So i've been thinking, it seems that many of the yakuza-related mangas have the idea of a son inheriting the yakuza after their father

like
Tokyo Crazy Paradise
Go! Baajinaru Hanayuki
Reborn!
Hoosamguk High
Okane ga nai -loan shank, not yakuza
Gokusen (by the female line)
Yakitate!! Japan's Shigeru Kanmuri

and such........

so it it true? are Japaneses yakuza and korean jopok inheritable by blood?

I don't think they would use that if it wasn't really the case.

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Yeah, I think its like that, just like Mafia, here in Italy, normally works.


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isnt that how most organized crime works becasue it is a family instituted thing. At least thats how I imagined it,

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wow....
um that's kinda sad

being a criminal is the family expectation?

yup. Traditions, people. Traditions.

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I know at least traditionally a lot of organized crime (especially the mafia in Italy and the US) was kept in the family, but I'm pretty sure not all crime syndicates are family run. I ended up looking it up and it looks like the 'family' running a yakuza group is mostly symbolic, not literal.

Is it that surprising? They don't consider themselves criminals, in fact they're proud of what they do. Sad? No.

It's just like any other business. They want their children to inherit what they have.

Besides, what did you expect? "My child shouldn't be in the yakuza even though I'm raising him with yakuza money and will continue to be a part of it"? If they don't want their children to be involved with the yakuza, they'd cut ties with them.

In Reborn! it seems to be mostly symbolic. When Reborn talks about Tsuna gathering his "family", none of the men he is referring to are related to Tsuna. Also, maybe more to the point, although Tsuna is in the line of descent as the next Vongola heir, there are a couple of others that were passed over for him.

aside from that, it's really hard to understand of the "family" inhertance of the asian Triads/Yakuza/Jopok are really inherited by blood. because whenever they call eachother in manhua/manga/manhwa, they call them hyeung or aniki or something like that, which means "older brother" but not always limited to real blood-related relationship. since joining the gang is considered making a "family" it's hard to tell if they're really blood-connected or just connected by spirit.

Aside from that, i kind of find it hard to believe how well an organized crime will function if it's inherited by blood. sure, tirdition is kept, but you're basically giving the decision-making power to the one that may or may not worth it. (they could be really lazy or lack chrisma).
it'll be like the company being passed down to their son, not by their ability to be president. (oh wait, that's already happening all the time in Korea/Japan)........

Just a note: it's not really directly related to the main topic but it's very very interesting how the yakuza and mafia all originally started out as "defenders of the people/society". I guess it's just part of life how they turned more and more corrupt and eventually moved into violence, drugs, etc., etc. After all, any institution always eventually decays and loses its original purpose in the end. Just like what's happening to many Christian churches, the "institution" of Christianity.

Edit: And back to the topic:

It could be that some of the "qualities" that are demanded for being part of the underworld are often inherited by the family members. For example: ability to manipulate, inability to feel guilty/empathy, higher resistance to pain/certain types of suffering, recklessness, qualities for leadership(to inspire, command, etc.), etc.

(Edit again: After all, which is easier? To control someone's destiny in order to produce the desired "leaders"/"people" within an organization, or to find someone, from outside of the family, whose history and temperaments you might not even be familiar with?)

Why do I say this? I know because I sorta "inherited" the qualities of recklessness, poor self-control, playfulness, drastic mood swings, etc. from either/both of my parents. Now, those in no way will make you a criminal but I guess I did a lot of things as a teen that are better left unspoken.

Last edited by Lord_Lucifiel at 9:35 am, Apr 8 2010

well i suppose in the end, you trust your own family more than others.
so the son becomes the "default" inheritance.

well, i don't really understand what you mean by "defenders of people and society" but....
i think that most asian crime group majorly sprouted from the "hard times" during economic crisis and wars, when the neighnourhood had less secuity, people who had nothing but strength with no essential skills (basically retired soldiers from war) would give "protection" to a certin territory. (we still sort of see that by how yakuza runs street vendors and stuff in festivals in mangas/movies) since this kind of job doesn't give as much income anymore, the group turn into more illigal crime that brings money (since they were all brawn and no brain to begin with)

or more comonly, as it still is now, the minorty who are most often ignored or are socially neglected form a group to get more power in society. sort of like 'hate the society' or 'revenge at society' kind. some examples are the koreans in japan (pratically a second-class citizens right after the WW2) and turks in germany (who were basically useless/unwanted when the economy went bad, even though it was germany who hired the turkey workers after the war since they needed more workers to rebuild society)

i always find it such an irony how deliquents doesn't like rules/restrictions of society, they join organized crime gang, but there are more hiearchy in yakuza/triads than any others.

Last edited by Hespia Klarerin at 4:00 pm, Apr 8 2010