Recession Hits the Mafia

The current economic downturn seems to be having an adverse effect on every industry whether legitimate or not-so-legitimate.  Case in point:  The Japanese Mafia is being hurt by the recession.

Just like the legitimate businesses they have muscled into, Japan's mafia are being squeezed by the steepest economic downturn in decades, and as profits have plunged, management has been thinning out the ranks, reports the Strait Times.

Taro Hiramatsu, a heavily tattooed retired gangster in his 50s, explained why the recession is hurting organized crime.

"The yakuza have been hit by the financial crisis because they've invested in the stock market among other things,' said Hiramatsu, the number two of his crime gang until he was unceremoniously kicked out last year.

"For yakuza today, money buys everything, including senior positions,' Hiramatsu - not his real name - told AFP in a recent interview, his intricately inked arms crossed defiantly over a potbelly. 'In the past, your rank was decided on courage and the sacrifices you made to the group, including being ready to give up your life," he said.

Hiramatsu says that about one third of mid-level chiefs in the crime group have gotten laid off over the past year.

"It's unheard of, the sort of numbers of yakuza who are being laid off." Hiramatsu Says.

He now works as a truck driver is learning to play the guitar despite missing a pinky finger.

Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com