By Martin Fackler / New York Times News Service
KITAKYUSHU, Japan — Two years ago, the authorities in this gritty rust belt region declared war on the yakuza, Japan’s entrenched organized crime syndicates. And that is exactly what they got.
Since this city and other local governments beefed up regulations to take on the yakuza — making it a criminal offense for companies and individuals to do business with them — there has been a death threat against Kitakyushu’s mayor and his family, hand grenades tossed at the homes of corporate executives and a construction company chairman gunned down in front of his wife. read more Here
