About 68 percent of some 83,600 known gangsters in Japan were affiliated with three large "boryokudan" underworld syndicates as of the end of last year, reflecting the growing oligopolization of the mob, a National Police Agency report said Thursday.
The report said 56,600 of the gangsters belonged to three groups: Inagawa-kai or Sumiyoshi-kai, based in Tokyo, or Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi. Total membership of the three groups has risen 0.6 percent from the previous year.
The three are among 25 organizations designated as boryokudan syndicates by prefectural public safety commissions charged with supervising local police forces.
Members of the 25 gangs can face up to a year in prison or 1 million yen in fines by pressing people involved in out-of-court conflicts to pay "settlement fees" or demanding protection money from bars and restaurants.