{"product_id":"yakuza-a-400-year-history-of-the-japanese-underworld","title":"Yakuza: A 400-Year History of the Japanese Underworld","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Andrew Rankin has written the best book in English on this fascinating and misunderstood subject. With style, irony, and scholarly authority, he traces the evolution of Japan's gangsters from delinquent samurai through ultranationalist thugs to besuited corporate extortionists. Rich in incident and anecdote, Rankin's account of the tattooed finger-choppers also serves as a thrilling alternative history of modern Japan.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eRichard Lloyd Parry, author of People Who Eat Darkness\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Andrew Rankin has written a fascinating history of the yakuza, drawing on an impressive command of Japanese culture, language, and sources. By situating the organization alongside other mafias around the world, he highlights both its unique features and its broader place within the study of organized crime. Elegantly written and richly informed, this is essential reading for anyone interested in Japan, crime, or the underworld.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eFederico Varese, author of Mafia Life\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"The yakuza book that everyone has been waiting for. The clear-eyed narrative is studded with vivid vignettes and pen portraits, and the twists and turns of mobster life are securely located in the context of Japan's tumultuous modernization. \n\u003ci\u003eYakuza \u003c\/i\u003eis both shrewd and engrossing.\"-- \n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Dickie, author of Cosa Nostra\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAndrew Rankin \u003c\/b\u003estudied and worked in Tokyo for twenty years before earning a doctorate in Japanese literature from Cambridge University. He is the author of \n\u003ci\u003eSeppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide\u003c\/i\u003e and \n\u003ci\u003eMishima, Aesthetic Terrorist: An Intellectual Portrait\u003c\/i\u003e. He now lives in Bali, Indonesia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe definitive history of Japanese organized crime, from its origins in samurai-era black markets and gambling rings to the shadowy syndicates of the present.\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"The best book in English on this fascinating and misunderstood subject.\" ―Richard Lloyd Parry, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeople Who Eat Darkness\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJapan's gangster groups, known collectively as the yakuza, 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. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAndrew Rankin offers the first comprehensive history of the yakuza, from their emergence out of seventeenth-century samurai gang culture to the present day. Though their activities have always encompassed illegal gambling and sex trafficking, the yakuza have also aggressively maintained business interests in private security, the construction industry, the entertainment industry, and debt collection. Yakuza bosses acquired a degree of legitimacy by styling themselves as peacekeepers maintaining order at society's bottom end. Yet that legitimacy has come into doubt in recent years as Japan's contracting economy has pushed the yakuza into increasingly predatory criminal activities. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFeaturing a lively cast of extortionists, smugglers, hit men, and corporate crime lords, \n\u003ci\u003eYakuza \u003c\/i\u003eis a fascinating tour of Japan's sprawling mob syndicates and the cultural traditions with which they are so deeply intertwined. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 07\/01\/2026 pg. 68 (EAN 9781541607675, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496085192982,"sku":"9781541607675","price":38.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781541607675.jpg?v=1783052902","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/yakuza-a-400-year-history-of-the-japanese-underworld","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}