Organized Crime

## The Mafia

Most people have at least heard of the *Cosa Nostra* - The Mafia with a capital M, the grandfather of all mobs. But even more folks don't realize that just about every ethnic group in the world's spawned its own homegrown crime syndicates at one time or another. Italians, Poles, Cubans, Russians, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Czechs and Slovaks, Muslims, Chinese, Koreans, Africans, Jews and even Irishmen have formed their own little mafias. Most of these ethnic mobs got gobbled up or squashed by the bigger kids on the block. In North America, the Cosa Nostra gobbled up the Irish, Jewish and Polish mafias, along with most of the Mexican and Afro-Caribbean syndicates. The Yaks took over most of the Korean, Vietnamese and Cambodian syndicates, which remained under the Yakuza umbrella until the split that created the Seoulpa Rings. Now some of those groups work with the Rings.

A few of the other ethnic mafias are still around as independent organizations. You can still find Russian mobsters operating out of places like Little Odessa, and Thai or Vietnamese gangsters in their own 'hoods. But these outfits keep to their own neighborhoods, among their own people. The Mafia, on the other hand, is everywhere.

### History

The Mafia started more than two hundred years ago, when a couple of Sicilian landlords began paying local thugs to protect their estates. When Napoleon's troops invaded Sicily and southern Italy, landowners began hiring even more muscle to protect their holdings, and rallied their *soldatos* (soldiers) with the motto "Death to the French is Italy's Cry" - that's *Morte alla Francia Italia anela* in Italian. Get it - MAFIA? Business was good, and these early mob chieftains soon began to command a lot of power.

When the French retreated, the gangs quickly went into business for themselves. Groups of Mafiosi realized they were powerful enough to go up against their former employers, and soon the landowners were paying protection money to their former hired guns. By terrorizing the peasant electorate, these early Mafiosi were able to win political offices in several communities throughout Sicily and southern Italy. From there, the mobsters easily took over the local police forces and expanded their power. Naturally, the different outfits came into competition at times and occasionally fought bitter and bloody contests.

After a while, the Sicilian authorities began to crack down on the Mafiosi gangs, and many mob leaders emigrated to the United States, where they promptly set up shop. But things didn't really take off until the US government enacted Prohibition in 1920. With the legal supply of booze cut off, American Mafiosi were only too happy to supply bootleg hooch. The government tried to crack down on bootleggers, of course, but that just reduced the supply and drove up the price. As prices and profits went up, more and more outfits wanted a piece of the action, leading to gang wars - which led to more government crackdowns and higher profits. By the time the government repealed Prohibition in 1933, the disorganized immigrant Sicilian gangs had become the most powerful crime syndicate the world had ever seen. But legalizing booze didn't slow down the Mafiosi. They simply moved into new markets like gambling, prostitution and the growing drug trade. They even hooked up with trade unions like the Teamsters and various longshoremen's unions. Through these unions, the Mafia soon controlled the docks of New York and other major ports.

The Mafia dominated the business of crime in North America for the rest of the century. No other group could hope to match its muscle and money, and anyone foolish enough to try didn't live very long. The Mafia lost a bit of its overwhelming power when other syndicates, like the Yakuza, rode into town on the coattails of foreign megacorps and began to move in on Mafia territory during the early twenty-first century. Events triggered by the Awakening, like the Ghost Dance War and the breakup of the old United States, shook up the Mafia organization a bit. But these events also weakened government authority and provided Mafiosi with new business opportunities. In time, even old-time mobsters began to adapt to the changing times, and the Mafia survived into the Sixth World.

Over the years the Mafia organizations became much more diverse, as the old-guard Sicilian mobsters died off and the Family absorbed other crime organizations. Now you can find Irish mobsters in Boston, Polish and Creole Mafiosi in New Orleans, and even some African outfits in the Carib League. Plenty of smaller independent ethnic mafias remain independent of the Cosa Nostra, but only because their rackets aren't lucrative enough to attract the interest of the Mafia's ruling Commissione. Occasionally, some wacko, suicidal outfit tries to defy the Mafia, but these instances are pretty rare. Some Caribbean League gangs were the last to try it; they all ended up either working for Havana's Batista Family or dead.

More recently, the Mafia's taken two big hits. First, the Chicago Containment Zone slammed down and trapped most of two major Mafia families inside - including one Commissione member. The poor slags that didn't die are now watching over what operations are left in the city and running most of Bug City's black market. The other is that someone offed Don James O'Malley of Seattle. Things have been getting hotter in the Rain City ever since O'Malley's brother, Brian, took over operations there a few years ago. With the second O'Malley gone, all hell could break loose. But don't count the Mafia out. Lots of young Turks - in the families and even on the Commissione - are pushing to modernize operations and set a course for the rest of the century and beyond.

### Organization & Operations

Mafia operations are organized by *regimes*, which are jurisdictions or sectors. Each regime is controlled by one or more major "families". The head of each Family is granted the title of "Don" (as in Don O'Malley). The head of a regime is called a *capo* ("head" or "chief"). The dons sit on the *Commissione*, a sort of board of directors led by the most powerful capi. The head of the Commissione is called the *capo di tutti capi* ("boss of all bosses"), but there hasn't been a capo di tutti capi in more than a hundred years, simply because no single capo has enough muscle to claim the title. Of course, that doesn't stop all of the capi from dreaming about it.

#### The Code

The Code is simply the traditions that govern all Mafiosi operations. Some think it's bulldrek, a romantic notion dreamed up by twentieth-century moviemakers, but the Code separates Mafiosi from common criminals. It keeps the families from destroying each other, and it's probably the main reason why the Mafia has been around for two hundred years. The Code contains two traditions - the tradition of *omerta* (silence) and the tradition of *rispetto* (respect), and Mafiosi are honor-bound to punish any fellow mobster - including capi or other people in power - who break the Code.

The tradition of omerta demands that a Mafiosi never reveals the Family's existence to any outsider and never admits to being a member, even under interrogation or torture. That's why mobsters always use metaphors and illusions when they talk about their work. They call the Mafia *La Cosa Nostra* - This Thing of Ours. They talk about "taking care of business". They don't give anything away. Even their wives know enough not to ask about the "Family business". Anyone who breaks the code of silence and talks to the authorities dies - usually in an unpleasant way. Lately, some families have begun using implants or magic to enforce the code of silence. If a captured Mafiosi tries to talk to the authorities or otherwise betray his Family's trust - BOOM! - his head explodes or he melts into a puddle of slime. The old guard considers such practices distasteful and disrespectful to the oaths sworn by all Mafiosi, but many younger capi have no problem with such techniques - because they work.

The code of rispetto demands that all Mafiosi show proper respect and deference to those above them. That means having to act respectful towards higher ups and making sure they get their "cut" of any operations. Rispetto also demands that a Mafiosi uphold the honor of his Family by punishing any acts of disrespect toward it.

#### The Commissione

The Commissione is a council of the heads of all of the Families. The Commissione makes sure that the Code is followed, violators are punished, and that the Mafia's business affairs are handled well. It's like the court of last appeal for the Cosa Nostra. A Family that thinks its been unfairly harmed by another can bring an appeal before the Commissione and ask for reparations. The Commissione can order any Mafia Family to pay damages to another, and no one can appeal any Commissione decision.

Officially, every head of the forty or fifty Mafia Families in North America is entitled to a seat on the Commissione, each has one vote, and each has an equal voice. In reality, the Commissione is run by a central cadre of a dozen or so capi of major families from Boston, New York, DeeCee, Miami, and Los Angeles (Chicago's capo had a seat in the Inner Circle, but it remains empty for now). These are the guys who make all the major decisions. When the Inner Circle feels like it - that is, when those capi know everybody else is going to go along with a decision - they put it out before the entire Commissione and let everyone "vote" on it. That lets the bit players feel important and promotes general goodwill. But when it's something that really matters, the central cadre simply tells everyone how it's going to be.

Originally, the Commissione met in one of the major UCAS cities controlled by one of the Inner Circle Families - usually Boston, Chicago, New York or DeeCee, but the problems in Chicago and the increasing difficulty of traveling and maintaining adequate security have led the Commissione to start holding virtual meetings over Matrix systems.

#### The Families

About forty or fifty Mafia families operate in North America, but only a dozen or so are really big-time. Everyone else answers to them. Nowadays, the members of a Mafia don't have to be related by blood, but it's usually true of the highest-ranking members. Traditionally, each Family is named after its founder or current leader, who usually hands power over to one of his sons or another close male relative when the time comes. The main exception to this tradition is New Orleans' Kozlowski Family, which has been led by a capa - a female corp - for two generations now.

Below the don comes the *sottocapo*, or underboss. A sottocapo's something like a corporate vice-president. Often, the underboss is someone that the don is grooming to be his successor. Large Families may have more than one underboss, and competition between underbosses to win the don's favor can get very fierce. Frequently, competing underbosses hire outside shadowrunners to do dirty work, because they don't want to alienate potential allies within the Family or be double-crossed by someone loyal to their rival.

The don's *consiglieri*, or "counselor", offers advice to the don about business and Family matters. Traditionally, consiglieri are kept outside of the normal chain of command, to keep them from becoming involved in power plays within their families. A consiglieri might be a kind of paid consultant like a lawyer - or these days, a therapist or even a magician or "wise one" for a superstitious don - or an older Family member or trusted friend and comrade from the don's younger days. Generally, a consiglieri ranks at the same level as a Family's sottocapo, but some consiglieri are the real powers behind the throne in their families.

Under the sottocapi are the *caporegimes* ("captains"), who oversee the daily operations of the Family. The captains give the lower ranks their marching orders and handle the actual money-making activities. They're the middle managers of the Mafia and usually the guys who hire shadowrunners and any other outside help the Family might need. Caporegimes are also the most popular choice when the law gets too close and the Family needs someone to throw to the wolves. Understandably, most caporegimes work hard to catch the attention of the don and get promoted.

At the bottom of the Mafia pyramid are the *solados*, or "soldiers". These are the wiseguys, the legbreakers, the "made men" of the Mafia that carry out everyone else's orders. Soldatos usually take charge of any outside street operators hired by the Family. There are around four thousand "made men" - initiated members of the Cosa Nostra - in the whole North American continent. A made man is someone who has been formally initiated into a Mafia Family. A candidate has to be sponsored by another member. When he's brought in to be initiated, the candidate first swears an oath to obey the code of silence. The sponsoring member then cuts the candidate's right index finger - the trigger finger - and his own trigger finger. A couple of drops of the candidate's and sponsor's blood are mixed and used to moisten a small picture of the Family's patron saint. The candidate then holds the picture by a corner while his sponsor sets it afire. As the picture burns, the candidate repeats another oath: "As burns this saint, so will burn my soul. I enter alive into this organization and leave it dead".

Low-rent Mafia thugs are usually right off the rack, but a lot of made men go in for cyber-implants and keep them as they work their way up the ladder. This means some of the younger sottocapi and consiglieri - and even some capi - may pack the kind of cyber you'd expect from a street op. And Mafiosi can usually afford top-grade modifications, so their boys will often have cyber as good as you'd expect from company men in the same position. In fact, plenty of beginning street runners cut deals with the Mafia for shiny new mods that they can't afford by any other means.

##### Employees

Besides its don, underbosses, consiglieri, captains and soldatos, a Mafia Family usually payrolls the same kind of personnel a successful corp supports. These nonmembers are considered "employees" of the Family and may include several levels of management, accounting personnel, data-processing personnel, deckers and low-level datapushers.

##### Associates

In addition to their long-term employees, the Mafia families also hire a lot of outside talent for specific jobs and occasions. These "associates" do not have any of the rights accorded to members of the Family, but Mafiosi usually treat them well. Most families are less picky when hiring associates; even a conservative don will hire metahumans or magicians as associates, but they also keep associates ignorant of most aspects of the operations they are working on. They expect associates to follow orders given by the soldatos or caporegime and not ask questions.

### The Family Tree

A brief rundown of major Mafiosi operations in North America.

#### UCAS

The old USA was the place where the Mafia really took off, and the UCAS is still home to the biggest Mafia operations in North America. Major UCAS strongholds include New York, Boston, and DeeCee. Seattle is a big Mafia town too, and Chicago was home to some big-time Mafiosi until the bugs took over.

##### Boston

Three major families - the O'Rilleys, the Morellis and the Muldoons - operate in Boston. The O'Rilleys, headed by Don Conner "The Mick" O'Rilley, run the metroplex and the other two families answer to them. Don Conor is an elf, the only metahuman capo to sit on the Commissione, and is one of the more "progressive" mob bosses. Like most of Boston's Mafiosi, Don Conor got his tart in the metroplex's Irish Mafia, which really took off when the Shidhe took over Tir na nOg and thousands of Irishmen came to Boston.

##### New York

New York's probably the biggest Mafia town in the world. Italian, Jewish, Eastern European - all kinds of Mafiosi operate in the Big Rotten Apple. In fact, New York's home to the "Big Five" - the Carnetti, Colombo, Genovese, Lucchese and Bonanno families. These are the heavy hitters of the entire North American Mob scene - they pretty much call the shots in the Commissione. Between them, the Big Five control all Mafia activity in Manhattan, upstate New York, the Newark sprawl and Philadelphia. These guys basically run the streets, but they also operate legit businesses that may well outweigh their criminal enterprises, and they've got major influence with many of the corporations that dominate New York City's politics and economy. The Carnettis, in fact, are completely legit and control Carnetti Enterprises, Inc., a company that has a near monopoly on city services.

##### DeeCee

Mob operations in the UCAS capital have always been important to the Cosa Nostra. In fact, the Mafia considers them so important that two families operate in DeeCee. The Mueller family, run by capo Don Franco "The Enforcer" Mueller, oversees all operations in the DeeCee sprawl and handles trouble in his regime the old-fashioned way - usually with a bullet to the back of the head or a one-way trip to the bottom of the Potomac. The Marconis serve as the Mafia's semiofficial liaison to all politicos on Capital Hill. Don Victor "Velvet" Marconi - who styles himself as "Cosa Nostra ambassador" to the UCAS - makes sure that the fat cats and power brokers know which way the wind is blowing and keeps them up-to-date on Mafia interest in certain bills that come their way.

##### Chicago

Thanks to old-time skags like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, most folks think of the Mafia when they think of Chicago. In fact, when Don Jim "Tools" O'Toole took over as Chicago's capo in 2047, he controlled families that still bore the names of those big players. Chi-town was a Mob stronghold where the city government actually consulted the Mafia about most major decisions. That all ended when the bugs took over and the UCAS government sealed off the city. Don Jimmy bought it in the first few days of chaos. The families stuck in the Containment Zone fell apart without his leadership and soon became mired in an all-out gang war with the local yaks and Seoulpa Rings over control of the Containment Zone black markets. After a little while, the Commissione gave Don Leo "The Lion" McCaskill of Milwaukee authority to handle matters in the Windy City, but there's been no serious talk of cutting their losses and giving O'Toole's Commissione seat to some other capo. Even though no one's been able to communicate with the Mafia Family members trapped in the CZ, the Commissione is reluctant to completely write off O'Toole's operations. the Mafia intends to restore its influence once it gets back in, but there's just no way to judge when that might be.

##### Seattle

The Mafia's been part of the Seattle scene since the 1950s, when it ran operations on the docks. But competition from the yaks and the Triads kept the local mob from grabbing the same kind of influence as its East Coast "relatives". Even at the end of the twentieth century, Seattle Mafia operations were run by two Chicago families that primarily concentrated on their operations elsewhere. That all changed just after the turn of the century, when the yaks began to expand their operations in the Rain City. Suddenly faced with real competition - and a major blow to Family pride - the Chicago mob sent one of its major bosses - one Brian "Three Fingers" O'Malley - to Seattle to straighten things out. Old Brian didn't waste any time. As soon as he arrived, he sent hitters out after the local oyabuns, and pretty soon a full-fledged gang war was on. Things really heated up when the local mafiosi and yaks began targeting each other's politicians. The war stalled in 2030, when Brian and the leading oyabun were assassinated within twenty-four hours of each other. Both organizations had been decimated by the war and were willing to accept a truce.

The Yakuza rebuilt its operations much quicker than the Mafia. The Chicago bosses, again, had more important fish to fry, and were unwilling to divert the muscle needed to replace what they'd lost in the gang war. That changed in 2044, when Hazo Shotozumi became oyabun of Seattle's Yakuza. Shotozumi moved quickly and ruthlessly to consolidate the Yakuza's position, and the Chicago mafiosi - almost too late - realized they'd have to act, and act fast, if they didn't want to lose Seattle entirely. They threw support behind James O'Malley, Brian's older brother, who'd taken over as capo of Seattle. O'Malley fought back against the yaks with a vengeance, challenging them for every street corner and every nuyen. With Jimmy at the helm, the Seattle Mafia held its own against the yaks for twelve years. Then he was taken out by an unknown assassin.

Now control of the Mafia metroplex operations is up for grabs between the Bigios, Ciarniellos and the Finnigans (run by the late James O'Malley) - a situation the yaks will undoubtedly try to exploit. The Commissione plans to appoint a new capo, but no decision has yet been made. O'Malley's daughter Rowena actually seems to be running the Finnigan family and may make a bid for the top spot, but it's not likely that the Commissione will approve of a woman - especially someone as young as Rowena - for the important job of handling the situation in Seattle.

#### CAS

The Mafia's operations south of the Mason-Dixon have never been as prosperous as those in the North - except, of course, for operations in New Orleans, which has been a big Mob town for a long time.

##### New Orleans

The Big Easy's also unique because it's the only regime headed by a woman - Miriam Kozlowski. La Dame du Morte inherited the position from her mother Paula, who became capa when her husband, Stan, died. Stan "Gumbo" Kozlowski was a strange one. He and Paula were partners in every sense of the word, and he caught some flack for involving her in "the Family business" as much as he did. When Family leaders read Stan's will and discovered that he wanted Paula to succeed him, they weren't crazy about the idea. But there wasn't much they could do to stop her. It seems that Paula and Stan had talked about the idea beforehand, and Stan had helped Paula arrange the support she would need to consolidate her position within the Family. So after putting down some challengers, Paula was recognized by the Commissione as capa of New Orleans. As Paula and Stan's only child, Miriam was Paula's logical choice to succeed her, and in 2047 Miriam took over the Kozlowski family business. She's continued to run the Family with the same ruthless efficiency that earned her parents the respect and fear of the other New Orleans mafiosi. Unmarried and childless, Miriam's currently grooming her cousin, Pamela Rodenbush, to succeed her.

##### Atlanta

The Gianelli family has controlled Atlanta's slow but steady Mafia activity for years. Atlanta's mobsters make their nuyen mostly by running the smuggling activity coming north from the Caribbean League and leading muscle for the corporate skirmishes that go on in the Caribbean shadows. The Gianellis also serve as Mob "ambassadors" to the CAS government, but they are not nearly as effective as Don Victor in DeeCee.

##### Dallas/Fort Worth

The last major CAS regime is the Dallas/Fort Worth sprawl, run by the Chavez family. Originally, the Chavez family was part of the Mexican Mafia. They fled Mexico after the Awakening and the formation of Aztlan and settled in Texas, where they quickly and ruthlessly overwhelmed the local Mafia. Rather than continue fighting over such a minor regime, the Commissione instead invited the Chavez family to join the fold. Now operations in Dallas/Fort Worth are flourishing under the control of Don Miguel "Caesar" Chavez. Expect Mafia operations in Houston and points north to expand in the near future.

#### California Free State

The California Free State is both a big asset and a big headache for the Mafia. Operations in the southern part of the state, particularly Los Angeles and the surrounding area, produce some of the Mob's biggest moneymakers, like "California Hot" simsense chips, and provide exclusive legit and illegal resorts, casinos and vacation spots. Northern California, on the other hand, has been nothing but trouble for the Mafia. San Francisco, which has the strongest Yakuza presence in North America and provides a fairly stable base for yak expansion along the Pacific Coast and further inland, is a particular thorn in the Mafia's side.

##### Los Angeles

Los Angeles is *the* big Mafia town in California. Controlled jointly by the Larraga and Gillespie families, the city provides a lot of prime product - mostly simchips, either BTLs or CalHots - for smuggling north to Seattle and east to Denver, Vegas, and Texas. All sorts of other contraband gets shipped out of LA too, including black-market merchandise from Aztlan and the Japanacorps in San Francisco. The Mob also has a thriving interest in LA's entertainment and vice industry. The Larragas and Gillespies have their fingers in legit trideo and simporn studios, resorts, clubs, and beaches as well as illegal casinos, prostitution and even more exotic forms of "entertainment". Lots of vacationing Mafiosi visit the family's exclusive resorts in Palm Springs, because they can get a bit of sun and relaxation without worrying about the law or anyone else they don't want to be bothered with.

##### San Francisco

The embattled Worczek family runs Mafia operations in San Francisco. The Family's influence is concentrated mostly in the Oakland/Berkeley area, because the Yakuza holds a monopoly on criminal activity in "their" city. The Family works with the anti-Japanese underground and has forged alliances with the local Tongs, street gangs and Seoulpa Rings to frag the yaks at every opportunity. In fact, in some areas of Oakland, Mafiosi are considered heroes for their sticking up for "the little people" against the big, bad Japanacorps.

#### Denver

The Denver Front Range Free Zone forms the hub of several major smuggling routes through NAN territory to the CAS, UCAS, and California. The Mafia's presence is strongest in the UCAS sector - no surprise - where the ruling Casquilho family operates mostly under the front of a legitimate shipping and import company, Casquilho Imports. The Family has a tight grip on most of the criminal activity in the UCAS sector of the city, though they face fierce competition from the yaks and the Triad in the rest of the Zone. No one's been able to gain control of the Denver smuggling routes so far, though several Mafia, yak and Triad syndicates have tried and failed. Apparently, the overwhelming tangle of border patrols and other patchwork regulations and restrictions of the Treaty City of Denver make it nearly impossible for anyone to corner this market.

#### Native American Nations

Along with New Orleans and LA, Las Vegas is the third major sin city under Mafia control, and the only major NAN city run by the Mob. Mafia families are scattered among other cities in the North American Nations - notably Phoenix, Pueblo and Cheyenne - but these markets are small potatoes compared to operations in Vegas. The Verontesse family, along with three smaller Mafia families, run the Mafia's very profitable gambling, prostitution, simporn and smuggling enterprises in Vegas. These families also take a large cut of the profits from the city's thriving black market, from which customers can buy luxury items, expensive foods and drinks, and "forbidden fruit" like exotic simsense chips. The Mafia has little presence in the rest of Native American territory, simply because the NAN offers little that the Mafia can't handle from long distance through its border gateway cities such as Vegas, Denver and Seattle. The arrangement seems to suit the Sovereign Tribal Council, which is content to let the Mafia alone as long as they restrict their activities to the gateway cities.

#### Caribbean League

Back in the first half of the twentieth century, the Mafia was very powerful down in the Caribbean. The Mob virtually owned Havana and ran it like its own little playground until Fidel Castro and his boys tossed the Mafiosi out. But they didn't go much farther than Miami, where they waited patiently, running their businesses as usual and worked behind the scenes to undermine the Castro regime. In fact, according to long-standing rumors, the American President John F. Kennedy enlisted Mafia help in an attempt to assassinate Fidel. Castro fended off all attempts to oust him, however, and he remained in power until old age and ill health forced him from public office in 2014. Within weeks, the government collapsed and the Mafia, under the leadership of the Batista family, moved back into Havana and began to spread its tentacles throughout the Caribbean League.

Pretty soon the Mob was running exclusive smuggling operations between the League, Miami, Atlanta and the UCAS. Most of the operations are controlled by the Batista family and Miami's Gambione family, which also has its claws deep into the ineffectual League government. Things went pretty smoothly until the Awakening, when the various voudoun cults on the islands gained some serious power. Tensions between the local Mafiosi and the houngans escalated until a bloody war seemed inevitable. But just as the conflagration seemed ready to erupt, Don Raul "Sugarcane" Batista negotiated an alliance with the strongest voudoun gangs and brought them into the Family. This move proved a stroke of genius. Not only did it head off the big battle, but increased the fear of the Batistas among the islanders and among other capi, some of whom tend to distrust the magical arts.

## The Yakuza

The Yakuza is an organization built on ancient traditions. Though the interpretation of these traditions has changed over the years, these "old ways" continue to sustain the Yakuza and distinguish it from all other organized criminal groups. Some of these customs - such as honor, loyalty and protecting the populace - are admirable traditions that strengthen the organization. However, other traditions - such as distrust and prejudice against foreigners, metahumans, women and magic - have severely hindered the Yakuza in the Sixth World.

These factors have led to a conflict that racks the modern Yakuza. On one side are the traditionalists, who fiercely cling to the old ways and view as heresy any talk of changing or abandoning those traditions. On the other side are the reformers, who want to strengthen or resurrect the Yakuza's traditions of honor and service to the community while cultivating a more modern, open attitude towards women, megahumans and magic. The final outcome of this struggle seems far from certain. But undoubtedly the process of change in the Yakuza will not be easy - or bloodless.

To truly understand the sources of this conflict and the modern Yakuza itself, outsiders must first discard their preconceptions about the organization. Even today, most people think of the Yakuza as a "Japanese Mafia"; they view the oyabun and their men as gangsters with katanas instead of Tommy guns. These views, sad to say, are based on movies and manga-vid fantasies - not real life. The Mafia and the real Yakuza do exhibit some similarities, but the differences between the two groups vastly outweigh those similarities.

### History

The Yakuza's about twice as old as the Mafia. It dates back to seventeenth-century Japan, where groups of *bakuto*, or gamblers (who were considered among the lowest criminals in Japanese society), first began to band together. In fact, the name *Yakuza* reputedly comes from the worst hand in the card game *janufuda* - 8, 9, 3 or *ya-ku-za* in Japanese. The expression came to mean something worthless, and people attached it to a whole class of criminals, who adopted it like a badge of honor. By the late eighteenth century, the Yakuza had become one of the most powerful organizations in Japan, its members respected and feared by the entire populace. Japanese commoners especially held the Yakuza in high regard because the early Yakuza viewed themselves as "protectors of the populace" - almost like a supplementary police force. That self-appointed role was an integral part of the Yakuza code, and it earned the Yakuza a reputation for honor that survives today.

Now, some traditionalists claim that the yaks were simply honorable, stand-up guys. However, profitable business was their main business - as it is today - and they figured the best way to protect their business was to stamp out all "freelance" crime - crime that they didn't directly run or approve. So they came down hard on random street crime and common theft. Coming down hard on "dishonorable" criminals probably also helped early yaks create an image of themselves as men of honor. And most important, it created good will among the population, so that when the authorities came looking for the Yakuza the local folks wouldn't turn them in. Whatever the reason behind it, the Yakuza code - in the old days, at least - preached respect for the common citizen. And that respect manifested in the doctrine of "choice", as opposed to coercion. A victim of Yakuza criminal activities had to *choose* to be victimized; he had to embrace it of his own free will, with his eyes wide open. For example, a patron visiting a yak-run brothel *chooses* to go there - no one is coercing him. A user who buys drugs from a yak distribution ring is *choosing* to feed his addition, no one is forcing him to do so (by Yakuza standards, anyway). But a sarariman getting mugged in an alley doesn't have much say in the matter. That's why mugging, pickpocketing and other violent crimes are anathema to the yaks of old. Some Yakuza still try to practice this part of the code by policing their areas of influence, but most have abandoned this lofty principle and simply take a cut of the street crime in their districts.

The early Yakuza also provided a "justice for hire" service to the populace. If someone believed he'd been wronged by another, he could take his case to the local *oyabun* (head of the local Yakuza family) and ask for help. If the oyabun decided that the case had merit, he'd send his soldiers out to "exact justice" from the wrongdoer (the nature of that justice depended on the wrong committed, of course). In exchange, the Yakuza would charge the wronged party a fee based on his ability to pay - often a percentage of any penalty "recovered" from the wrongdoer. Even the local samurai class, the *daimyo*, weren't beyond the reach of the Yakuza, and so the organization became the only recourse for peasants who felt their liege lords were treating them unfairly. But sometimes the landed classes would use the yaks to exact "justice" from those who'd used *them* unfairly, too. This practice is one of the reasons why even today, sympathy for the Yakuza in Japanese society extends even to the authorities, who often decline to investigate Yakuza-related criminal activities or prosecute its members.

Even in North America, some Yakuza still perform this kind of justice-for-hire service. Of course, tracking down your local oyabuns is a lot more difficult than it used to be. The fees for such "services" are generally much higher, too, and the concept of "ability to pay" no longer carries as much weight in the past. However, a few Yakuza are attempting to restore the justice-for-hire practice in its true spirit. In Newark, for example, the Honjowara-gumi - under the guidance of the great reformer Okido Honjowara and his "New Way" - has adopted Sector 6 as its prefecture and protects the people of that area against random violence and against "outsiders" seeking to commit criminal acts.

As Japan began to industrialize during the Meiji Restoration of the nineteenth century, the Yakuza also began to modernize to keep pace with the changes in Japanese society. The organization began to infiltrate the construction business, the docks - it even took control of the rickshaw business. But most important, the Yakuza began to dabble in politics, lending support to certain politicians and officials. By cooperating with the government, Yakuza members gained some freedom from harassment and even official sanction in some instances. In fact, this trend continues today, as illustrated by Yakuza strength in cities such as San Francisco, which are under the control of the Japanese government or the influence of Japanese corporations. After World War II, another wave of reform swept through the Yakuza, giving the organization its modern form. Guns replaced swords as the weapons of choice, and Yakuza members abandoned much of the ancient Yakuza code. The Yakuza began targeting ordinary citizens for shakedowns and protection rackets, not just other criminals or specific groups. And the organization recruited aggressively and expanded its operations.

The Yakuza made a concerted effort to expand and establish operations outside the Japanese homelands, especially along the Pacific Rim and in North America. Soon, the Yakuza had gained control of the very profitable drug trade in Japan and the PacRim, established new smuggling operations, and expanded its existing vice operations and rackets. The presence of gumi outside of Japan became more and more common, and eventually the Yakuza began recruiting non-Japanese members in Asian countries such as Kora. By tying its fortunes to Japanese corporations that were expanding their own global operations, the Yakuza spread throughout the world. Where the sararimen went, the Yakuza went - and inevitably clashed with established local criminal organizations such as the Mafia.

Yakuza operations in North America continued to grow at a steady pace throughout the early part of the twenty-first century. The greatest coup for the Yakuza in America came in 2036, when Japanese troops occupied San Francisco in a "friendly invasion" strongly backed by Yakuza gumi in Japan as well as those gumi already operating along the Pacific Rim. The occupation gave the Yakuza a secure base of operations in North America, a place where they are generally unchallenged and could operate much as they did in Japan. Since the occupation, San Francisco has become known as the unofficial Yakuza "capital" of North America.

### Organization

Yakuza organization is based on two ancient concepts: the *oyabun-kobun* relationship and the *gumi* or *rengo*. The oyabun is the head of the clan - a sort of father figure who uses his window, insight and power to rule and guide the kobun under his command. A kobun is someone who has sworn loyalty to the oyabun. The kobun becomes the oyabun's vassal, like an adopted child. In return for this total loyalty and dedication, the kobun receives a home and the support of the oyabun's gumi. A gumi is a Yakuza clan or syndicate. Gumi may range in size from a few dozen members to as many as one thousand members. Every Yakuza gumi is organized like a corporation, with the gumi's oyabun as head honcho. Directly below the oyabun is the *wakagashira* (second in command) of the gumi. The next level contains various *komon* (advisers), *shingiin* (counselors), *hisho* (secretaries), *kaikei* (accountants) and *wakagashira-hosa* (underlings of the second in command). The kobun and *kumi-in* (enlisted men) are the gumi's street-level operatives.

A gumi's territory is called a *nawabari* - literally, a "roped-off area". The power and influence of a gumi and its oyabun determine how large the gumi's territory is. A powerful gumi can control an entire city or even a state or small country. A *rengo* is a loose alliance of different gumi that have chosen to work together for their own purposes. Usually, rengo members are less-powerful gumi - most gumi prefer to go it alone if their influence is strong enough. But even within a rengo, the oyabun of the member gumi retain control of their own gumi. The Yakuza has no ruling council like the Mafia's Commissione - no *oyabun-no-oyabun* like the Mafia's capi di tutti capi. Individual gumi may form rengo or power blocs led by a single, powerful gumi and its oyabun - but a Yakuza member's loyalty extends within his own gumi and oyabun only. A kobun is loyal to his oyabun, and that oyabun is a law unto himself. If that lobun wants to ally himself with another, larger gumi, he can - that's the way of the world. But he can break that allaince at any time and even go into competition with his one-time ally.

This structure has led to a great variety among gumi. Some oyabun and their gumi are very traditional and follow the old ways to the letter. Others are more willing to bend or break the rules to turn a profit. And still others are proponents of the "New Way", a movement to reform the Yakuza and ensure its survival and prosperity in the Sixth World. Only the ancient Yakuza code of honor prevents these diverse gumi from destroying one another and makes any cooperation between them possible. Even the most dishonorable gumi tend to operate within the bounds set by their peers to avoid other Yakuza banding together to eliminate them. That being said, several major power blocs exist that runners should know about. The most important is the Watado-rengo, led by the Watada family of Chiba, Japan. All the Yakuza gumi in the Pacific Northwest have allied themselves with the Watada-rengo and subordinate themselves to Akira Watada, the oyabun of China and the so-called 87th Prefecture. Of course, this alliance doesn't mean the difference local gumi doesn't squabble among themselves, bit it does reduce the number of counterproductive turf wars.

Turf wars between rival gumi are incredibly bloody and brutal. But by tradition, the Yakuza take great care to limit collateral damage. They'll splatter the guts of a rival kobun across the street, they'll destroy resources, they'll use every dirty trick in the book - but they'll go out of their way to minimize damage to "civilians" (generally defined as anyone who's not involved in Yakuza business). For example, a Mafia hit man might blow up a school to kill a don who's attending his kid's parent-teacher night. A traditional Yakuza gumi, on the other hand, would consider such an action barbaric and unconscionable for any "civilized" person. A Yakuza hitter probably wouldn't pass up such an opportunity, but he'd use a single sniper round to the brain rather than a kilo of C9 in the coffee cart to eliminate the target.

Unfortunately, the tradition of limiting collateral damage has begun to slip in recent years. The hard-core traditionalist gumi still make real efforts to avoid injuring civilians. But increasing numbers of less traditional Yakuza - and those who are being pushed harder by rival organizations - no longer put much effort into minimizing such damage. Typically, these so-called progressive gumi try to control such damage only when it might actually hurt the gumi more than a successful operation would benefit the organization. The Karatsa-gumi in SanFran - sometimes called the "Neon Chrysanthemum" because of their preference for bio-luminescent body decoration - will do whatever it takes to get what they want. As long as they don't upset the Japanacorps, anything goes.

### Yakuza Traditions

Oyabun are like heads of state. They rule their own little independent "nations", carry out diplomatic missions and negotiations with the heads of other gumi to form and dissolve allegiances, and occasionally declare war against competitors and rivals. The oyabun have - within their own syndicates, at least - influence similar to the unchallenged power of feudal Japan's daimyo. Much of this power stems from the Yakuza code of honor, which requires that every Yakuza member act according to three major principles: *jingi*, *giri* and *ninjo*.

*Jingi* is respect and deference to one's superiors. Its a major part of all Japanese culture, and over the years it's spawned all manner of conventions for determining social rank and the protocols that govern interaction between individuals of different social castes. Anyone who works with the Japanacorps is probably familiar with these things, and may even have skillchips encoded with all the appropriate protocols to make sure they don't bow at the wrong time or say the wrong thing. The code calls on all Yakuza members to observe the requirements of jingi and act in a civilized and proper manner. Of course, the words "civilized and proper" are open to interpretation, as is exactly who deserves civilized and proper treatment. More than a few oyabun still contend that "civilized behavior is only due civilized people" - Japanese humans, in other words. But other oyabun believe that all people are due civil and proper treatment, and these oyabun harshly punish any gumi members who fail to offer such treatment to their fellow (meta)humans.

*Giri* means "duty" or "obligation". It requires that Yakuza follow the dictates of honor and obedience and repay debts - sometimes in nuyen but more often in loyalty and service. Any gumi member who fails to do so brings shame on himself, his gumi and his oyabun. As a result, a Yakuza member takes the idea of duty very seriously. He will never forget a favor done for him and will always remain ready to repay that debt through his loyalty and service to the individual who did him the favor. Of course, this works both ways - if he does someone else a favor, he will consider that person obligated to repay the favor with loyalty and service.

*Ninjo* is a difficult concept to translate. It encompasses things like emotions, feelings, sympathy and compassion. Ninjo is the quality that makes the Yakuza sympathetic to the plight of the "common man" and motivates them to serve as protectors of those who seek justice. Because this quality must be instilled in a person early in life, the concept of ninjo has fallen by the wayside in modern times, though some of the more traditional and honorable Yakuza continue to uphold it. Some Yakuza reformers are attempting to revive the idea of duty to this concept.

At the heart of the Yakuza code is the concept of total obedience to the oyabun, the head of the family. Each member of the gumi is obligated to obey the oyabun's every order without question or hesitation, on pain of death. Failure is rarely tolerated; any Yakuza member who fails to discharge his duty to the oyabun is obligated to offer some form of reparation.

#### Yabitsume

Traditionally, the most common form of reparation is *yabitsume* or "finger cutting". This tradition requires a gumi member who fails his oyabun to willingly cut off part of a finger - or, in serious cases, an entire finger. Generally, yabistsume is performed in a very formal ritual attended by the oyabun. The individual making amends ties a white cloth around the finger and is presented a sharp knife. He then cuts off his own finger. Showing any pain or emotion during the procedure brings even greater shame than the initial failure or disobedience. Some Yakuza members preserve their severed finger joints in small bottles of formaldehyde and keep them as reminders of the obedience they owe their oyabun.

#### Irezumi

The custom of *irezumi*, or "family markings", is another Yakuza tradition that has survived virtually unchanged from the earliest manifestations of the organization. These tattoos signify family allegiance and also serves as emblems of rank and achievement. When a new member of a Yakuza gumi has performed his first important mission, duty or service to the family, the oyabun will send him to the family tattoo artist, who gives the new kobun his first tattoo. Traditionally, this tattoo is inscribed on the small of the back and incorporates the gumi's distinguishing symbols or emblems - usually elements from classical Japanese art, such as the chrysanthemum and the cherry blossom - as well as some type of dragon motif (the dragon is the general symbol of the Yakuza).

As a member provides more - and more valuable - services for the family, the oyabun sends him back to the tattoo artist following each achievement to have his tattoos expanded and embellished. After the tattoos cover the man's entire back, they are extended onto his shoulders, chest, upper arms and thighs. By the time a Yakuza member achieves a senior rank in his gumi, he will appear to be a walking work of art. The tattoos are never applied up the neck above the height of a conservative collar or further down the wrists or legs than where the hems of a traditional kimono would fall. These precautions ensure that a Yakuza member can easily hide his tattoos. Only in the bathhouses of Japan - or the modern corp equivalent, the steam room and hot tub - will you see the extent of a Yakuza soldier's marks of service.

The finest tattoo artists employed by the Yakuza still work the traditional way - with bamboo needles and hours on hours of careful work that requires the subject endure serious discomfort (which the Yakuza consider an additional sign of courage and honor). Some of the less conservative gumi have added a little technoflash to the old traditions. Light-emitting tattoos, thermo-sensitive pigments that shift folors, implanted holograms, "active tats" that appear only when the wearer activates them mentally, refractive crystals under the skin, even "living tattoos" (membrane-thin visual displays covered by transparent dermaplast) ... you'll see them all.

### Major Rackets

The Yakuza are big players in the drug and chip trade, and many gumi could teach the Commissione a thing or two about innovative ways of laundering dirty credit. However, the modern Yakuza's major rackets are prostitution, gambling, and *sokaiya* (a form of corporate extortion).

#### Prostitution

The Yakuza's prostitution syndicates are a major innovation in the world of organized crime. Though Mafia families have cornered the market on prostitution in certain cities by "organizing" pimps and their stables, the Yakuza prostitution syndicate represents a different approach. Under the Yakuza system, a gumi designs and builds a prostitution "industry" from the ground up, rather than muscling in on the existing prostitution market. After choosing where to operate its prostitution syndicate, the gumi imports its own "talent" and "managers" (the Yakuza very rarely use the word "pimp") from an existing operation. The gumi usually transfers only about a hundred prostitutes to its new market, bringing in as many are needed to form a nucleus for its syndicate.

The syndicate "managers" then start recruiting among the prostitutes already operating in the area. Initially, the managers concentrate on co-opting independent prostitutes, but they also develop "pipelines" for recruiting prostitutes at bus and train stations. Only then do the syndicate managers start to recruit talent from rival pimps. The Yakuza operators usually approach this in a very businesslike manner, offering to hire choice talent away from pimps' stables. Typically, a pimp views such an offer as an attempt to muscle in on his racket and responds with violence. As soon as the rival "businessman" threatens violence against the gumi, the gumi is free to simply wipe out the opposition without violating the precept of the Yakuza code, which prohibits approaching aby "businessman" with unjustified violence.

Though recruiting takes time, a gumi will begin marketing its new syndicate almost immediately. The Yakuza learned long ago about the wonders of advertising - something that few North American pimps use to their best advantage. An advertising blitz can make the new syndicate seem to burst onto the scene full grown, which attracts new clients and woos others away from competing prostitutes. Within months of entering a market, a Yakuza-run prostitution syndicate usually controls between 60 and 80 percent of the sex trade in an area - sometimes without a single shot being fired. Prostitution syndicates rarely make the effort to increase their market share above 80 percent, simply because new independents and "start-ups" are always entering business. And allowing a few unaligned pimps and stables to operate is generally good for the syndicate's business. The syndicate simply recruits the best prostitutes, which look all the better when compared to the second-rate competition that shares the local market.