1. Reenactment: three Yakuza on the streets of Tokyo.

2. But recent revelations about gambling and the yakuza, Japan's mob , are the most serious yet.

3. Yakuza operate locally, but they need to expand overseas, which is hard because they've never tried to build relationships with other mafia organizations.

4. All yakuza tattoos, known as irezumi in Japan, are imbued with personal meaning.

5. He plays at being a yakuza while he lives on what he inherited!

6. All over the world the cosa nostra, yakuza, triads, bratva and the rest make much of their fortune by disposing of our uncomfortable truths.

7. As one members said, "There are no yakuza or katagi (ordinary citizens) or gaijin (foreigners) in Japan right now.

8. Mr Ito's murder hints at yakuza desperation more than strength.

9. The family heads of Yakuza gangs are rampant peculiar about honor and duty.

10. Their income is largely derived from protection money, security services, financial fraud, stock manipulations, gambling, blackmail, prostitution, and loan sharking. They call themselves "yakuza.

11. With so much loose cash around, it is no surprise that the yakuza have moved into pachinko.

12. But he must abide by an unwritten rule: do not embarass the yakuza.

13. So, really, one of the big question is, how yakuza will be killed in this sequel?

14. "It's not like there is a national boss like the Japanese yakuza boss, " said Mr. Brown. Yet, there are "circles within circles, " and almost every leading politician would be implicated, he said.

15. Criminals no longer belong to hierarchical organizations that do not threaten the state itself—as was true of the Sicilian Mafia or the Japanese Yakuza.

16. "This fear has made them go quiet recently, as they know they can be sued for damages, " a source close to the yakuza told the Guardian.

17. There is an unwritten agreement amongst the police and the yakuza groups that is acceptable for them to perform volunteer activities during a crisis but not to seek publicity for it.

18. Blackmail is my Life (1968) follows the fortunes of a crew of hustlers who attempt to graduate from small-time extortion scams to taking down the yakuza and corrupt government officials.

19. Other abiding beliefs include companies looking after workers through lifetime employment and the yakuza, Japan's mafia, being guardians of the lost samurai spirit.

20. The word comes from a losing hand in traditional Japanese gambling: 8 (ya) 9 (ku) 3(za) which adds up to 20, and is a useless hand. Thus to be a yakuza is to be "a loser."

21. To understand the real meaning of that you have to understand how the generally male-dominated and sexist yakuza define "a man.