{"product_id":"9781783968206-yakuza-a-400-year-history-of-the-japanese-underworld","title":"Yakuza","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA 400-Year History of the Japanese Underworld\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe definitive, utterly engrossing history of Japanese organized crime, from the samurai era to the present\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe definitive, utterly engrossing history of Japanese organized crime, from the samurai era to the present\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJapan’s gangster groups, known collectively as the \u003cem\u003eyakuza\u003c\/em\u003e, are among the oldest underworld societies in the world. With military-style organization and a code of absolute obedience, they have run Japan’s black markets for centuries. They have remained strikingly conspicuous in Japanese society, and as a cultural force beyond Japan, with movies and video games celebrating their exploits globally. However, \u003cem\u003eyakuza\u003c\/em\u003e is still a word that cannot be uttered easily in polite conversation in Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis is a mob story like no other. The yakuza’s main business activities – control of gambling games, protection rackets, and the sex trade – are typical of other mafia groups, but their culture and mythology are distinctively Japanese, and their history is inseparable from the social transformations of Japan over the centuries.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn this gripping popular history, Andrew Rankin tells the full story of the \u003cem\u003eyakuza\u003c\/em\u003e for the first time,\u003c\/strong\u003e from their emergence out of seventeenth-century samurai gang culture to the present day. He draws on material from rare, banned volumes concealed from authorities in private mobster libraries; historical Japanese-language source material hitherto unavailable in English; and extensive interviews with old gangsters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFeaturing a lively cast of extortionists, smugglers, hit men and corporate crime lords, \u003cem\u003eYakuza \u003c\/em\u003eis a fascinating tour of Japan’s sprawling mob syndicates and the traditions with which they are so deeply intertwined. This will be the definitive work on the subject for years to come.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58015841911158,"sku":"9781783968206","price":24.08,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_41579788_4af43ef1-e70d-4b4f-9f9d-bc9b2c563903.jpg?v=1781153395","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781783968206-yakuza-a-400-year-history-of-the-japanese-underworld","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}