ABSTRACT
Members of Japanese indigenous organized criminal gangs call themselves yakuza. e meaning of the word is a “hooligan” or a “worthless scamp” (Yokoyama,
1999, p. 135). Previously, this term was accepted by the people and popularized through the media in popular movies and songs, which characterized the gang members as dropouts from the established society. However, around 1960, the police began to advocate that they should be called Boryokudan, a term that literally means a violent group. By using this term, the police intended to warn the ordinary people, who are inclined to sympathize or romanticize with hooligans or worthless scamps, that such individuals were harmful and violent and connected with organized criminal gangs.
