Yakuza, also known as gokudō, are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them bōryokudan, while the yakuza call themselves ninkyō dantai. The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization. The yakuza are known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature, and several unconventional ritual practices such as yubitsume or amputation of the left little finger. Members are often portrayed as males with heavily tattooed bodies and wearing fundoshi, sometimes with a kimono or, in more recent years, a Western-style "sharp" suit covering them. This group is still regarded as being among "the most sophisticated and wealthiest criminal organizations".
Minority Report is a 2002 American science fiction action film directed by Steven Spielberg, loosely based on the 1956 novella "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick. The film is set in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia in the year 2054, where Precrime, a specialized police department, apprehends criminals by use of foreknowledge provided by three psychics called "precogs". The cast stars Tom Cruise as Precrime Chief John Anderton, Colin Farrell as Department of Justice agent Danny Witwer, Samantha Morton as precog Agatha Lively, and Max von Sydow as Precrime director Lamar Burgess. The film combines elements of tech noir, whodunit, thriller and science fiction genres, as well as a traditional chase film, as the main protagonist is accused of a crime he has not committed and becomes a fugitive. Spielberg characterized the story as "fifty percent character and fifty percent very complicated storytelling with layers and layers of murder mystery and plot".
"The Minority Report" is a 1956 science fiction novella by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in Fantastic Universe. In a future society, three mutants foresee all crime before it occurs. Plugged into a great machine, these "precogs" allow a division of the police called Precrime to arrest suspects before they can commit any actual crimes. When the head of Precrime, John Anderton, is himself predicted to murder a man whom he has never heard of, Anderton is convinced a great conspiracy is afoot.
The Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest yakuza organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II.
Samuel Michael Fuller was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, actor, and World War II veteran known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made outside the conventional studio system. Fuller wrote his first screenplay for Hats Off in 1936, and made his directorial debut with the Western I Shot Jesse James (1949). He would continue to direct several other Westerns and war thrillers throughout the 1950s.
City on Fire is a 1987 Hong Kong action film directed by Ringo Lam, who also produced with Karl Maka. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, and Sun Yueh. Following A Better Tomorrow (1986), it helped establish Chow's popularity as an action star in Asia and to a lesser degree, North America.
Dead or Alive, abbreviated as DOA, is a 1999 Japanese yakuza action film directed by Takashi Miike. It stars Riki Takeuchi as the gang boss and former yakuza Ryūichi and Show Aikawa as the Japanese cop Detective Jojima and focuses on their meeting and conflict. It is the first in a loosely-connected three-part series, followed by Dead or Alive 2: Birds in 2000 and Dead or Alive: Final in 2002.
The Street with No Name is a 1948 film noir directed by William Keighley. A follow-up to The House on 92nd Street (1945), it tells the story of an undercover FBI agent, Gene Cordell, who infiltrates a deadly crime gang. Cordell's superior, FBI Inspector George A. Briggs, also appears in The House on 92nd Street. The film, shot in a semidocumentary style, takes place in the Skid Row section of fictional "Center City."
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery is a 1959 heist film, directed by Charles Guggenheim and starring Steve McQueen as a college dropout hired to be the getaway driver in a bank robbery.
Kenichi Shinoda, also known as Shinobu Tsukasa, is a Japanese Yakuza, the sixth and current kumicho of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization.
Masaru Takumi was a powerful Japanese organized crime figure assassinated in 1997. Until his death, he was the second-in-command (wakagashira) and financial overseer of Japan's largest yakuza gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi. Known as "the man who never sleeps", he also headed his own sub-organization, the 1000-member Takumi-gumi.
Ben Hall was an Australian bushranger and leading member of the Gardiner–Hall gang. He and his associates carried out many raids across New South Wales, from Bathurst to Forbes, south to Gundagai and east to Goulburn. Unlike many bushrangers of the era, Hall was not directly responsible for any deaths, although several of his associates were. He was shot dead by police in May 1865 at Goobang Creek. The police claimed that they were acting under the protection of the Felons Apprehension Act 1865, which allowed any bushranger who had been specifically named under the terms of the Act to be shot, and killed by any person at any time without warning. At the time of Hall's death, the Act had not yet come into force, resulting in controversy over the legality of his killing.
Once a Thief is a 1965 crime film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Alain Delon, Ann-Margret, Van Heflin and Jack Palance. It was written by Zekial Marko, based on his 1961 novel Scratch a Thief. The movie was known in France as Les tueurs de San Francisco.
Yoshinori Watanabe was a yakuza, the fifth kumicho of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization. He became kumicho in 1989. He was known for a more low-key approach than his predecessors, partly due to an anti-gang law passed in 1992. He retired in 2005.
Queen of the Mob is a 1940 American film, directed by James P. Hogan.
The Invisible Avenger is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, with special effects and cinematography by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1897 H.G. Wells story The Invisible Man.
The Kantō Massacre was a mass murder which the Japanese military, police and vigilantes committed against the Korean residents of the Kantō region, as well as socialists, communists, anarchists, and other dissidents, in the immediate aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. The massacre of Korean residents in particular is also known as the Massacre of Koreans in 1923.
According to Mrs. Hoyle is a 1951 American crime film directed by Jean Yarbrough and written by Scott Darling and Barney Gerard. The film stars Spring Byington, Anthony Caruso, Tanis Chandler, Brett King, Stephen Chase and Robert Karnes. The film was released on May 20, 1951, by Monogram Pictures.
Outlaws of Stampede Pass is a 1943 American Western film directed by Wallace Fox and written by Adele Buffington. This is the fourth film in the "Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie" series, and stars Johnny Mack Brown as Jack McKenzie and Raymond Hatton as his sidekick Sandy Hopkins, with Ellen Hall, John Dawson, Harry Woods and Charles King. The film was released on October 15, 1943, by Monogram Pictures.
Waray-Waray gangs are generic terms used in the Philippines to denote of criminal groups who are of Waray ethnicity. They originated from provinces Leyte and Samar where the majority are of Waray background, later spreading into Luzon. Most of their criminal activities involved armed robberies, but various other gangs have also dabbled in kidnapping, carnapping, gun running, assassinations, gang warfare, and narcotics sale. Their bloody confrontations with the police made them the most notorious gang in the Philippines.
