How to Use yakuza in a Sentence

yakuza

noun
Definition of yakuzanext
  • That oyabun, the name for a yakuza boss, is still alive.
    — Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2024
  • In the 1964 Olympics, Tokyo shooed away its organized criminals, or yakuza.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, 13 June 2018
  • The firm’s leader promises to help clear his name and help his mentor win a power struggle within his Tokyo yakuza clan.
    — Gieson Cacho, The Mercury News, 1 Feb. 2017
  • Sold to a yakuza clan to work off her ne’er-do-well father’s debts, she’s been locked away and forced into drug addiction and prostitution.
    — Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2019
  • When Yoshimoto was bought by a consortium of the major TV networks in 2009, there were rumors that one reason was to sever links with the yakuza.
    — Gavin J. Blair, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 July 2019
  • Did Adelstein, for instance, really use aikido skills to beat up a huge yakuza bouncer?
    — Gavin J Blair, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Apr. 2022
  • Ishii’s tactic, in these situations, is to apply a temporary tattoo to his neck and dress like a yakuza.
    — Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2018
  • Their mission pairs them with an eccentric yakuza boss (Kitano) who leads them deep into the underworld.
    — Sara Aridi, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2020
  • Five of his early yakuza films are presented in this deluxe boxed set, along with a 60-page illustrated collector's book.
    — Chris Ball, cleveland.com, 22 Apr. 2018
  • As in many plotlines from past Like a Dragon games, the fading yakuza depicted in Infinite Wealth are inspired by real-world events.
    — Reid McCarter, WIRED, 29 Jan. 2024
  • Rick has made enemies of a different yakuza clan, and by interfering with their hit on him, Pearl might just have ignited a deadly gang war.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Despite his outsider status, the taciturn Nick quickly fits in well with the yakuza and their highly formal, albeit deadly, customs.
    — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2018
  • There are long-standing links between the Japanese entertainment world and yakuza crime clans, though they have been weakened in recent decades by laws making it an offense to have any business dealings with the gangs.
    — Gavin J. Blair, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 July 2019
  • The reason for this hardline stance against tattoos in public places is that, because in Japan, tattoos are associated with yakuza — or members the Japanese mafia.
    — Fox News, 31 May 2017
  • As hotels and bars stock up on alcohol, some hot-spring resorts have been prodded to relax their rules on tattoos, which in Japan are associated with yakuza mobsters.
    — The Economist, 19 Sep. 2019
  • Another issue: Players have been asked to cover up their many tattoos, which in Japan are associated with crime syndicates known as the yakuza.
    — Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2019
  • The yakuza, in particular, are rarely presented in any realistic way.
    — Mikey O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2024
  • Nick is so readily accepted into the yakuza's ranks that there's little dramatic tension.
    — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2018
  • But such treatment is more appropriate for a yakuza mobster than an international CEO with no previous record of fraud or self-dealing.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 26 Nov. 2018
  • Adelstein’s novel and the series follows his first-hand account of covering the metropolitan police beat as an American reporter working for Tokyo newspaper, putting him in the path of the yakuza.
    — Nick Romano, EW.com, 22 Oct. 2019
  • In lieu of payment, the yakuza becomes his apprentice, incidentally forming a friendship with the master’s son, a talented rakugoka who only wants to design clothes.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2023
  • Jake investigates organized crime via an informal partnership with Hiroto Katagiri (Ken Watanabe), a policeman who doesn’t fight the yakuza so much as help preserve the equilibrium among their competing factions.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 8 Feb. 2024
  • This is because tattoos are strongly associated with organized crime here — specifically the yakuza, or Japanese mafia — and are therefore almost universally viewed with repugnance.
    — Anna Fifield, Washington Post, 25 Apr. 2017
  • Tattoos, associated with yakuza, or organized crime, are generally not permitted.
    — Hanya Yanagihara, Town & Country, 8 Dec. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'yakuza.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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