In Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists, 2001 IDRF fellow Eiko Maruko Siniawer demonstrates that the practice of politics in Japan has been dangerous, chaotic, and far more violent than previously thought and that instead, violence has been embedded in the practice of modern Japanese politics from the very inception of the country’s experiment with democracy. As soon as the parliament opened its doors in 1890, brawls, fistfights, vandalism, threats, and intimidation quickly became a fixture in Japanese politics. Most of this physical force was wielded by what Siniawer calls “violence specialists”: ruffians and yakuza. Their systemic and enduring political violence compromised party politics in Japan and contributed to the rise of militarism in the 1930s. During the post-World War II years, the Japanese developed a preference for money over violence as a political tool of choice. Siniawer illustrates that this change in tactics signaled a political shift, but not necessarily an evolution, as corruption and bribery were in some ways more insidious, exclusionary, and undemocratic than violence. Finally, crime has been more political. Throughout the book, Siniawer makes clear that certain yakuza groups were ideological in nature, contrary to the common understanding of organized crime as nonideological. Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists is essential reading for anyone wanting to comprehend the role of violence in the formation of modern nation-states and its place in both democratic and fascist movements. Buy from Amazon

Publication Details

Title
Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists: The Violent Politics of Modern Japan, 1860-1960
Authors
Siniawer, Eiko Maruko
Publisher
Cornell University / Cornell University Press
Publish Date
2008
ISBN
978-0801447204
Citation
Siniawer, Eiko Maruko, Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists: The Violent Politics of Modern Japan, 1860-1960 (Cornell University / Cornell University Press, 2008).
Menu