Yakuza (in Japan)
The Coming Yakuza War
Aug 28, 2015 THE DAILY BEAST
"While many yakuza in Japan are naturalized Koreans or children of Japan’s former outcaste class, burakumin, and thus were subject to discrimination, the Yamaken-gumi tends to have more outcaste class members while the Kodo-kai has a larger Korean-Japanese makeup. That has helped create tension between the factions."
YAKUZA IN JAPAN
Feb 14, 2007, THE JAPAN TIMES
"Many yakuza are Korean or Chinese residents of Japan or hail from the “buraku” communities, Japan’s traditional, but technically former, outcasts. "
"The late Tokutaro Takayama, who headed the Kyoto-based Aizu Kotetsu-kai and was a Korean national by birth, once told The Japan Times that, unlike many rightwingers, yakuza understood the racial discrimination suffered by resident Koreans. "
The Yakuza Lobby
December 13, 2012, Foreign Policy
"And as one-third of the yakuza are Korean-Japanese, they are also useful in securing the support of ethnic Korean groups in Japan and getting political funding from the lucrative Korean-dominated pachinko (arcade-style gambling games) industry."
How the Yakuza Works
by Ed Grabianowski, HowStaffWorks
"Although many Yakuza clans have nationalistic ideologies, Koreans have a strong presence within the Yakuza. Koreans are sometimes looked down upon in Japanese society, which feeds into the Yakuza's outsider status. The profitability of smuggling goods between Japan and Korea also contributes to this Korean influence."