Tokyo Vice Yakuza Explained: History, Rituals & Real Life Comparison

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The Yakuza in Tokyo Vice draw inspiration from real-life history and rituals. Tokyo Vice is the latest show from HBO Max, which is based on the memoir by Jake Adelstein, who covered the police beat in Tokyo from 1993-2005 for the Yomiuri Shinbun, one of the world's largest newspapers, reporting as the first foreign correspondent for the paper. During his time there, Adelstein extensively covered the activities of the Yakuza, the equivalent of the mafia in the United States, which had influence over almost every aspect of Japanese life throughout the 20th Century up to now.

Related: Tokyo Vice True Story Explained (And What The TV Show Changes)

The Yakuza is one of the oldest criminal organizations in Japan's long, rich history, dating back to the early 1600s during the Edo period, where lower-rung social status peddlers and gamblers, who eventually got organized and formed families. Over time, the Yakuza grew into massive organizations, influencing every aspect of Japanese commerce, while having a hand in everything from law enforcement to politics to real estate and beyond. In the early 1900s through the 1960s, the Yakuza hit its peak of prominence, although it spilled out onto the streets, causing massive gangland warfare, which forced police to crack down, enacting laws that severely restricted the organization. In the late 90s and into the 2000s (when Tokyo Vice takes place), the Yakuza began a rapid decline in numbers and influence, while still maintaining a foothold in the criminal underworld, but without the firm grip it held in previous decades, as membership dwindled to 1/10th of its original size. However, the Yakuza has also made strides in being a humanitarian-style organization as well, providing