New Gangster Exams for Japanese Yakuza

Spotted within the Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate, this Q&A session involved a 12 question paper that tested faction members’ knowledge of gangster lore.

Japanese gangsters are facing an obstacle that can’t be beaten with a nunchaku – a pen and paper exam.
One such question asked for a comprehensive list of taboo activities. The correct answer, as specified on the sample paper, included con jobs involving phones, stealing costly motor vehicles and disposal of industrial waste.

Furthermore, the paper stressed that all gang-related activities had to be approved by the big bosses.

This exam paraphernalia was uncovered by police when they were investigating a crime-related instance involving the Yamaguchi-gumi gang in Shiga Prefecture .

This particular group has a strong presence in Japan with its 40 000 members and thus, has adopted this unconventional method in order to save money. Recent changes to the anti-organized crime law ensured that crime bosses could be fined over the illegal actions of their respective minions.

Such minion actions could be anything from a shoot-out in a street to a bloody bar fight.

In addition to legal moves, civil action by concerned citizens against crime syndicates were becoming increasingly common and have might have contributed to the creation of this exam paper.

One such example was the efforts of Akasaka residents where they won a court appeal to exclude the Inagawa-kai gang from their neighborhood.