 ай бұрын

Bro capping

@SetaSayin

11 ай бұрын

I’m at your moms house looking out the bedroom window

A black s600 with tinted black windows is a universal sign to stay away - all over the world 😛

@MERCEDES-BENZS600GUARD_V12

11 ай бұрын

Yeah stay away. if you scratch you pay🎹🎶

@Entrelanieve

11 ай бұрын

I think that this is an old mafia concept when black big luxury cars were the way to know who was the person and it depends on what country you are in. In the same 80s and 90s, any mafia boss in Colombia would even have a car like that. They loved 4WD surrounded by more 4WD. They had private car collections, which is a different thing.

@mohammadal-abbasi7247

11 ай бұрын

I remember I went to egypt back in the 90s and they called S600s “Powder”

@Vennillion

10 ай бұрын

@@mohammadal-abbasi7247 you got me thinking whats the most car people did coke in, the s600 would probably be up there especially per capita

@mohammadal-abbasi7247

10 ай бұрын

@@Vennillion you bet 😬

I was a victim of the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, I was stuck for a while under the rubble of my house. I later ended up in a shelter and Yakuzas came out from everywhere and helped everyone with food and water and many other things. So what he says in the video is true, the Yakazas helped a lot after the earthquake.

We were missing Steve, nice to see him back

@GamerGuy019

11 ай бұрын

I hope we see him again after this video! you never know…….

@michellelehky2374

11 ай бұрын

Except when e gets barely audible.

@Mika-85

10 ай бұрын

Welm He was in Japan

Scary story but mad respect. Japan has always been built diffrent. Honor and respect are huge parts of their culture. You accidently steeped into a rattle snakes den, but unlike many crime outfits we know of, they handled it respectfully and correctly. I wonder if they actually made more money after being legal? That's what I wanna know. If so, then they really pulled a power move, and you got to see something rare when dealing with crime outfits. They treated you with respect and didn't make you disappear. He leveled you up, and you stood up to the task. Just wow!

@huntedhunter5597

11 ай бұрын

DIFFERENT? TO WHO? usa SURE. But not nazi germany they had the game locked down the way japan put china on point was 2nd to none yo. Unit 53 or whatever it was called even Russia was horrified do you know about that guy? Do you know how Japs eyes would take G EYES and cut out a part of their liver and then eat it in front of the G eye? YEPP Japs eyes were built different,. But not betterer. The kray twins by themselves were 10x of the yakult

@Derekzparty

11 ай бұрын

More likely it made better business sense to negotiate and learn the ins and outs of the copyright business from the outsider on their terms so that instead of blatantly breaking copyright laws they could instead bend them a little. It's possible they foresaw the government crackdown and wanted to establish legitimacy before that happened.

@toraguchitoraguchi9154

11 ай бұрын

As with Yakuza, they think differently - they would get the copyrights, then they would've sent their Enforcers to take out other bootleg outfits, or make them pay some sort of sub-license fee, maybe even got some TV stations or Cinemas to pay them for airing some of the stuff - going legit on paper, but enforcing it with the mob, that's how they did it.

@KatzenjammerKid61

11 ай бұрын

Yakuza are criminal scum. No respect deserved. They prey off of the people who can't protect themselves.

@MyRegardsToTheDodo

11 ай бұрын

@@toraguchitoraguchi9154 It's also a pretty nice way to launder illegal money, that's why the mob in the US produced porn movies in the 1970s and owned the porn cinemas. Deep Throat for example is the most successful movie of all times, both in production costs vs. total revenue (22,500 USD vs. an estimated 600 million USD) and in total revenue (600 million USD would be way over 4 billion USD today). I also wouldn't romanticize the Yakuza too much, they were and still are a criminal organization responsible for drugs and prostitution. I don't know why we in the west want to see them in such a positive light.

As someone who has written a lot of copyright laws and used to own a blacked out W140, I humbly bow before you Mr Feldman ;-)

Black W140 S class with windshield tint actually works in US too, i had two of them and its the only car where people dont hold you in left lane or dont pull middle finger

@darekmistrz4364

11 ай бұрын

The only car, that has similiar presece is blacked out Crown Victoria. But only in USA.

@Mikrrii

11 ай бұрын

@@darekmistrz4364 Yeah but who is scared of Crown Vic 😂

@RANDOMGUY-ty3ze

11 ай бұрын

​@Mikrrii You are wrong. A Crown Vic can easily be mistaken for a cop car and people will stay out of your way.

@darekmistrz4364

11 ай бұрын

@@RANDOMGUY-ty3ze Exactly. I heard that if you want to drive peacefully around Washington, you need a Crown Victoria with big antenna on the back and blacked out windows

@fosterfuchs

9 ай бұрын

A few months ago, I needed to go from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez Airport. Called different shuttle companies. Most of them declined, at least on such short notice. The one company that accepted my request wasn't cheap. And the driver showed up in a black, fairly late model Suburban. I suppose that look added to the safety of the trip.

That S72 AMG Yakuza edition documentary Patina Collective just dove in on was out of this world.

I remember one VTuber run in with the Yakuza. She actually got friendly with them and they treated her like family. A Gajin getting friendly with them was a ridiculous rarity.

@automatteck3477

11 ай бұрын

girl_dm is an absolute treasure

@cesariojpn

11 ай бұрын

​@@automatteck3477​Shame she dumped her Demon persona for the cat girl maid persona and told those that hated the change to leave.

@02lucy666

11 ай бұрын

Joey Bitzinger aka The Anime Man, an aussie, half japanese, living in tokyo also had a run in and an interview with former Yakuza as well

@WhosManIsThis

11 ай бұрын

Yo can I get this clip??????

@cesariojpn

11 ай бұрын

@@WhosManIsThis Girl_dm_ Teaching in Japan & the Yakuza. kzread.info/dash/bejne/nop41quYedK5ZLg.html

I spent most of the eighties in Japan working for the motorcycle manufacturers as a translator, interpreter, riding model and copywriter. The economy was booming, everybody was getting rich and it was a very exciting place to be. Then the bubble burst...... Good Japanese movie about a gangster and a tax collector: 'A Taxing Woman' by Itami Juzo

@georgeharrod7805

11 ай бұрын

Great movie... unfortunately Mr Itami's habit of mocking the Yakuza ended in him "falling" out of a window to his untimely demise. 😢

Always be respectful. It might save your life.

@lsh3rd

11 ай бұрын

The code of honor is respected in Japan regardless of your social circles. It is one of my favorite things about the country.

@wainber1

10 ай бұрын

I couldn't agree more.

I remember being in Kyoto in the late 90's, shopping in a market with some local friends, and I asked a couple of guys in the street what time it was (they had suits and watches) and ended up talking with them for a bit. My local friends had disappeared. When we finished talking, I walked back into the shop I'd been in before and found my friends hiding in the back. They asked me if I'd known the men were Yakuza and I said no, but it hadn't mattered to me - I was from the Detroit area and had been around dangerous people before. These guys were polite and respectful and present. I'm more worried about the person putting on eyeliner while driving the minivan, but you always need to be ready. Years later I was a contractor in another country where my employer had taken out murder/kidnapping insurance on me, but that's a story for another time.

@Kwezi_42

10 ай бұрын

Please go on @papersxes4192

@dimasakbar7668

10 ай бұрын

You just have to tease a cliffhanger huh😂

@HappySlappyFace

10 ай бұрын

when's the other time?

@paperaxes4192

10 ай бұрын

@@HappySlappyFace I was pretty much broke when I landed a lucky gig with a niche engineering firm. I'm an eccentric type that does (or did, when I had time) read about things like foam encapsulation systems, so I thought it was because of that. Maybe not. So we took apart an entire factory line and moved it to a new factory that happened to be in a rough neighborhood of a large city in Mexico. Not that big of a deal to me, I'm from Detroit and had worked security for film shoots in bad areas at night there, right? There were areas that were very interesting - houses built out of anything available (road signs, blanket walls, etc) with dogs on the roof. I walked around solo, marvelling at the beauty of the sunset in this neighborhood, walking for several hours. Next day I had a lunch date with a couple locals, and they met me at my hotel (which has like 5 different topiary gardens, my room had a suite and pink marble and brass waterfowl over a foot high for the taps). I suggested we walk to the restaurant as it was nearby and a nice day, and they were adamant that it was too dangerous even at noon. We took a cab there and back. My coworkers told me all kinds of stories about bribery and cops and such, but nothing that ever scared me really. Maybe I'm jaded, maybe I'm a hardened security expert (snort), maybe I'm a naive idiot. I found out later that some of the places we were in had experienced problems with company contractors getting kidnapped. I was out to dinner (FANTASTIC steakhouse there by the way) with my boss when he told me that they'd taken out multiple insurance policies on all of us for these reasons - murder, kidnapping, etc. Maybe not the most exciting tale but I hope it was a good read nonetheless. Another time, I was a contractor going into confined spaces to retrieve dead bodies. My parents wanted me to get a good steady job with a pension at a big company and stay there forever, hahahaha!

@misha-fu4fs

10 ай бұрын

Damn sounds like youve had a pretty interesting life. Do you just bounce around the world doing different jobs? @@paperaxes4192

As a Japanese person, the flow of someone standing up to the Yakuza, them setting things right, and going out for lunch (or a dinner with a lot of Sake) together is the most Japanese thing ever. Unless you’re their direct enemy, they’ll treat you well if you show them respect.

Incredible story. I currently live in Kobe and you definitely can't spot them like that. I go to an onsen that allows tattoos though and occasionally see one or two there. The tattoos are incredible, you always know they're Yakuza because their tattoos end below the neck line, above the elbow and above the knee. They could walk around in shorts and a t shirt and not get noticed

@luxaly9510

10 ай бұрын

firemen also have traditional tattoos

@chrisc475

10 ай бұрын

I visited Japan in 2004 and one of the onsen allowed tattoos. There was this one guy in the sauna who was covered. He kept himself to himself and there were no issues. I do wonder what stories he could have told though...

Now in Japan, we can choose the license plate numbers, but like Steve said, back in the early 90's there was no way of getting the numbers that we wanted. The customizable (1~4 digit) license plates started in 1999.

@quantativefm9118

3 ай бұрын

Numbers would go out consecutively, so go to number office and stand in line on the day the number they wanted was likely to be available.

I worked for the yakuza for 5 years back in early 90’s in an underground casino in Tokyo. They were the best people I have ever worked for. Very honest , generous and being the only westerner in the team they made me feel very welcome. Really miss those days.

@zildog

9 ай бұрын

LOL sure you did, pal.

@paulgaspar3267

9 ай бұрын

Ha ? If you don’t think I’m telling the truth that’s your problem.

Ed, you pump out a ton of content. I appreciate you for that.

@CrackedCandy

11 ай бұрын

...Good content. He jumped the shark and dialed back the bed content after mass unsubscriptions. I resubscribed.

@visekual6248

11 ай бұрын

Sometimes too much content, he already uploaded a lot of garbage, if you don't have anything good to offer, don't offer.

@nathanthomson777

11 ай бұрын

@@visekual6248cry

@sike733

11 ай бұрын

@@visekual6248 😂 you must not be watching it the whole way through. If you skip through stories they don’t make sense

@EDV8ZR1

11 ай бұрын

That's true another Ed does do that. 👌🏁

I love a story that ends with "and then we made a business deal" instead of "and then we filed the lawsuit"

@cdnmetelhead4013

9 ай бұрын

Or ends with, “and then we called the funeral home”.

Yakuza is so scary, I would not wanna get stabbed by 7 people rolling deep in a Toyota

I was there in 98' and got a personal number plate. You had to tell the gov't office and it would take about 1-2 weeks.

The sequential/pattern numbers on license plates sounds very familiar with with the mafia in Bulgaria. It used to, not as much now, a gangster/mobster. When you’d see a black s-class between two blacked out armored G-class wagons and the license were sequenced, you knew to gtfo their way asap.

@xsiaze

11 ай бұрын

I can confirm that, right now they are driving lamborghinis, porsche, ferarri but yeah

@WeWuzKangzNsheeet

11 ай бұрын

@@xsiaze The old days of mobiphones!

We lived next door to a Boss from the Yakuza while stationed in Japan. He was very professional and the one time I saw him slap a school-girl who accidentally ran into his car with her scooter as he backed out of his driveway, he realized he was wrong and helped her up, and nodded to me. They absolutely do not want police involvement in their lives.

I saw some random documentary a few years back on the drug trade in the US. All the high rollers who are big in the game are playing it smart, too. Guys drive Prius'es under the speed limit, no flash, no bling, no nothing. They run the game until they get enough cash and then bail out, retire.

I grew up in Kyoto and every year the local Yakuza would host a kids festival. They would set up food stands and games and all of the kids got tokens to play the games for free and get prizes like snacks and toys. It was mostly manned by younger guys that haven’t officially made it into the Yakuza yet and all of them were the most polite and friendly people at the festival, I’m sure they were always like that lol.

It’s funny, that was a time when respect was huge. The American mafia was once like that, the term “honor among thieves” meant something and there were lines you just didn’t cross.

I remember visiting a friend from University in Tokyo. He was Japanese who studied in Sydney Australia. It was 1997. He wore a suit which isn’t uncommon if you working in a corporate office and I was dressed like a poor backpacker. We were eating in a sushi train restaurant and people around us seemed nerve. My friend said that because we are speaking English they probably think we are Yakuza.

The Patina Collective just released a video on a former Yakuza owned AMG Mercedes coupe that they claimed new would have cost $250k once purchased and modified by AMG Japan. They bought it about 2 years ago and just finally got it. It is an all metal AMG wide body S 73 coupe with the 7.3 V12 that AMG developed and used by Pagani from the 90s. It's gorgeous, it is well worth watching.

Here's one story I've been trying to confirm in greater detail ever since I learned about it back in the mid 80s. The Blackbird, supposedly a Plymouth Superbird used by the Nevada State Police. It was painted flat black and had plexiglas headlight covers.

The fact you we're respectful, didn't threaten and just kept it to the business that it was about and not go poking around any business that didn't concern you is probably why they cooperated like that you showed them honor and respect and they at least that group treated you in kind. Its too bad the crime syndicates have more honor and respect than most humans nowadays

Steve always tells a good story, and this one was no exception

The thing I've always respected about the Yakuza is that they are more than willing to be reasonable and respectful, since honor is central to their code. They can be legit businessman, and they can be thugs, it just depends on what the situation calls for.

8 9 3 = Ya Ku Sa would obviously be a very desirable. The Road Transport Bureau (国土交通) will not issue these numbers or any combination thereof. Getting cool number wasn't about "pushing" to head of line it can't be done. The prestige was about having THE MONEY for a peon to stand for days at head of line passing on #'s until the one you want came around.

Steve's got great stories and content. I enjoy his videos and his content is always a bit different than a lot of other youtube car guys. Him speaking fluent perfect Japanese is also a plus!

If you take a drink every time he says Japan you will die

@EDV8ZR1

11 ай бұрын

Take a sip of whiskey every time you think he's going to say the Yakuza?

@jordancivic96

11 ай бұрын

or "90's"

@overbuiltlimited

11 ай бұрын

Excelsior

@jonathanmartin726

11 ай бұрын

What about the looks in their eyes?

@MKRN98

11 ай бұрын

Not if you're Eastern European. If you are you'll only get a little bit buzzed

I love Steve's content, this is a heck of a story!

@zildog

9 ай бұрын

It's also complete bullshit.

kind of an over sight that he said he was in japan from 93-99 but all of the celsiors shown were ucf30's that were from 01-06, none the less a super cool story

My grandfather hung out with the yakuza when he was in Japan serving in the Navy. He had the best time with them.

@Carcosahead

10 ай бұрын

do you mind sharing some stories please?

I own a Nissan Cima VIP spec with rare fender mirrors that in Japan had a plate 88-08. At the time of buying it, i also jokingly thought that the spec of the car and number plate are interesting and wonder what the history of the car was.

@Neojhun

11 ай бұрын

OMG That looks like a Jaguar XJ of that era if they didn't go tachy retro. Nissan did it correct with the same proportions and modern styling. Such a great look.

@lleesmaa

11 ай бұрын

@@Neojhun I have the newer y33 body but yea the 32 looks great with its classy Jag-like look. Even scarier to find on the streets blacked out haha

@RANDOMGUY-ty3ze

11 ай бұрын

​@@Neojhun There is nothing tacky about the design of the Jaguar XJ. Not even the older ones. Four circular headlights, and that grille are what MAKE the XJ the icon that it is.

You can tell this guy lived in Japan for six years. There’s a slight Japanese accent in his English.

Toyota Century. Now that’s a gentleman’s car. 🧐

Think I may of met a Yakuza in Tokyo a few years ago, just before Covid. Was in a upmarket bar that specialises in Whiskey and while I was in there a small group of guys came in, all suited and booted - clearly had some cash to spend, the bar man and a young lady who was doing table service both beelined to them and took their orders immediately the bar man then reached under the bar and pulled out a glass ashtray and one of the guys proceeded to light up a cigar at the bar. No idea if these means anything but afaik smoking indoors in Tokyo is not generally allowed but no one batted an eye to this group. Tokyo mid to late 90's must of been something else.

Back in those days, whenever a regular person at a DMV in Japan got a plate that happened to have those sequential numbers on it (no Yakuza member was present at the time), I wonder if they rejected that plate and asked for another one.

I have been to Japan multiple times. You named 3 towns that I often visit. Loved the story and the authenticity

@Kuricang31

11 ай бұрын

They were districts actually, parts of town that have zero political power with the exception of Shinjuku being a 'borough'

FYI, now you can customise your plate, you can choose the leading hiragana and the numbers.

Interesting. My brother imported a left hand drive S600 out of Japan, seat doilies and all, who knows...

Drinking game. Take a shot any time he says “looks in their eyes,” “celsoir,” or “lorinser”

Love Steve’s stories. He’s definitely seen a lot in his life.

Woah, when I clicked on this video I was not expecting a whole anecdote and story from the past. Amazing! Now I’m going to go do more research on the yakuza I think

This guy has a Japanese accent when he talks, it's crazy. Sounds like Lesley chow out of The Hangover 😂

Awesome to see Steve on here! This was a super cool story and honestly just makes me want a classic VIP car more lol. The President is certainly clean as can be.

I could watch Steve tell a Yakuza story all day lol

Always a good story with this dude

This guy just took me back to the 90s when gangsters where gangsters but had values & respect

I live in Japan. What he said is very accurate. I saw few of these long sedans with windows all tinted and some 50-60 year old man with fine clothes leaving or entering the car. Once I saw a S63AMG bullet proof, with is awkward to see here, never saw again a bulletproof window here. It's way more quiet, but they are in activities much larger now. Dealing with drugs and even smuggling things to and from North Korea. But in the 90's they were much more numerous then now.

Of all the cars I have owned the one that got the most attention was my 1985 Mercedes-Benz S500 black on black had 888 in the license plate. It was wild! People would run up to take a photo. Lots of conversations at the gas pump and random stores just about the plate. Everyone thought I had it custom. I later had an E55 AMG that never got that much attention

Always love a good Steve'sPOV story!!!

I lived and worked in Japan in the mid 90's and yes, you would see those cars and if you were ignorant about what they meant, you would see the japanese public knew what they meant

For whatever reason Japan has a massive issue with copyright and fair use. Just based on this story, the Y have 2 things. They care for their people, but like everyone else around the world they want power. Punishment is cruel but you get to live.

More of Steve and Overall Japanese Stories please

@4:33, he states: "I was a little weary". The word 'weary' means to be tired or sleepy. I'm sure he meant to say that he was a little bit 'wary' or 'leery' of the situation. I certainly doubt he meant he felt tired or sleepy when meeting possible members of the Japanese mafia where they consider it an honor to chop one's own pinky.

Can't make that up. "I got the mob to go legit" Hey Ed that's good clickbait for this story. Love it. Cheers 🇨🇦

I've owned a few cars that I should've ran from! In Japan, stay away from the 8888 plate cars!!!

@southernbenz2098

11 ай бұрын

Because of the Burma revolution, right?

@Thumper68

11 ай бұрын

8 they consider lucky number.

Y32s and Y33s need more love

Always love a good Steve'sPOV story!!!. I love Steve's content, this is a heck of a story!.

Does he have people to help him carry those two big things around for him? Wow!

In New Zealand, we called the only black Alfa Romeo 164 Series 1 V6 in the country 'The Yakuza', and it remains a much sought after beast.

"...and that's how I became a Yakuza gang member" 😂

My boss Jamie Darvish was the general manager of a Toyota dealership in late 90's. Took me to a night club called MCCXXIII in DC in a v12 blacked out S600 with another manager and his 2 body guards in the the front seats. Long line in front, we roll up and they open the velvet ropes to let us in then we go upstairs into a vip room I was only 18 and it was an experience I'll never forget! Car juat oozed Status and Power...was fast too even with 5 people!

Great story. Glad you survived to tell it.

i was pleasantly suprised its a stevepov video

These types are all about reputation(respect/fear) and leverage. Never owe them or ask them for anything(or be useful but careless enough to expose major weaknesses they can hold over you), and they largely will separate you from their shadier side. Offend them or get in their way(and this is more of an issue if you run into either low level guys who don’t know better) and that’s when things can get dicey. Generally though, if they were well run and supervised, they’re not gonna let things get too out of hand(problem is it’s always the unruly who start shit, this is generally true regardless of the circles).

I love how the first picture is a 2008-2009 LS600hL with OMFG I NEED THOSE HALOS ON MINE

Holy Moly! I did NOT expect that turn, lol

The Celsior was sold as the Lexus LS400 in the States, the Aristo was the original Guigario designed GS300.

By far the best car story channel on KZread.

This could totally be an episode of something ! Excellently story telling good sir !

I LOVE THIS!! We have a similar set up with plates in IL. 4 digits or below is something you cannot buy. I have a 4 digit plate and I kept it on a $300 Ford to troll those in the know.

@ssnerd583

11 ай бұрын

My dad had 'MD3' for many years.....

You guys should listen to Norberto Fontana interview where he talks about being chased and rammed by a Yakuza Mercedes back when he raced Formula Nippon.

Yakuza call themselves Ninkyo Dantai (loosely : chivalric organization trooper). The police call them Boryoku Dan (violent organization). Irezumi (trad tattoo) was originally perceived as heroic, since its association with firemen Originally they recruit from the downtrodden in hierarchic japanese society, be it from burakumin or zainichi. So yes the orderliness is by design.

I was living in Kabukicho. One night I went downstairs to eat. Outside the restaurant, a black sedan pulled up and 5 scary-looking men (not in suits) were standing on the sidewalk to greet a stocky skinhead man in a black suit that came out of the car. Upon seeing that man step out of the car, they chanted something like a slogan in unison (it wasn't the simple KonBanWa); then the man in the suit walks in front and lead the way to the restaurant. I was in front of the food ticket machine deciding what to order. I just moved to Japan and couldn't quite understand the names of the different dishes; I hesitated and turned around to see if another one waiting in line to buy the food ticket - then I saw the group of men behind me with the intimidating stocky man in black standing behind me with his entourage looking on. I paused for a moment and the man politely said, Douzo, gesturing me to go ahead ... Figuring the restaurant doesn't have what I wanted to eat, and didn't want to have those guys behind me waiting, I walked away without buying the food ticket - I hope it wasn't disrespectful to them.

5:32 Hehe, this photo is Korean Gangsters marching. ^^

Great story! Reminds me of that Michael Douglas movie Black Rain.

0:34 It's pretty funny that when Steve is talking about Japan's economy was booming, but the picture on the screen is from a 2019 Taiwanese news saying the Yamaguchi-gumi is being so poor that their member got arrested while working part time at the post office. lol

Respect dude, that’s what gets people far in the world

The best story here in years. Loved this one. Winner winner...

One of the coolest stories i've seen on this channel

I wish there was a version on this video where it wasn’t blurred.

I remember when I got abducted by thanos. It was about 10,000 aliens surrounding me so I said hey dude. Thats not cool. Then he made us all pancakes.

Hey Steve, fancy seeing you here.

Dude when he said black and gold I was like "that is quintessential 90s right there" lol My neighbor across the street had a black and gold Mercedes and a white Porsche 911. Dude was dope as hell. I loved the man

Good to see Steve back, excellent insight into the Japanese culture of the day. Good Vid!

Car guy has a business meeting.

Century's are cheap these days, at least in Canada. Got one for sale near me for 23k ('06)

He has the Japanese eyes

Such a cool story I love Steve!

The Yakuza loat what we all have lost. Freedom. Great story!

You actually helped them to have a legitimate business and to clean their dirty money.