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January 2025 / Incidental Urban Anthropology #007
what/ Anti-Yukuza sticker
where/ Nagano, Japan
when/ 12 January 2025
who/ Jason
This sticker by the door of a popular family run restaurant warns that yakuza gangsters are not welcome.
The boycotting of organised crime in Japan began officially in 1992 with the Anti-Boryokudan Act, allowing local authorities to ban Yakuza from entering designated areas or businesses. The 2011 Anti-Yakuza Ordinance then went one step further, prohibiting companies and individuals from doing business with Yakuza, and requiring them to report any Yakuza-related transactions.
The ban even limits gang members access to business cards – the meishi – that are an intrinsic part of any Japanese business transaction, legal or criminal. Kobe printing industry association spokesman, Susumu Fujita, said of the Yakuza calling cards: “The more senior their ranking within the organisation, the better quality paper they use. Some of them have their logos in gold. A poor-quality and unsophisticated card might compromise their dignity.”
Restricting business cards, or sticking signs on restaurant doors, may seem futile gestures against violent organised crime, but such humble tactics shouldn't be underestimated.
Nor should designers complicity and resistance be ignored. When will we see signs on our studio doors announcing: climate criminals, fascists, corporate bullies and corrupt politicians not welcome?