After boasting about the high-flying days when his gang was on top of the world, a yakuza boss lamented his current life of loneliness, boredom, deteriorating health and approaching death.

“I don’t have any fun things to do, and I have no hobbies. My life is over,” he said.

Now in his 70s and well beyond the widely accepted retirement age of 65, the yakuza boss says the young members of his organization are long gone.

Colleagues and business associates no longer contact him. Even his office is a thing of the past.

He described his plight in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun on condition of anonymity.

The downfall of yakuza gangs like his started after the anti-organized crime law was enacted in 1992 at the tail end of the “bubble” economy.

Yakuza organizations were intervening in civil affairs to join the rush to make excessive profits, but the law was designed to effectively shut gangsters out of society.

“We ruled the world 30 years ago,” the yakuza boss said. “We were busy as hell. It also happened to be the frantic years of the asset-inflated economy, so when somebody said certain stocks were rising, everybody bought them. But only a few of us made a fortune.”

The yakuza population peaked at about 180,000 in 1963.

The number of yakuza members as of the end of 2021 was about 24,000, a 75-percent decrease from the population 30 years ago when the anti-organized crime law took effect, according to the National Police Agency.

Prefectural governments have also adopted ordinances to drive gangs out of their jurisdictions and to prevent private companies from providing benefits to organized crime syndicates.

Companies, including financial institutions, car dealerships and golf course operators, now refuse to do business with gangsters. Any association with such “anti-social forces” could ruin their reputations and operations.

“I can’t own a car now. They won’t allow me to rent a car. I can’t visit golf courses or stay at hotels,” the gang boss said. “I can’t do anything.”

Two years ago, when the novel coronavirus was spreading around the nation, the government provided 100,000 yen ($710) in cash handouts to every resident.

But banks refused to let the yakuza boss open an account, so he had to visit a public office to receive the relief money.

“With the coronavirus spreading and police making a fuss, business higher-ups, whom I have known for years, stopped hanging around with me,” he said. “They used to call me to go out with them so frequently back then.”

He said they now avoid making contact with him, using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse.

“I’m not happy when I think about it, but I’m used to it now,” he said.

Dwindling revenue and arguments over membership fees are believed to have prompted a gang to split from the Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation’s largest crime syndicate, in 2015.

Since then, turf battles and other violent incidents have occurred, prompting police to further crack down on gang activity.

For example, under the anti-organized crime law or court rulings, authorities have banned the use of yakuza offices.

While the untended offices continue to deteriorate, their owners are required to pay property taxes.

Many gangsters have decided to let go of their offices. The gang boss is one of them.

“I can't see (my men) because I can’t use my office. No one contacts me because I can’t do anything even if they need some help,” he said.

The boss has no family members he can rely on. He also has no steady income because he is not covered by the pension program. He said he only has some cash to get by for a while.

At his advanced age, he thinks nothing will change even if he leaves the group.

“It’s over. All I can do is put up with it,” he said.

The yakuza boss lives alone.

He makes sure to exercise every day to mitigate the natural health problems that crop up for people his age. Exercising also provides a distraction from his worries.

He spends much of his time at home watching television.

“It’s been a while since I met someone,” the gang boss said at the end of the interview. He slowly walked toward a busy street and then disappeared in the crowd.