[News] 'Yakuza' Donating Supplies, Transportation to Japan's Earthquake Victims.

[News] 'Yakuza' Donating Supplies, Transportation to Japan's Earthquake Victims.
Cr. - www.minyanville.com

From Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice and former Yomiuri Shimbun reporter, comes an amazing story published today in The Daily Beast. The headline, "Yakuza to the Rescue."Adelstein reports that members of Japan's notorious mafia groups have taken direct action to help the victims of last Friday's earthquake and tsunami:

Hours after the first shock waves hit, two of the largest crime groups went into action, opening their offices to those stranded in Tokyo, and shipping food, water, and blankets to the devastated areas in two-ton trucks and whatever vehicles they could get moving.

The day after the earthquake the Inagawa-kai (the third largest organized crime group in Japan which was founded in 1948) sent twenty-five four-ton trucks filled with paper diapers, instant ramen, batteries, flashlights, drinks, and the essentials of daily life to the Tohoku region.

The Yakuza also isn't looking for any attention or thank-yous, says Adelstein. They are working quietly, perhaps because that's the Japanese way, but also because they are, well, criminals."The Yamaguchi-gumi member I spoke with said simply, 'Please don't say any more than we are doing our best to help. Right now, no one wants to be associated with us and we'd hate to have our donations rejected out of hand,' " writes Adelstein.

Another gangster told the reporter: “There are no yakuza or katagi (ordinary citizens) or gaijin (foreigners) in Japan right now. We are all Japanese. We all need to help each other.”Read the full account here.

Makes you wonder, if the U.S. were to experience a natural disaster, could we expect the same from the Five Families?