It also seems a bit of a defeating cycle. If you lose part of your pinky, you are, almost by definition, less effective than you were before (with the exception of maybe running), thus leading you to make more mistakes.
I get tradition, but you have to wonder if 45% of your people are operating at 99% of their capability, that's quite a bit of lost manpower.
That's one way to look at it. You could also see it as 45% of your workforce has now a much greater difficulty finding a normal job because of this now visible gang affiliation. Those 45% have less options to make a traditional living which increases their reliance on the Yakuza.
That was actually the original point: the pinky is extremely necessary in swordfighting and by cutting it off you made yourself more dependent on the clan. It's a show of commitment.
"The practice dates back to the 1700s, when gamblers known as bakuto would accept a person’s severed finger in order to settle a gambling debt. The little finger on the left hand was chosen as its removal hampers a person’s grip on their sword (katana), weakening them as an opponent."
so most of these pinkies are cut by the yakuza members by themselves after some offense. Like one guy got drunk driving his boss's car alone and crashed it.
Considering how much the Yakuza pulls in (billions), I'd thought they could write it off as a business expense. But nope, the young Yakuza employee had to cut off his finger and exit the company. No severance or pensions or benefits.
I think that in some ways this is actually very effective because instead of killing your underlings for fucking up or offending you, you have them mutilate a part of them but little at a time to not ruin their productivity or affect their job. Which explains why ex-Yakuzas have different digit count...
And let's face it their industry is largely underground with no enforcement from the government due to being declared illegal. Nobody would do their jobs seriously if there wasn't some kind of morbid air of fear in the work atmosphere. Your underlings wouldn't take your orders etc. Killing them is tough because recruitment is much tougher in Japan, unlike America where gangs thrive. Young people in Japan are starting their own gangs now and don't like the rigid culture of the Yakuza.
The interesting thing about the yakuza is that, in Japan, they're not actually illegal. The activities they partake in are, but actually being a yakuza member isn't a crime.
they are cracking down on it now I think with the equivalent of RICO act making it easier for police to search yakuzas...but face it, Japanese police are more on the quirky side and yakuzas seem to not take them seriously and harassing them.
Nah, I'm naturally growing an extra pinky for pinky-mode.
Hum, that makes me think about some interesting ideas. Would be needed a frodo-mode in emacs for disabled people? Can you still be efficient with a computer with a fake finger?
