If you¡¯re a well-connected Japanese gangster, you now have your own newspaper to keep you abreast of underworld life. Another perk of the job.
Â鶹´«Ã½ yakuza are a different lot. They have office buildings, business cards, fanzines, tight control over the entertainment industry ¡ª and considerable political influence.
In October last year, Minister of Justice Keishu Tanaka was forced to resign ¡ª ostensibly for health reasons ¡ª over his links to yakuza bosses. Around then, too, Finance Minister Koriki Jojima spent months dodging claims that a yakuza front company had helped finance his election campaign. The controversy only ended when Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda called a general election and Jojima lost his seat in the Diet.
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