Yakuza Information

Current Families

Aono
Kuromatsu


Position Titles

Oyabun (Family Boss)-- The leader of the family and the acting foster father/mother. They are the ones that all loyalty is sworn to when becoming a member of the family.

Wakagashira (First Lieutenant)-- The right hand man to the Oyabun. They are the ones who normally see to it that the leader's wishes carried out. Normally the oldest child of the Oyabun they are the successors should anything happen.

Shateigashira (Second Lietenant)-- The left hand man to the Oyabun. They tend to answer to only the Wakashira or Oyabun alone, they also act as the main vessel between the children and father, use for gaining or relaying information.

Kyodai (Big Brothers)-- The senior members of the family. They act as the mentors for the newer members. They are also the members that tend to carry out the more dangerous assignments passed down by the Oyabun. This stems from the fact that they are more highly trusted than they younger members.

Shatei (Little Brothers)-- They are the fresh blood within the family. Still in need of teaching they are usually treated as students to the Kyodai. Still new to the organization they tend to have a lot to learn.

Saiko-komon (Administration)-- They are the leaders of the financial and legal aspect of the family. Normally they offer their opinions of how to move forward with things from budget stand point. They answer directly to the Oyabun.

Shingiin (Legal Adviser)-- They are the ones who explain things to the Saiko-komon from a legal stand point.

Kaikei (Accountants)-- They are the ones in control of the finanical budget. They handle the wheeling and dealing of the book and money.


Rituals


Initiation-- During a yakuza initiation ceremony, the initiate will sit across from his organizational father figure, or "oyabun", while a mix of sake (Japanese alcohol), salt, and fish scales is prepared. Due to the massive size of the yakuza, the oyabun may or may not be the supreme boss of the entire organization, and may rather only be the initiate's regional boss. Even though the supreme boss may not be physically present at the initiation ceremony, his approval is still required before the initiate can be accepted into yakuza ranks.

When the sake mix is ready, the glasses of the oyabun and initiate are filled. To represent his status at the table and within the organization, the oyabun's glass will be filled to the brim, while the glass of the initiate will receive much less. Each man will drink from his own glass before exchanging glasses to drink from the glass of the other man.

Yubitsume-- the cutting of one's finger, is a form of penance or apology. Upon a first offense, the transgressor must cut off the tip of his left little finger and give the severed portion to his boss. Sometimes an underboss may do this in penance to the oyabun if he wants to spare a member of his own gang from further retaliation.

Its origin stems from the traditional way of holding a Japanese sword. The bottom three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword tightly, with the thumb and index fingers slightly loose. The removal of digits starting with the little finger moving up the hand to the index finger progressively weakens a person's sword grip.