On paper, the Ryuyukai were the most fearsome team in Japanese softball. A sort of mutual aid society for retired gangsters, the club had racked up nearly a century of hard time. The manager had been a top mob consigliere; the relief pitcher, who took the field in hot pink shoes, had once been sent to kill him.

But on a cloudless day last March, these hardened ex-cons met their match: the Parent-Teacher Association of Nakanodai Elementary School. The P.T.A. showed no mercy, hitting pitch after pitch out of the scruffy park in suburban Tokyo. Midway through the game, the scorekeeper stopped counting.

Losing is nothing new for Japan’s iconic gangsters, the yakuza. For over a decade, they have been suffering one defeat after another.

An aging population has made it hard to find young recruits — more Japanese gangsters are in their 70s than in their 20s — and has diminished the once-thriving demand for the yakuza’s services.

Society, too, has become less tolerant of them. The authorities have carried out a relentless legal assault on the criminal underworld. Crime is both less profitable and riskier: In 2021, a court sentenced the head of the most violent syndicate to death, a first that sent shock waves through the mob’s executive class.

Over the last decade, the yakuza’s rolls have plummeted by nearly two-thirds, to 24,000.

Many have struggled to reintegrate. Tattoos, missing fingers and long criminal records limit job opportunities and make it difficult to fit in.

如果你覺得我的podcast對你的英文學習有幫助就請到Apple podcast 幫我按五顆星訂閱和分享。也可到李老師陪你探索英文世界的臉書和IG粉絲專頁按贊追縱或留言。那我們就下集見了。 Talk to you next time on Exploring English with Ms Lee. Goodbye

Facebook: shorturl.at/gmnDM

Instagram: shorturl.at/eyAKU

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/08/world/asia/japan-yakuza.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

--

Hosting provided by SoundOn