5 THE YAKUZA

This chapter looks at the Tokyo underworld and more specifically the Yakuza, the Japanese version of the Mafia. Following the Yakuza discussion is a section on chunin, the shadowy 'middlemen' that are independant of organized crime and other sections on the street gangs and terrorist groups operating in Tokyo.

YAKUZA HISTORY

Organized crime is very strong in Japan and most crimes involve the Yakuza, or Japanese mob. The Yakuza families are run as efficiently as some businesses and control most vice trades and rackets, from prostitution to extortion, drugs, computer crime, gambling, burgalry and loan-sharking. Neighbouring cities will have several Yakuza clans between them, and these will be co-operating, in competition or even at war. The godfather of a clan is the oyabun, and all his Yakuza will be bound by oath -of loyalty to him. When a member fails a mission and screws up, he must cut off a joint from one of his fingers as a sacrifice. The joint is offered to the oyabun, if he refuses, the gang member must kill himself, or be killed by the Yakuza! Many Yakuza are adorned with tatoos of great sophistication as a mark of rank.

The Yakuza are a significant power, traditionally associated with corruption in the Japanese government, they now compete with the zaibatsu, stealing from them, selling to them or acting as a middleman. In fact, if you were to ask the leading Yakuza oyabun what they feared, it would not be the cops, government or other Yakuza, but the zaibatsu. The Yakuza aim to get a piece of the action... and hang on.

The Yakuza originated in the dim and distant days of feudalism, but have weathered the storms of change to establish themselves as influential members of the global criminal community. They are totally unrelated to the modern Triad gangs, although they do bare a similarity in their historical origins. Like the Triad Society, the Yakuza gangs were originally folk heroes called Machiyokko (Servants of the Town) fighting the tyrannical depredations of evil landlords (daimyos), and they are first attested in surviving records from the early 1600s. A century or so later, the Yakuza gangs were operating on Japan's highways as robbers and wandering gamblers. Street peddlers became known as tekiya and traditional gamblers became known as bakuto. A third group, gurentai (hoodlums) have only become established after World War Two. It is said that the Yakuza name is derived from a losing card combination (8, 9 and 3 - translated as 'ya - ku - sa'). Gambling provided a jumping off point for the entrepreneurial gangsters, and they were able to turn a profit from drugs and prostitution as well as various protection rackets.

Self preservation demanded that the criminals adopt the organization and code of silence that has bound many other crime syndicates together. In the initiation ceremony, the candidate swears unswerving obedience to his crime family and an exchange of sake cups is made in front of a Shinto altar. The amount of sake in the cup is determined by the candidate's status and relationship to the master of ceremonies. The secretive families owed allegiance to their family head, the oyabun, and this man had the power of life and death over any member of the group. He was almost a sinister mirror image of the daimyo who commanded an army of utterly loyal and obedient samurai warriors. The Yakuza gangsters were the oyabun's samurai, and they owed him as much loyalty. Any member who fouled up a mission or who was disgraced cut off the joint of a finger (a practice known as Yubitsume) . This mirrored the samurai's willingness to commit suicide to atone for his mistake. The Yakuza would then offer the finger joint to his master. If refused then he had no choice but to commit suicide himself. This practice has survived into the 21st century. Another survival, less painful and more popular amongst the modern gangsters, is the Yakuza penchant for tattoos - the greater the coverage the higher the rank. Obviously in keeping with the organization's secrecy, these tattoos are always concealed beneath clothing.

These customs may sound like the extreme practices of a tiny minority, but the Yakuza are a national institution, an integral part of Japanese consciousness. When the British Broadcasting Corporation tried to market their children's TV show 'Postman Pat' to the Japanese in the 1990s, they were dismayed at the result. Postman Pat was a puppet with three fingers, and the Japanese executives could not allow such a figure to be portrayed on Japanese television - with missing fingers he would be taken for Yakuza!

With the modern-day growth of business in Japan, the Yakuza have grown too. Their traditional rackets have continued unabated (and unchallenged) in cities throughout Japan. Centre of the Yakuza gambling, prostitution and pornography industries is the Kabukicho section of the Shinjuku suburb, in Tokyo. But as Japanese corporate fortunes soared, so did the Yakuza's. No other crime organization has ever matched the depth of penetration into the corporate world, and no other crime syndicate has enjoyed such immunity from prosecution. The country's largest Yakuza family, Yamaguchigumi, based in Kobe, has established its own company, Yamaki, through which it conducts its legitimate business, but there are business consultancies, art galleries and estate agencies too, over 2,000 different business concerns. The Yamaguchigumi has a total of 750 separate gangs with a total manpower of 31,000 members. A gang war with rival Yakuza Ichiwakai in the 1990s proved to be immensely bloody and assets in the US were tapped in order to fund the war. From the US side of their operations, the Yamaguchigumi obtained a formidable arsenal of illegal weaponry, including machine-guns and rocket launchers.

Up until 1992 the syndicate was largely ignored by the government, despite its stranglehold on the underworld, and increasingly on the business world. There can be few official money-making schemes left in Japan that do not yet feel the influence of Yakuza extortion, ownership or money laundering. The National Diet, the country's parliament is heavily involved with Yakuza scams, one hundred and thirty of its members were found to be taking money from the syndicate in 1992. Control of the Japanese multinationals is usually affected through extortion. Yakuza called sokaiya become legitimate shareholders and are then entitled to attend the company's annual shareholder meetings. If a company has refused to co-operate and pay-off the gang involved, the sokaiya turn up to the meeting an cause havoc, shouting, tipping over furniture and cause a scene. For the Japanese this constitutes a serious loss of 'face' in the eyes of the other shareholders, the media and the business community, and the company often resolves to pay-up next time, rather than suffer the indignity again.

Wherever business flourished, the Yakuza followed: Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and much of the rest of Southeast Asia. More recently the families have established themselves within the cities of the West, throughout Europe and North America. Financial investment, money laundering, corporate extortion, and the running of drugs and guns have proved profitable enterprises here in the West. But the Yakuza do not entirely divorce themselves from their roots. The expatriate Japanese community will always remain a sanctuary for the Yakuza abroad, not only is it a hiding place, but a well established well of revenue extracted from a poor immigrant population. Having fled their homeland to escape such injustices, they can only have felt despair when they found the criminals once again in their midst.

Time and again there is evidence that the large criminal syndicates co-operate. Anyone brought up solely on a diet of gangster movies may find this hard to believe. Gangsters are supposed to be violently competitive, fiercely jealous of their business empires and their rackets. This is the 2030s, however, and the age of international co-operation has reached even the criminal empires. Rather than fight for territories and rackets, the global syndicates have carved up the world into vast territories, each worked by a different organization. The Vory V Zakone (the Russian mafia), the Yakuza, the Triads, the American Mafia, the Cali Cartel, the Yardies and Sicily's La Cosa Nostra all work together in a giant global conspiracy. This is not speculation derived from rumour. It is fact, accepted (uneasily) by all of the Western governments. Leonardo Messina, Riina's turn-coat under-boss testified to an Italian commission that the Mafia 'belonged to a world-wide structure'. Not only that, but it seems that since 2008, the Tokyo Yakuza are the default leaders of this conspiracy. There are practically no inter-syndicate killings, and no international crime wars. The Yakuza own the other criminal empires, and although they call each other 'brothers', the Yakuza are undisputebly 'big brothers'. They are the financial masters, and call all the shots. Other criminal brotherhoods sometimes fight each other just to gain Yakuza legitimization.

The 20th century Italian Judge Falcone noted that these diverse criminal brotherhoods all had humble, almost glorious beginnings, as rebels, freedom fighters and folk heroes. Created in a time of social conflict, they originally banded together with codes of silence and secrecy to fight an oppressive government or a hated occupying power. With the fight won (or abandoned) the brotherhoods were left only with their secret codes and propensity for violence. Today the huge international criminal conglomerates are violent, flexible, formally structured, incredibly wealthy and insulated from the 'powers that be'. Together they form one of the greatest threats ever posed to humanity. At no other period in human history has such an invisible, invincible covert world government ever existed. And this co-operative conspiracy has only really existed since the beginning of the 1990s ...

Today the Yakuza are equal in resources to some of the most powerful zaibatsu, and they have more power through their invisiblity and unaccountability. They own huge corporations themselves, some Third World governments, space shuttles and space planes and even surveillance satellites. Like a truly vast secret society their agents working in other areas, the military, government departments and zaibatsu can act for the Yakuza, using the resources at their disposal to carry out the Yakuza's will. The Yakuza do still squabble amongst themselves, just as the directors of a corporate Board carry out infighting and back-stabbing. But they always unite to fight external threats.

Bosatsu sat opposite the black-suited gentleman from the Yakuza. Calm, powerfully built, cool, he radiated absolute hardness. The samurai lay his case on the restaurant table and the Yakuza flipped open the lid. "All there?" he asked. "Of course ..." replied Bosatsu, "all one million yen. Now will the Yojimbo clan kindly tell me what happened to our surveillance operation in Shinjuku?". The enforcer closed the lid with a snap. "First we eat," he said. "Our blowfish is exquisite ..."

YAKUZA STRUCTURE

As already noted, the oyabun (also known as a kumicho, or supreme boss) sits at the head of a Yakuza crime family. Often he will have a consigliere-style senior advisor or saiko komon (equal to rank 5) with whom to discuss strategy. This advisor will himself control a number of sub-gangs. Deputizing for the oyabun on various matters of business are the underbosses (the Gashira) These control the Yakuza business and act as directors of this illegal zaibatsu. Most important are the second in command (the wakagashira) and the third in command (the shateigashira). All are heavily protected and control numerous gangs. Of less importance is the headquarters chief (so honbucho), a man who still retains some status and control over his own body of gang-members. Assisting the oyabun is an entire entourage of accountants (kaikei), advisors (komon), personal secretaries (kumicho hisho) and counsellors (shingiin), all usually equal to rank 2 without any gang ownership. All the underbosses have a couple of lieutenants each (gashira hosa) who assist and deputize for the powerful undeboss. On the street, real power devolves to the massed army of senior bosses (shatei, or 'younger brothers') who control the syndicate's gangs. He too has a deputy. The gang bosses can number in the hundreds. In games where Yakuza rank matters (perhaps the referee is running an all-Yakuza game!) the following table should provide a guide. Note that gang numbers add up to about 500. This is for a very large family, such as Chiba, Tokyo, Kobe or Osaka. Scale this down if required.

PP are Promotion Points, awarded for successfully completing hazardous Yakuza missions, proving one's loyalty or running businesses. The rank describes the rank of individual Yakuza. Street Rep is equal to Yakuza Rank +3. Any 'made man' at Rank 1 is already highly thought of, with a Rep of 4. Yakuza are awarded the cash bonuses when promotion occurs, as well as the relevant lifestyle bonuses. Cash is in Yen. Note that the Promotion Points column indicates the total number of points required for the Yakuza to be promoted.

Lifestyle
Subsistance is average accomodation for a low-life street Yakuza. A Security Roll of 6- prevents enemies getting in. Lower Class (LC) accomodation has a Security Roll of 8-. Middle Class (MC) accomodation has a Security Roll of 9-. Senior Class (SC) accomodation has a SR of 11-, and the highest level of accomodation, Executive Class (EC) has a SR of 12-. Cellphones, ground cars and hovercars are issued to each member and will be repaired if damaged. Trauma Team coverage is an implanted transmitter that sends a distress signal via the nearest 'phone to a medical company when it registers a wound. The Trauma Team will arrive in a fully-armed dropship with paramedic facilities for an immediate medivac. Typical reaction time is 2d6+1 minutes. PDT is an implanted anti-kidnap personal data transmitter, a locator that can be activated at any time by the Yakuza. Clone Insurance is the full cover of a clone replacement in the event of death.

Finance Cards
Each Yakuza 'gang' begins its life with an expense account and each member has an account card with which to draw money from it (under supervision of the gang leader and his deputy) for goods and services during missions. Accounts are calculated by adding the gang's combined rank total up. Allow ¥10,000 per rank point, increasing to ¥50,000 per rank point when the total reaches 10 (a Gold Card), and ¥100,000 when it reaches 20 (a Platinum Card). Cards use a PIN and fingerprint security check, and receipts will be scrutinized by the accounts division later, so be careful! Up to one-quarter of the account may be converted to cash for bribes, shady deals etc. The referee is recommended to keep a running total of expenses throughout the game, replenishing the account at the end of the mission.

YOJIMBO CLAN OF TOKYO

The Yojimbo-gumi (clan) is a well known, well respected and powerful organized crime family, perhaps the most powerful in Japan. Known locally as the 'Sons of the Neon Chrysanthemum' it has carved out a niche for itself in the Tokyo Bay area. All zaibatsu and the National Diet respect and fear the Yojimbo.

OYABUN

The oyabun is Hideo Masakari a 69 year-old tough and venerable old warlord. He has survived multiple assassination attempts by the Yamaguchigumi clan in Kobe. He has an advisor and both a second and third in command (who have staffs and gangs of their own). The oyabun and his headquarters chief are based at the Palace of Contemplation building in central Shinjuku, a vast pyramidal skyscraper reminiscent of the walls of an ancient Japanese castle. An art museum sits on the 40th floor, there are offices, businesses, restaurants, flats: all owned and run by the Yojimbo. It is said that the complex continues underground to depots, workshops, training areas, dormitories and warehouses. Who knows?

BUSINESS INTERESTS

Nagamasa the Demon
Underboss. Controls much of Shinjuku vice trade from nightclubs, bars, restaurants, pubs and brothels. Those he does not own pay him protection money ('taxes'). Owns many legitimate fronts for drug pushing and pornography. Kabukicho is the centre of the demon's lair. HQ is top floor of the Star Hotel in Shinjuku.

Burner Baku
Underboss. This ruthless killer (who earnt his reputation with a flamethrower) enforces all drug supplies and smuggling throughout the rest of Tokyo. From clubs, bars, drug-houses and street-dealers. He organizes this trade (and fights with the New Honk Triads) from a swish set of clubs and bars in Roppongi. Mixes with many simstim stars and actresses. HQ is a fortified mansion in Roppongi.

Tannuki the Surgeon
Underboss. Runs a set of clinics, surgeries and other medical businesses in western Tokyo. Also operates most of the 'black' illegal clinics offering cut-price, low-quality services and illegal body banks. Many of those not owned pay taxes to Tannuki. The Yakuza can offer almost any treatment for a price (or favour). Competition is fierce with the Chiba Yakuza who dominate the black clinics there. HQ is the Red Cross Hospital in Shinjuku.

Ken Kannushi
Underboss. Runs several legal and financial firms in the Marunouchi business district, as well as part-ownership in several banks. These are all used for money laundering, conduits for the extortion of money or concessions from the zaibatsu, blackmail and embezzlement. His HQ is the Kogyo Bank, just over the river from the Bank of Tokyo.

DEALING WITH THE YOJIMBO

The PCs should rarely have any impact on the structure or operations of the Yakuza. It has existed for a thousand years and cannot be easily affected. Make any attempt by the PCs to kill, swindle, blackmail or otherwise mess with the Yakuza incredibly difficult or

seriously fatal (or both). Never mess with the Yak. The underbosses are major, major crimelords the PCs will almost never get to meet. They are insulated by armed guards, bullet-proof limos, high-tech ultra-secure homes and offices. They have clone insurance, PDTs, and Trauma Team coverage. More likely the PCs will meet the lower-rank gang bosses, each in charge of a single operation (a bar, a drugs ring etc.) and a gang of Yakuza with which to run it. These gang bosses are still seriously hard with constant armed bodyguard protection, bulletproof hovers and a paranoia and security consciousness that far exceeds their zaibatsu equivalent: the team leader.

CHUNIN

In medieval Japan secret gangs of ninja organized themselves much as the samurai did. At their head sat a shadowy and unknown jonin, or master. The middlemen that arranged contracts, assigned missions and communicated with the actual ninja were known as chunin. These chunin oversaw the day-to-day running of the ninja clan and when anyone wanted to hire the services of ninja, would have to deal directly with him. In 2030 Japan the chunin is a freelancer, a dealer and middleman who arranges underworld contracts for the zaibatsu, or for anyone who pays. He is a fixer and a shadowy businessman. He has no alleigances, only to his loyal friends and those who work under him. The chunin listed here are Tokyo's heavyweights, with up to two dozen important contacts each. There are others but at the top of this ever-changing eco-system sit these powerful dealers. They are fixtures in Tokyo's underworld, experienced, paranoid and ever wary of upcoming rivals, vendettas and jealousies. They insulate themselves with the best security money can buy.

BUZEN

Cruel and cunning businessman who excels at exploitation, blackmail and bribery.

Specializes In

Guns, explosives and black tech (illegal electronics)

Links With

New Honk Triads, Tokyo Dock smugglers, Tokyo police force conspiracy, several independant gangs of armed robbers and several of Tokyo's violent gang leaders.

Legitimate Businesses:

Nansing Container - Warehousing on the river Sumida used by ships and container lorries.

The Abattoir - Nightclub on site of old slaughterhouse. Split level, cheap & nasty. In Sumida.

Cheap Discount - Cheap electrical store, a real maze in Akihabara. Workshops in attic and private booths in the back for maintenance and 'business'.

The muffled sound of sex, hard, unrelenting and desperate came from the room next door, but Sarah appeared not to notice. Bosatsu gulped down his Martini. " Look Sarah, I know you've bought these synthetic cotrimoxole samples, but I need to know who the buyer is. Your name will never come into it". She raised an eyebrow. You're always asking for something, aren't you Bosatsu. You never give anything. I think it's about time that changed ..."

SARAH MONOGATTARI

Smooth and slick operator. Very charming, very pretty, very deadly.

Specializes In

Pornography, drugs and software and wetware.

Links With

Agents in Chiba clinics, vice agents in Tokyo police force, several pimps in Asakusa, several console cowboys in Asakusa.

Legitimate Businesses:

Fantasy Land - Elaborate themed sex shows with dancing, bars and pool rooms. Simstim booths, private (and expensive!) rest booths also available. Prostitution in rooms upstairs.

Nirvana - Video and simstim arcade with a popular bar looking out over the arcade hall. Private booths available for parties and drinks, rooms in which deals are made.Workshop and office at the back.

TOKAHARA

Rough and tough dealer. Plain speaking.

Specializes In

Black-tech, weapons, drugs.

Links With

Yakuza drug's underboss Burner Baku, Asakusa gang leaders and local burglars and car thieves.

Legitimate Businesses:

Tokahara Resyk - Wrecking yard and recycling, workshops and garages, many for hire, parts for sale. In Sumida.

Oasis - Small bar in Asakusa with a room at the back for private business. Rough!

Kamikaze Cabs - Cab/courier firm operating from a small alley in Ueno. Opposite another Tokahara business, a frozen meat firm called Oniku.

Sensei - Martial arts dojo and fitness club over a red-lantern pub by the same name in Shinjuku. Owns both.

VAN LUWEN ('the Dutchman')

Smart dutch dealer with impecable dress sense and beautiful manners. But still not trustworthy. Is any chunin?

Specializes In

Software and drugs

Links With

Various Tokyo cowboys, various agents in the Chiba clinics, agents in all the electronics and computing zaibatsu.

Legitimate Businesses:

Golden Harvest - Great club and pub full of would-be/has-been hackers, software pirates and corporate spies.

Mikochi - Tokyo clinic and body bank in Harakjaku (a black clinic). Trendy. Often used by the criminal fraternity who do not have Yakuza connections.

Preview Electronic - Cutting edge electronics and software, real new stuff, acquired through bribes, favours or theft. Sold here sometimes before it even comes out on the shelves. Part-exchange done here too. Basement is for special deals.

STREET GANGS

GOTHS

Black-clad, make-up wearing vampire look-alikes, the goths are a morbid lot with gaunt, ghostly figures and a terminal obsession with death and suffering, pain and suicide. They can be very violent, but if met in a relaxed atmosphere tend to just be frighteningly depressive. Into blood-rock music, dark, erotic and pessimistic synthesizer-driven music full of bass and twisted lyrics. Grungy lyrics and dark soul-searching attitudes. The goths wear black clothing, coats, boots, jackets, shirsts, contrasting with pale face makeup. Many goths are well educated and hate the Punks. They get on OK (if pushed) with the other gangs. Main club is the 'Floodland' in Shibuya.

MODERNS

The moderns have adopted the modern-day 2030 technologies as style. Their music is cyberspace -induced hallucinogenic synthesized stuff called Trance. Very transcendental.

Their main club is the 'Suborbital' in Harajuku. They wear tons of urban combat gear clashing with metallic coloured jackets or trousers/skirts. Often have crew-cuts with bizarre tails or curls of remnant hair. Some moderns are educated and they don't particularly like to fight too much. Hate the rockerboys and punks, but don't mind the goths much.

PUNKS

These are 1970's-style punk gangs. These guys are into anarchy, violence and upsetting the normal Japanese order of things. They get pleasure out of scaring or upsetting or insulting people. Most have skinheads or wildly coloured spiky or mohican hair-styles. They hang-out in live music bars and run down abandoned buildings where they get stoned and beat each other (and passers-by) up. They wear leathers and denims with chains, studs, pins etc. Preferred punk music is very heavy metal called Thrash, and the best place to hear it (and get beat up by punks) is the 'Dance Zone' in Asakusa. Punks despise all other gangs.

He'd gotten out of the Dance Zone in one piece, now Bosatsu had to get home. Shit - no problem. Then he saw three punks across the road around a small dog they'd tied to a chainlink fence. They were whooping and shouting with delight as they kicked it to death. What kind of a people are these, he thought? And I've paid some of these guys to do a job for me?

ROCKERBOYS

These Fifties-throwbacks love to jive to 1950 rock n'roll music. They have plenty of denim, black leather and suede shoes, plus loads of energy and hair oil for those spectacular quiffs. They pose in Ueno park on a weekly basis. They also buy old US cars from the end of the last century. Those without cars have motorbikes, Harleys if possible. Rockerboys are totally into the American Dream, even if it never really existed. Hang out at dance clubs such as the 'Jive Metal' in Harajuku.

TERROR GROUPS

DRAGON LORDS

The Dragon Lords are a group of dedicated and honourable vigilantes operating in Tokyo. They claim their history can be traced back to 1328 AD when a dragon (ryu) was killed by a Yakuza oyabun (godfather) in an act of treachery. Since that time the dragon's descendants (in human form) have vowed to fight the evil and dishonourable organization of the Yakuza. Members are young, fit and dedicated. They receive their instructions when they visit the secret underground shrine dedicated to their lord Suitengu the sea kami (spirit). They are expert assasins with an almost mythical ability to infiltrate their target's lair, carry out the kill and escape. Few, if any, have ever been captured or killed. They most often act when innocent lives are at stake - they even the balance - and prefer to use katana, knives and autopistols. Subtlety is preferred over mass death and genocide!

Each Dragon Lord considers himself a part of the sacred dragon, there are only ever five Dragon Lords at one time. Each has one skill taught him by the group and a special power - is this magic, retrogenic or cyberwear? Is it truly a part of the dragon?

All Dragon Lords have the Combat Sense Talent and one Martial Art as an automatic skill. They also gain the Autopistol skill and that skill associated with their part of the dragon. Then select 3 more skills. No special costume is compulsary, although Dragon Lords tend to prefer smart suits, the very coolest, especially with this season's funkiest mirrorshades ... The group's symbol is an ancient carving of a dragon's twisting body.

IMPERIAL RESTORATION LEAGUE (IRL)

A well-organized and fervent band of terrorists opposed to the ultra-capitalist system and democratic government dominated by the zaibatsu. It wants a return to monarchical (or imperial) rule. It devotes a great deal of time to tracing the imperial bloodline to find possible successors or candidates. The last emperor died in 2017. They love Japanese tradition and history and want full nationalization of industry and abolision of the National Diet.

The IRL operates across Japan. It is strongest in Tokyo and has about a dozen independant cells receiving orders via cyberspace. They try to follow the tents, beliefs and customs of the samurai and the cell leader is followed with blind obedience. Each member will willingly die for his cause. Methods generally revolve around bombings, shootings, rocket attacks and grandiose gestures such as poisonings and nerve gas attacks. A cell is usually given a 'hit-list' of 4 targets and an advanced payment of ¥2,000,000 with which to set up and complete 2 of those on the list. This could make a possible campaign for the player characters. Must be willing to commit sepukku (ritual suicide)! All members have cyanide capsules implanted in one of their molars which they only have to bite on. The group's symbol is the ancient symbol od a torii, or temple gateway.

SONS OF OEDO

A highly motivated band of techno-rebels, terrorists seeking to halt and reverse the tide of technology. The movement is strong among students (and often those many graduates who were turned down by the zaibatsu when they applied for a job). The Sons of Oedo target the high-tech zaibatsu and high-tech projects. They have agents in all the technology-orientated multinationals an so have a good idea of what is going on. Funds are secured either by embezzlement or the running of various Sons of Oedo 'new-age' religion stores dotted around Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

Being intelligent, the Sons of Oedo are ingenious in their sabotage, destruction and violence, using any and all tactics and equipment. Members will not have cybernetic or retrogenic alterations as a rule, neither will they favour high-tech gear, but, they are intelligent pragmatists, and if use of such things furthers the cause, then they will not flinch from employing it. A thin veneer of mysticism overlays Sons of Oedo thought, they believe in karma, the Tau and the I Ching. They are obsessed with new age mysticism and magic. No particular dress style. The group's symbol is the Yin Yang symbol with the white Yin in blood-red and not white.

The Haruna agent shone his torch across the ferro-concrete wall. The blood-red yin-yang told them both what the needed to know. "The Sons of Oedo", said Bosatsu. "More like the Sons of Weirdo ..." joked the agent. "You've never actually met these guys have you?"asked Bosatsu. "Violent, tactical, intelligent. They've out-thought our strategic section as many times as they've had reason to cross our path. Don't make light of what you've never seen ..."