What Does The Name Mean?

[Fishface]

Where did the Yakuza, or Japanese mob, get their name?

[Terri]

no idea because I know THEY don't call themselves yakuza.

[Fishface]

Well, I'm not asking who gave them the name; I'm asking the derivation or meaning of the word "Yakuza."

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

The word yakuza (“good for nothing”) is believed to have derived from a worthless hand in a Japanese card game similar to baccarat or blackjack: the cards ya-ku-sa (“eight-nine-three”), when added up, give the worst possible total. The origin of the yakuza themselves is difficult to determine, but they are thought to have descended either from gangs of rōnin (masterless samurai) who turned to banditry or from bands of do-gooders who defended villages from those same wayward samurai during the early 17th century. Their lineage may also be traced to bands of grifters and gamblers in Japan’s feudal period.

[Fishface]

DING DING DING DING DING! Totally CORRECT!

[Fishface]

But I do want to add that according to my sources, the Yakuza got started as black marketeers during the post-WWII occupation by Americans, and quickly established themselves as indispensable to the Japanese economy. They are still considered semi-legal in Japan and openly work out of office buildings with their phone numbers right in the directory.

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]