Photo/Illutration Police practice subduing a gang member wielding a knife in a drill in Saitama in November 2022. (Tomoki Morishita)

There were 22,400 individuals linked to gang groups at the end of 2022, down by 1,700 year on year, marking the 18th consecutive year of decline, according to a report by the National Police Agency.

The report, released March 23, also showed police arrested and referred 9,903 members to prosecutors over the past year, dropping below 10,000 for the first time.

“Work to eradicate organized crime groups, along with an increased awareness of such efforts, have permeated through society,” the NPA said.

The report also revealed that gangs are going gray while their numbers shrink.

Breaking down the figures, 11,400 members belong to crime syndicates, while 11,000 individuals are classified as quasi-members, meaning they do not belong to such organizations but are involved in their activities.

Both figures decreased by 900 from the previous year.

The statistics showed the Yamaguchi-gumi, headquartered in Kobe, is still the largest crime syndicate in Japan, with 8,100 members.

It was followed by the Sumiyoshi-kai, with 3,800 members, and Inagawa-kai, with 3,100 members, both headquartered in Tokyo’s Minato Ward. There were 760 members of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.

The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi broke away from the Yamaguchi-gumi in 2015 and has been locked in a feud with it.

The Ikeda-gumi, headquartered in Okayama and which split from the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi in 2020, has been fighting with the Yamaguchi-gumi.

The total number of members and quasi-members who were arrested or referred to prosecutors in 2022 stood at 9,903, down 15.6 percent from the previous year. 

Since the anti-organized crime law was enacted in 1991, the number has fallen, dropping from over 30,000 at that time to below 20,000 in 2017.

By demographics of the 22,400 gang members, those in their 50s accounted for the highest at 30.8 percent, followed by those in their 40s at 26.3 percent, those in their 30s at 12.9 percent, those in their 60s at 12.5 percent, those 70 or older at 11.6 percent and those in their 20s at 5.4 percent.

Over half of the members were 50 and older.

The average age of the gang members was 54.2 years old, a rise of 6.8 years from a decade ago.

The average age of male adults in Japan was 55.3 years old as of January, an increase of 2.3 years from a decade ago, according to the NPA’s calculated data based on statistics from the internal affairs ministry.

The increase in the average age of gang members is faster than the national average’s increase.

“As organized crime activities are becoming more difficult, one factor of the decrease may be that younger generations are backing away from joining yakuza organized crime syndicates, which are bound by strict hierarchies,” the NPA said.

While the number of organized crime members and their arrests have been decreasing, quasi-gangs are collectively and habitually engaging in illegal activities and expanding their power.

The NPA said the loosely organized groups are obtaining money through special fraud that typically involves swindling funds through fraudulent communications.

They said they are working to uncover their plans and crack down on such groups.

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