The traditional image of the tattooed Japanese mafioso is fading as the Yakuza adapts to police pressure, recruiting online and adopting less conspicuous methods to blend in.

Takeshi Ebisawa, 61, a Japanese national, pleaded guilty to six charges related to trafficking nuclear material in a U.S. court.

A Yakuza member, Takeshi Ebisawa, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in New York for trafficking nuclear material, including an attempt to sell military-grade plutonium to Iran.

A walled mansion in one of Kobe’s most desirable suburbs is heading for a court-ordered auction, but its murky past as a target of gang attacks may put off buyers. The two-storey house, long the home of Kunio Inoue, head of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi – a breakaway faction of Japan’s largest yakuza syndicate – is being forcibly sold after judges held him responsible for the crimes involving one of his subordinates, in a rare test of Japan’s anti-organised crime laws. The ruling came from the Osak...

A US court has convicted a Japanese yakuza member on charges of trafficking nuclear material and illegal drugs.

A new generation of Yakuza leaders, known as 'tokuryu', are emerging in Japan, replacing the older, more traditional bosses. These new figures operate discreetly, often camouflaging themselves as students.