Usage patterns やくざに 入はい る to join the yakuza
He joined the yakuza when he was young.
やくざから 足あし を 洗あら う to quit the yakuza life
He quit the yakuza and became a law-abiding citizen.
やくざな 仕し 事ごと shoddy, disreputable work
You should quit that kind of shady work.
やくざな 暮く らし a dissolute, aimless way of life
He continues to lead a dissolute, aimless life.
Related words· 7 暴力団 is the formal legal term for an organized crime syndicate, while ヤクザ is the everyday, colloquial word that can refer to the group, a member, or the subculture.
極道 is a more literary or self-referential term for someone fully committed to the yakuza lifestyle, whereas ヤクザ is the general, everyday word for such a person.
チンピラ is a low-level, often young punk or hoodlum who may not belong to any organization, while ヤクザ implies established membership in organized crime.
ギャング usually evokes foreign (e.g. American) gangsters or gangs, whereas ヤクザ specifically refers to Japanese organized crime members.
Show 3 more Show fewer 無駄 is a neutral word for something wasteful or pointless, while ヤクザ (in its adjective sense) carries a stronger moral judgment of being trashy or worthless.
役立たず literally means "of no use" and focuses on uselessness, while ヤクザ (as an adjective) also implies disreputable or shady character.
マフィア points to a foreign (esp. Italian) crime syndicate, whereas やくざ is the traditional Japanese organized-crime group.
Opposites 堅気 describes a law-abiding, respectable person, the direct opposite of ヤクザ as a member of organized crime.
立派 describes something admirable or splendid, the opposite of ヤクザ 's sense of being worthless or good-for-nothing.
Counted with The everyday counter for people: 一人 (ひとり ), 二人 (ふたり ), 三人 (さんにん ).
Used in formal/indirect contexts; everyday speech more often avoids counting people this way for this noun.
Written forms やくざ Usage 33%
Hiragana spelling is standard and widely used.
ヤクザ Usage 67%
Katakana spelling is common, especially in media and informal contexts.
Etymology Derived from a losing hand in a traditional card game (おいちょかぶ ), where the combination 8-9-3 (ya-ku-za) is worthless, later extended to mean a good-for-nothing person and eventually a gangster.
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