Yakuza

The yakuza are Underworld organizations in Wano Country that do business outside the law.

Overview
The yakuza are a major force in the economic dealings of Wano Country. They are particularly known to operate casinos, and causing problems in those casinos will often get the instigator in trouble with the yakuza. Additionally, they are also involved with courtesans in the Red-Light District, as seen by Kyoshiro running a pleasure hall and raising Komurasaki to be a top oiran.

During the reign of the Kozuki Family, most of the yakuza had a good reputation among the people of Wano due to the honorable behavior of their bosses. Hyogoro was so well respected that Shinobu said he completely controlled the other yakuza gangs in the Flower Capital, and even the bosses of the other regions submitted to him; in the present day, they nearly killed Monkey D. Luffy after he referred to Hyogoro casually. This has changed during the reign of Kurozumi Orochi, however, as the Kyoshiro Family has been shown controlling independent businesses in the Flower Capital by forcing them to pay a tax to stay around, and will use force if the business owner refuses. Additionally, the Kyoshiro Family will use violence against people who come to their casino and win a lot, demonstrating their intent of extorting money. The citizens live in fear of the Kyoshiro Family, with Kyoshiro himself considered to be mysterious and unpredictable.

The Hyogoro Family and the four regional bosses were very loyal to the Kozuki Family, and they continue to have a very good relationship. Kyoshiro's relationship with the shogunate is even closer than Hyogoro's was, as he directly works for Orochi as his money changer and has even acted as Orochi's bodyguard, referring to himself as his "lap dog". This appears to be intentional on Orochi's part, as he had Kaido dispose of the Hyogoro Family due to being unable to control them. Kyoshiro's connections to Orochi have also given him connections to Kaido's Beasts Pirates, whom he can contact to send enforcers against enemies that have given his gang trouble.

The relationship between yakuza gang members is very close. It is known that the Kyoshiro Family exchanges sake cups to officially establish their bond, and Kyoshiro will have retribution exacted against anyone who even threatens his lowest-ranking subordinate. However, rival gangs can be very antagonistic toward each other and work to destroy each other, as shown when Denjiro indicated that the Kurokoma Family was likely attempting to destroy the Hyogoro Family by luring a Mountain God to their base. However, this antagonism seemed to be rare for Hyogoro because of the massive amount of respect he commanded.

Organization
Currently, the only known branch of the yakuza is the Kyoshiro Family, which operates in the Flower Capital.

For at least 21 years, the Hyogoro Family was once the leading yakuza group in Wano until 20 years ago, and one of their rival families was the Kurokoma Family. While those families operated in the Flower Capital, the regions each had a yakuza boss. Omasa ruled over Udon, Tsunagoro ruled over Hakumai, Cho ruled over Ringo, and Yatappe ruled over Kibi. Due to Hyogoro's tremendous character and influence, the region bosses submitted to him. Kuri did not appear to have an established boss, but around 25 years ago, Kozuki Oden's retainer Ashura Doji took control of the yakuza there for a brief time.

It is unknown what became of the Kurokoma Family, but Hyogoro and the four region bosses were imprisoned after refusing to support Kurozumi Orochi when he came into power as shogun. Kyoshiro took over in Hyogoro's absence, and currently there does not appear to be any regional bosses. Hyogoro and the four region bosses were freed from their imprisonment by Monkey D. Luffy, and although the region bosses no longer officially possessed power, they still held sway over enough citizens in those regions to recruit them for the Kozuki Family's battle against Kaido.

Past
50 years before the present, the yakuza banned a 9-year-old Kozuki Oden from their casino due to him getting into violent and drunken fights with other gamblers. This resulted in Oden setting their casino on fire, starting a war that lasted for a year.

41 years ago, Kurokoma put out a bounty on a rare white boar. A trio of men successfully captured it, but it was quickly stolen from them by Kin'emon. Kin'emon took the boar to the Flower Capital to try to sell it, but was chased away by the Hyogoro Family. Denjiro then told him that its parent, the Mountain God, would come and destroy the city, and speculated that Kurokoma had wanted the Mountain God's offspring to lure it to the Hyogoro Family's base. The Mountain God then came and attacked, but was taken down by Kozuki Oden.

Between 30 and 25 years ago, Ashura Doji took charge of the yakuza in Kuri to keep them under control while their daimyo Oden was away. When Kurozumi Orochi took over as shogun 28 years ago, Hyogoro refused to serve him. Eight years later, Orochi had his ally Kaido attack the Hyogoro Family due to his inability to control them. Hyogoro was captured and imprisoned as his wife and 16 of his men were slaughtered. Within the next 20 years, the regional yakuza bosses were imprisoned as well for defying Orochi, and Ashura left the Kozuki Family to become a mountain bandit.

In the absence of Hyogoro, Denjiro, under his alias as "Kyoshiro", rose to power as the country's top yakuza boss.

Wano Country Arc
Three members of the Kyoshiro Family named Kaku, Kuni, and Suke came to a soba stand recently opened by Sanji to try to extort money from him. They attacked him when he refused, but were swiftly beaten by Sanji and Franky. Kaku reported this to Denjiro, and they retaliated by having Queen send Page One to attack Sanji. Around the same time, Roronoa Zoro went to a casino and won a lot of money, causing the Kyoshiro Family members there to get violent with him. However, he easily overpowered them.

Denjiro later attended a banquet held by Orochi. There, his ward Komurasaki defied and attacked Orochi, and he cut her down to give her a samurai's mercy.

In Udon's Prisoner Mine, Monkey D. Luffy met Hyogoro, now known as Grandpa Hyo, and became friends with him. When Hyo was being attacked by the prison guards, Luffy attacked the guards, causing him and Hyo to be put in a sumo death match by Queen. However, Queen ended up leaving the prison after Charlotte Linlin came and rampaged through it, and Hyogoro and Luffy managed to escape the sumo ring and take part in a successful prison revolt where they freed all the prisoners. Hyo reunited with Omasa, Tsunagoro, Cho, and Yatappe, and they joined the Kozuki Family's alliance to overthrow Kaido and Orochi, with the latter four bosses returning to the regions they once ruled over and recruiting more allies.

On the day of the Fire Festival, Orochi left Denjiro in charge of the Flower Capital while he departed for Onigashima.

Trivia

 * While in the World of One Piece, the yakuza refer to the underground organization of Wano, there are a few characters outside of the country whose design is based on them, such as Jinbe and Shiki.
 * In the Boss Luffy Historical Special's the main villain, Buggy and his crew are based on the yakuza.
 * The 'Father-son cups' used when multiple crews form into a fleet in the story is based on how the yakuza swear in new members to their organization.

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Yakuza