Women in Organized Crime in Japan.

Before embarking on the central theme of this chapter, it seems necessary to dismantle a stereotype, widespread in theWest, that sees Japanese women as submissive, in situations of inferiority with respect to men, and relegated to a domestic role. History actually shows that Japanese women have participated actively in all the last century's social movements, in the battle for rights, in socialist or anarchist movements, and in environmental struggles; for example, women were active at the beginnings of the 1918 rice revolt, one of the most important prewar social movements. Even today, traces of the matriarchal system can be seen in some isolated areas of the country. On the other hand, the image of the "lady gangster," spread by some Japanese films, in no way reflects reality. The notion of organized crime in Japan has special connotations. The Japanese underworld has a long history but is radically different from the Sicilian Mafia, above all because of the fact that criminal organizations, as such, are not necessarily outlawed. The gangs that make up organized crime present themselves as mutual aid societies and solidarity associations with well-established commercial activities (offices, signs, etc.) unless the prefectorial council for public safety has designated them "violent organizations" (aswas the case with twenty-five gangs in February 2000) in conformity with the 1992 anti-gang law. At first, these gangs engaged in illegal activities such as illegal gambling, the sex trade, and drug dealing (principally ephedrine hydrochloride, or methamphetamine), but they also constituted an extralegal regulatory element in the criminal world. During the "speculative bubble" of the 1990s, the great crime "syndicates" entered even further into the legal economy, in which they had been traditionally present in sectors such as bars, variety theaters, and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]