5 percent of prosthetic maker's clients former yakuza

upi ^ | June 7, 2013

[JoeProBono]

TOKYO, A Tokyo prosthetics maker said about 5 percent of his business comes from former members of yakuza -- the Japanese mafia -- seeking artificial pinkies.

Shintaro Hayashi, who runs the Aiwa Gishi prosthetics company, said he started to see a spike in the demand for prosthetic pinkies about a decade ago and he discovered it was a result of the yakuza requiring members to sever portions of their fingers to atone for serious offenses against the organization, ABC News reported Friday.

The finger-chopping ritual is known as "yubitsume."

Hayashi said former members of the yakuza come to him for prosthetic pinkies to hide their former affiliations and make it easier for them to get legitimate jobs. He said many customers buy multiple $5,000 prosthetic pinkies so they can be matched to their different skin tones in the winter and summer.

Shigeru Takei, a former yakuza member who asked that his real name not be revealed, said he had to undergo yubitsume four times during his 20-year stint with the organization.

He said the missing fingers prevented him from landing a job until he obtained prosthetics from Hayashi.

"The first time I applied for a job, I got cut after the interview. I couldn't write the truth in my resume because I had been in the yakuza for 20 years," he said. "If you don't have fingers, there's no way to get a sales job."

[JoeProBono]

Yakuza (ヤクザ?, [jaꜜkuza]), also known as gokudō (極道?), are members of transnational organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan (暴力団?, "violence group"), while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" (任侠団体 or 仁侠団体?, "chivalrous organizations"). The yakuza are notorious for their strict codes of conduct and very organized nature. They have a large presence in the Japanese media and operate internationally with an estimated 103,000 members.

[BBell]

Awesome movie. The best I've ever seen involving the Yakuza.

[llevrok]

It used to be that only yakuza had tattoos (as the practice was thought “unclean”). Made it hard for them to go legit as well. (and would cause quite a discussion when my Japanese business cohorts would see us with tats.)