Koki Ishii (age 61), a Japanese lawmaker, opposition party leader, and anti-corruption crusader was stabbed to death in front of his Tokyo home by a man linked to right wing extremists.
Right wing extremists and the "Yakuza" (Japanese Mafia) are frequently linked together.
In the Japanese movie Marusa No Onna (English title "A Taxing Woman" - literal translation "Woman of the Marusa (Tax Service)") - The main character is a woman who works for the Japanese Government equivalent of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) The film is set in the 80's during Japan's economic boom (frequently referred to as "the bubble") and the Woman of the Marusa pursues tax evaders. At the end of the movie, she is stabbed by a young Yakuza punk (put up to the task by his Gangster masters.)
The director of "Marusa No Onna" was Juzo Itami (who also directed the better known film "Tampopo"(English title:"Dandelion")) In many of Itami's films (especially "Minbo No Onna" (English title:"The Gangster's Moll")), the Yakuza are depicted as common thugs who prey on small business people. The Yakuza like to think of themselves as Samurai, and also as "Robin Hood" like characters fighting against the system. They didn't like Itami's filmic criticism, and in May 1992 (after the release of "Minbo no Onna",) five Gangsters jumped Itami and deliberately cut his face and neck, putting him in the hospital.
On December 20, 1997, Juzo Itami apparently got drunk and commited suicide by stepping off the roof of his 8 story apartment building. The cause was attributed to some "innocuous" photographs of Itami and a young woman (who was not his wife) in public (i.e. he was perhaps having an affair.) Many people felt let down by Itami's suicide, because it was out of character for the iconoclast who made films critical of Japanese idiosyncratic behavior (one of which is disappearing or commiting suicide to avoid embarassment or dishonor.) Some have suggested the suicide was faked by Yakuza, again seeking revenge.
12:42:12 AM 
|
|
