Yakuza Culture in the Japanese Films in the 2000s

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Yakuza Culture in the Japanese Films in the 2000s
Films are a manifestation of the social, economic and political situation in society. Over time, the change was inevitable, and the conservative Japanese society shifted. Yakuza films were not left behind. They too changed, and film directors dumped the old traditional ways and adopted scenes of moral decay in society in films as was the case during the time the movies were acted. Therefore, moral squalor in society has been portrayed in the Yakuza films that mostly featured in the 2000s. The much love associated with the films died as social, economic, and political shifts were witnessed from the 1990s to the subsequent years towards mid-2000s thereby rendering the films nonconsensual to the slow changing conservative to a democratic society. Yakuza culture, as presented in the films, is not only symbolic but also confer real benefits in the criminal underworld. The symptomatic approach, as applied in analyzing this paper involves explaining the Yakuza situation in a society based on the character of the doer of actions in the film. This paper argues that the changing nature of the Japanese community in the 2000s led to dislike and subsequent death of the art of Yakuza films by portraying Yakuza and its members as a blood-thirsty and sketchy group.
Yakuza group began in the Tokugawa Shogunate period and had two different groups. The first group was tekiya who moved from one village to other selling goods of low quality to earn a living. The second group was the bakuto who engaged in gambling as a primary source of income. Since then, the Yakuza group has been a dominant part of the Japanese culture. At the onset of the formation of the groups, society regarded them as social organizations meant to foster peaceful stay in society. When one community wrong another one, they would consent to the symbolic offering of the small finger as a means of settling the dispute amicably. Where controversy existed that could not be agreed upon; each Yakuza group would bring their best fighter to compete in a fight to solve the issue. At some point, the warrior would die. The death of the fighter would be attributed to the sacrifice of the Yakuza for the greater good of society (Schrader 3). People loved and identified with the Yakuza. The emergence of the film industry to further show the goodwill of the Yakuza, and received exceptional support from society. In most of the films, the Antagonist would die or be imprisoned for the sake of his community.
As time goes by, so does change crop in, and in the years after the Second World War, Yakuza had lost track of their original ways of carrying out business and protecting society. Instead of being the custodian of peace, they were the instigators of moral decadence. Having made alliances with the ruling party and the government, Yakuza, conducted illegal business without much restriction. With the economic decline in the 1990s, the Yakuza thrived more in prostitution activities. They could easily acquire pornographic actors and actresses for filming. Besides, due to their financial endowment, they started strip clubs, hotels, and brothels where prostitution would be carried out. The movies...