Between Righteousness and Home: Yakuza and the Transformation of the Family Illusion, circa 1970

Between Righteousness and Home: Yakuza and the Transformation of the Family Illusion, circa 1970

Around 1970, Japanese society had passed through a period of postwar reconstruction, and was now reaching the peak of its rapid economic growth. At the same time, the "shadow of the Showa era" was creeping into people's minds due to the failure of the student movement, worsening pollution, urban overcrowding, and the growing trend toward nuclear families. The cracks and anxieties of the era were often depicted through the medium of "yakuza" in films, novels, plays, and other forms of expressive culture. In this interview between writer Hiroyuki Itsuki and Akiyuki Nosaka, light is shed on the transformation of the yakuza character, particularly his interest in and desire for the family.

In the past, the yakuza were portrayed as "underhanded warriors" who adhered to a unique ethics different from those of the state and the law, as symbolized by "ninkyo-do" (chivalry). Toei film stars such as Ken Takakura and Koji Tsuruta embodied the aesthetics of righteousness and humanity with their silent determination and cold gaze. What Goki and Nosaka point out, however, is the collapse of this heroic image. The yakuza, having inhaled the air of the times, had become steeped in petty-bourgeois values and obsessed with the seemingly contradictory desire to have a family.

This "obsession with family" is strongly reflected in the story structure of yakuza films of the time. In many films, the protagonist loses his wife or children to someone else, and this leads him to seek revenge. The yakuza, once driven by the logic of community and ninkyo (chivalry), is transformed into an entity motivated by private passions, in other words, by anger at the harm done to one's wife. Through this change, Itsuki sees that the yakuza's violence is no longer against the organization or the state, but is now rooted in personal loss and loneliness.

Nosaka, on the other hand, ironically refers to this transformation as the "housewifery of the yakuza," and comically describes how the bearers of violence cling to the institution of the family. The yakuza, who were originally supposed to deviate from the family system and social discipline, have rather begun to seek repose in the illusion of the home. This is evidence that the social nature of violence has been lost, and that in an age when trust in community has disappeared, the only remaining place of belonging is the home.

In 1970, with the radicalization of the Red Army faction and the Asama-Sanso Incident just around the corner, faith in the state and ideals was collapsing. Individuals were seeking salvation not from the state or revolution, but from the family as the smallest unit of utopia. The yakuza also shed their former sense of duty and humanity, and took on a new narrative of violence to protect the home.

Beyond the romanticism of violence and duty depicted in yakuza films, this dialogue vividly illuminates the structure of "family illusion" and "private revenge" that runs deep within the Japanese people. The yakuza has abandoned its former incorruptibility and transformed into a solitary soul still seeking a "place of return. The image of the yakuza is like the silent cry of the era around 1970.