Yakuza in Japan - any added risk being a foreigner?

Question:

I'm going to Japan next year for a few months and can't wait!!

However I'm just wondering if being a foreigner makes me more of a target to gangs etc, over the locals?

Are there any areas of Tokyo I should stay away from while I am there. I plan on checking out the night scene there, and I don't want me or my friends to wind up being drunk in the wrong areas where foreigners may not be welcome.

This is probably just paranoia but better to be safe and all that.

We are traveling all over Japan so we will only be in Tokyo for a couple weeks. Most looking forward to Arashiyama :D Oh also if there is anywhere you'd reccommend checking out I'd welcome that too.

Thanks!

Answer:

The yakuza are much more prevalent in Japan than the mafia are in most parts of the world. As a foreigner, you could be seeing them all over, but just not realizing it. A lot of them are quite moderately involved. They're not full members. They don't necessarily go out and blackmail people, etc. However, they'll run their own little businesses with illegal immigrants, paying under the table. They could be connected to people who do worse things.

The only problem I've really seen with foreigners and the yakuza is that the foreigners often think the yakuza are cool, they kind of mystify them.

It's not cool though. I knew some people on the fringe of the yakuza. People losing their house, their life savings due to a business deal gone wrong. Violence within families, particularly against women. Threats.

Traditionally in Japan, people of Korean descent are looked down upon and have been treated as secondary citizens, even if born in Japan, 2nd or 3rd generation. There are people in Japan who have a Korean passport but who have never been to South or North Korea. Anyway, some of these people became yakuza due to all of the limitations in normal Japanese life - not being promoted regardless of how good you are, being forced to move your house or business for some silly reason or other.

On average, there's no real danger to any foreigners dealing with the yakuza in Japan, unless you bring on the problems yourself. Some people bring trouble no matter where they go. Some people bring smiles wherever they go.

There aren't really gangs per se in Japan.

Night scene? What's that? Japan doesn't do clubs really.

The only people into those kind of scenes are foreigners and the kind of people that want to meet foreigners just because they're foreigners.

Clubbing is almost non-existent to a typical Japanese. Young Japanese adults will sometimes get into socializing at pubs (izakaya), but that's a different thing. You go out with a bunch of people, eat, drink, and chat. It's the izakaya and restaurants that are busy at night, not clubs. There are a few in Tokyo, and a couple in every major city in the country, but you'll see that they're frequented by foreigners.

You're not going to run into any gang members at any of these places anyway.

It sounds like Roppongi might be what you're looking for. That's the part of Tokyo that just doesn't sleep. You could be drinking with friends until 3, get out, and there's still a bunch of people around, a bunch of places open, traffic, noise, etc. But, clubs...? You can find them, but you can just do that at home. Why go all the way to Japan to eat at McDonald's? It might be interesting to see what's different once, but there's a world of food out there that you could be trying instead.