They are gangsters or mafia in Japan. They are supposedly very evil and very dangerous.

Lately I've been fascinated with them.

Not only do they have their own set of laws, but they have huge control over the laws of Japan itself. They have a say on most decisions of large corporations, if they don't already own them. They scare big rich business men into financing them. And for the most part, they get to decide who is voted into office.

To be part of a Yakuza family, they withstand up to ten years of an unbearable form of tattooing all over their body and they have to be willing to chop off their own fingers if they make even a small mistake.

This Japan, who's government is a 'democracy' set up by the United States, is actually run by a bunch of Yakuza clans which date hundreds if not thousands of years back to Samurai times. It is almost like feudal Japan still exists today under a mask of business and politics.

How awesome.