Yakuza names new leader

Also, older stories about Yakuza and corporations and members getting out.

Okay, first of all: thanks again for the inteersting links, DE. You never fail to disrupt my work schedule.

Secondly, wtf is up with Maria Niino (she operates the New Body Institute and her photo is lower in the article)?! Am I the only one who finds her incredibly creepy?

Hush, you. I'm using this to convince INS that they should let me in.

Wow, that was weird. I read one thing and wrote another. I blame, uuh... well, realistically it's just inattention. Whoops.

Japan is a very interesting place. I went there last March. Game material doesn't quite work after experiencing Japan first hand.

One thing that jumps out at me from Shadowrun is nuyen, which I assume means new yen.

Well, in today's currency 100 YEN = $1 dollar. So when I see prices for 10,000 nuyen and look at the product listed, I have to laugh since in my mind I am quick to convert that to $100.

There are other things that jump out at me as well.

tweak

In Shadowrun, 1 Nuyen equals 4 or 5 UCAS dollars.

It's not unique to Shadowrun. Mexico (I think it's Mexico, might be one of the others nearby) is currently using what is technically the "New Peso." The value of the previous peso had dropped so low that the government decided to redefine their currency rather than take Italy's lead and start your coinage at 500 Lira (or whatever the smallest useful denomination is in Italy).

Well there is a reason for the movie cliche of paying people in US dollars.

well if the us dollar keeps slipping it will soon be in euros. hmm, makes me think of cp2020...

Expect it to keep slipping as long as the Bush regime is in power.

From the first article:

The yakuza still kill with swords in Japan. That is why you have to register a sword as a weapon in Japan.

tweak

Well, that and the fact that a sword is a weapon.

~J

So are knives. To my knowledge, those do not require registration in Japan. In America, swords are still weapons, but only handguns and assault rifles have to be registered (to varying degrees, depending on state, etc). Ultimately, what has to be registered and tracked has little to do with what is being registered and tracked and everything to do with the government and the culture.

And those cultural elements enrich the roleplay experience.

tweak

For me, any and all yakuza, ninja, or samurai source material originating in the US has to do with the 80s, rather than with real Japan, which is why I like it.

DLN sent me this story last week. What I find amazing is that the mob bosses are publically known like this. It's not like in the US where it's an open secret, like jophn Gotti in NYC was, but it is written here lie a fact, that the gumi have pubilcally known bosses like you could find them in the yellow pages.

You've never lived in Boston, have you?

~J

The Yakuza is more accepted in Japan than the Mafia is in the US.

tweak

Well, that's probably because the Yakuza have been operating in Japan since before there was a US to have Mafia in.

Also, the Japanese would probably be less prone to voicing their disapproval.