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Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
yakuza

traditional Japanese organized crime cartel, literally "eight-nine-three" (ya, ku, sa) the losing hand in the traditional baccarat-like Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu. The notion may be "good for nothing," or "bad luck" (such as that suffered by someone who runs afoul of them), or it may be a reference to the fact that a player who draws this hand requires great skill to win.

Wiktionary
yakuza

n. 1 A Japanese organized crime gang 2 A member of a Japanese organized crime gang

WordNet
yakuza
  1. n. a Japanese gangster

  2. organized crime in Japan; an alliance of criminal organizations and illegal enterprises

Wikipedia
Yakuza

, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The yakuza are notorious for their strict codes of conduct and organized fiefdom-nature. They have a large presence in the Japanese media and operate internationally with an estimated 102,000 members.

Yakuza (video game)

is an action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. Yakuza was released in Japan in 2005, and outside Japan the following year. The story follows a yakuza named Kazuma Kiryu, who, after spending ten years in jail for a crime he did not commit, learns that 10 billion yen has been stolen from the Tojo clan, which the criminal underworld is searching for. He finds an orphaned girl Haruka who is being targeted by the clan, as she is believed to have the key for their lost money, and he resolves to protect her. The game takes place in Kamurocho, which is a realistic recreation of Tokyo's Kabukicho.

Yakuza is an open world action-adventure game with RPG elements: the player gains experience from combat, which can be used to level up Kazuma's stats and increase his fighting capabilities. In order to finance the game's expensive production, Sega contracted a tie-in campaign with famous Japanese companies. A remake of this game, titled has been released in Japanese on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 on January 21, 2016.

Critical reception to Yakuza has been positive. Although there was some criticism of its clunky mechanics, the game has been well received for its presentation and story. Yakuza was a commercial success, selling over 1,000,000 units, and spawned an entire franchise of games.

Yakuza (disambiguation)

Yakuza refers to traditional organized crime groups in Japan and members thereof.

Yakuza may also refer to:

  • Yakuza film, or yakuza eiga, the Japanese film genre depicting organized crime
  • Yakuza (video game series), a Sega franchise known as Ryu Ga Gotoku in Japan (龍が如く, lit. "Like a Dragon");
    • Yakuza
    • Yakuza 2
    • Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!
    • Yakuza 3
    • Yakuza 4
    • Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō
    • Yakuza: Dead Souls
  • The Yakuza, a 1975 film directed by Sydney Pollack
  • The Yakuza Papers, a five-part film series directed by Kinji Fukasaku
  • Yakuza (band), an avant-garde metal band from Chicago
  • Yakuza (Irish band), an independent rock band from Belfast
  • Yakuza (leafhopper), a leafhopper genus in the tribe Erythroneurini
  • Yakuza is a French comic by François Corteggiani
Yakuza (band)

Yakuza is an avant-garde metal band, formed in Chicago in 1999. They have been acclaimed for their incorporation of jazz and world music elements.

Yakuza (series)

Yakuza, known in Japan as , is an action-adventure video game franchise created, owned and published by Sega. The series primarily focus on the yakuza Kazuma Kiryu from the Tojo clan. While Kazuma often assists the Tojo clan, the series has also featured him searching for another way of life in the form of raising orphans. The gameplay of Yakuza has the player controlling Kazuma (or another character depending on the title) in an open world where he can encounter an enemy or perform an activity in the city to obtain experience.

The series originated from Toshihiro Nagoshi's desire to create a new game that would tell the yakuzas' way of life. Nagoshi initially struggled to find a platform for the project, until Sony showed interest in the prospect. The series became a commercial success, selling 7.8 million copies as of November 2014. Strong sales of the games in its original Japanese market has led to the franchise's expansion to other mediums, including film adaptations.

Usage examples of "yakuza".

Nicholas had his own very private reasons for hating the Yakuza and could have turned his back on Okami and his obligation to his late father.

Honor meant everything to him, but the irony of helping keep alive the living embodiment of the Yakuza was not lost on him.

Unlike in America, where the underworld was outcast from society, the Yakuza ware, in a very real sense, a part of it.

I saw how full of hate you were for the Yakuza, I could find no way to tell you the truth about your father.

Then, before the Yakuza could slam into him, Mick swiveled away to face phoenix-man.

Behind him, he could hear the squat Yakuza stumbling along on legs that refused to pump.

To this end, he had used Okami, manipulating elements of the Yakuza into service, eliminating those who stood in his way.

Let me animate like ghosts from their graves the names Seizo and Mitsuba Yamauchi, Yakuza who stood in the way of your schemes.

Nicholas did not want to look at the swaying corpse across the room, the lifeless husk that had once been the Kaisho of all the Yakuza, now mortal as the next man.

Akinaga remained, and the tall, cadaverous Yakuza wanted everyone to know that he was consolidating his power.

Nicholas Linnear, and they commenced the ritual Yakuza greeting by stating their names, rank, and clan affiliation.

Ishida is overseeing a major operation to import brown heroin from China and Thailand for a guy named Yuki Torobuni who runs the yakuza here in L.

Asian gentlemen are yakuza executives in search of an expanding business opportunity.

Every two weeks he was here with other people and those people were probably in the yakuza, too.

A girl named Mimi Warren has been kidnapped, maybe by the yakuza, and maybe by someone who knew Ishida.