Balloon Shapes By Cops » Yakuza

Ex-Nova Boss Kidnapped by Yakuza

Silentjim — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:37:49 +0000

Exciting developments in the life of Monkey Bridge (ex-Nova boss and now convicted criminal)…apparently while waiting for his appeal to start he’s been staying in a hotel in Tokyo.

Well some members of the Yamaguchi Yakuza clan (based in Kobe/Osaka – actually the boss lives just up the road from me apparently) found out where he was and held him hostage yesterday for 3 hours!

Not sure why they let him go, but they were arrested immediately after.

There were always rumours amongst the staff and teachers at Nova that he was “connected” (some of the Nova investment money was mob money), but they were just rumours….hmm…maybe some-one wants their money back and it’s not just students and teachers!

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Post tags: Eikaiwa, Monkey Bridge, Nova, Teaching English in Japan, Yakuza

No Yakuza Allowed

Silentjim — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:16:45 +0000

Last week we went back to the estate agents, to sign the contract (well, I can’t sign as I’m a foreigner, so Aki signed). Before that we had to sit through the agent reading the contract in it’s entirety for about 2 hours! The highlights being (it was all in Japanese, so I didn’t get much of it, and it was all in Japanese lawyer speak so Aki couldn’t translate a lot of it either), were

a) No Yakuza are allowed

b) The contract is in Japanese (this was the last thing written in the contract! Think we might have guessed by that point).

Kobe is a hotbed of Yakuza activity, the Yamaguchi family live here, and there’s a massive house near here with security cameras all over it, and no way of looking in, (like a fortress) with Yamaguchi written on the gate, so we think it might be the bosses house, so Yakuza buying houses may be a big possibility.

Have to get Andy my tattoable friend to cover up when he comes to visit.

There was also something about not breaking the contract (which seemed to go on for about 5 pages!), and the size of pets allowed, up to 10kg apparently.

We checked each other for missing fingers and body tattoos and signed.

Now preparations start for the move.

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Kyoto and the Geishas

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Post tags: Living in Japan, Yakuza

Japanese Yakuza Style Tattoo

Silentjim — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 03:37:46 +0000

Japanese Tattoo

A friend of mine is getting a traditional Japanese style tattoo done (the ones that go over most of the arm – they stop at the length of a kimono sleeve – and go across part of the chest and nipple), in Sannomiya, Kobe.

I’ll try and document the progress. Here’s a couple of photos of the first 90 minute session.
It’s still all covered in the “sellotape”, and you can see a lot of the black marker outline that the tattoo artist is following.

Tattoo

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The Japanese Barber and the Yakuza Haircut

Silentjim — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 05:36:44 +0000

Forgot to mention, I had my first haircut in Japan the other week.
Was a bit worried about it, apparently “bit shorter, spiky and messy”, don`t translate well. So wasn`t sure what to say. My girlfriend seemed to think that I wouldn`t actually have a choice and the guy would just do the only cut he knows, turned out to be true.

She came along as a translator, and i did the usual (same as in London) of going in with my hair how I want it (but obviously longer) and saying, “Like this, but shorter”.
That doesn`t usually work in London either.

However, it was a great experience. The guy took so much time and care over it all, washing my hair twice, went through 2 hot face towels, four layers of covers (which he seemed to replace every 10 minutes), and even offered to shave my neck – I politely declined.
None of this Soho way, of in/out as quickly as possibly leaving the inside of your shirt covered in hair, and charging as much as possible.

This took about 40 minutes, cost about 15 quid (cheaper than London), and was a very pleasurable experience.

The result? Well, I usually have short, spiky, messy hair.
Ended up with slicked back, Yakuza style Japanese hair.
Which I enjoyed for a day, but due to not having any mouse or the 10 minutes he took to hair dry the mouse in and slick it back every day, I`ve gone back to my usual look.

Still, a top bloke, and I will definitely be going back. He even attempted some broken English.