[div class=”notice” class2=”icon”]The following is from an article on MMA-Japan, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div]
October 1st came and went in the United States. Save for what was an exciting day of mixed martial arts, an average day of college football, and a night cap of one of the top boxers in the world fighting a severely overmatched opponent, nothing much was different.
In Japan, however, a whole new playbook has been established. Translated into the “yakuza exclusionary laws”, the boryokudan haijojorei (暴力団排除条例) dictate an entirely different playing field when it comes to the operation of the organized crime sect of the country. What it boils down to is this: Japanese entities are no longer allowed to share profits with yakuza AND companies can no longer pay them for protection.
In the past, many businesses as well as individuals would hire these groups to collect a debt, or protect their interests. The new law criminalizes these actions, punishing all parties involved. Even more surprising – say for example Mr. Yamada, the local gangster, wants his 10000 yen, or he will burn your apartment down. Prior to the law, you would pay him his money and he would leave you be. The new law, however, states that if you pay off Mr. Yamada to ensure that he will leave you alone, you are just as much of a criminal as he is.
