The Ryuyukai softball team stands out from the rest of the division III of the Katsushika Ward softball federation in one unusual way--about 50 of the 70 or so players are former crime syndicate members.

And although some players may seem intimidating, gripping their bats in pinky-less hands, the Tokyo softball team provides an invaluable support network for ex-gangsters who are attempting to reintegrate into society.

Not to mention, a simple chance to enjoy playing the game, no matter if they win or lose.

One lazy Sunday afternoon in early July, a softball game was under way on a dry riverbed in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward.

The Ryuyukai team, whose members range from teenagers to players in their 70s, ended up losing 12-2 when the game was called off after the fourth inning.

A calm air prevailed among those who watched from the bench, even when one player was seen tripping over his own feet.

After the game, the players went to a cafe together to polish off hamburgers and gripe about work.

“See you next week,” they told each other as they headed home in twos and threes.

The Ryuyukai team, founded 12 years ago, has been playing games in round robin pairings on Sundays throughout the year.

The team came to international attention last February, when a photo-illustrated article about them appeared on the front page of The New York Times.

“What’s a Japanese mobster to do in retirement? Join a softball team,” proclaimed the title.

Yuji Ryuzaki, the 72-year-old player and manager of the team, was a “special adviser” to a yakuza group under the umbrella of the Yamaguchi-gumi, an officially designated crime syndicate.

The native of Kobe joined the Yamaguchi-gumi during his junior year at university. He became independent at the age of 32 in the 1980s and set up a new office in Tokyo’s Asakusa district.

Ryuzaki said he has been arrested about 28 times for injurious assault and extortion. Having served five years in prison during his 50s, he left the yakuza world upon being released.

His past as a yakuza, however, continued to haunt him even after he left the underworld, although he thought the time he had served in prison had redeemed him.

Ryuzaki was kicked out of five apartments after the landlords discovered his criminal past. He came to believe that there should be a place for former yakuza where they wouldn't feel socially isolated.

So, he decided to form a softball team.

He said his reasoning at the time was, “I hope that working out hard and interacting with members of the public will allow former yakuza to part with the temptation to do illicit things.”

Former gangsters are allowed to join the Ryuyukai team on the condition they submit a letter of excommunication or other evidence that they have left a crime syndicate.

A 79-year-old Ryuyukai member, who was previously in a group affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai crime syndicate and now operates a temporary staffing agency, offers jobs and free dormitory rooms to members of the softball team.

The members play for Ryuyukai until they manage to land a stable job.

Some 50 individuals have so far graduated from the team, having found employment.

“I owe what I am to Ryuyukai,” said a 52-year-old man on the team who was formerly also in a group affiliated with Sumiyoshi-kai.

The man said he was arrested about 20 times for violation of the Stimulants Control Law, injurious assault and other charges. Having served a total of 10 years and three months, he left the yakuza group 12 years ago, when he was 39.

The man cannot wear short-sleeve shirts, even in summer, because of the tattoos covering his chest and upper arms.

Harder to conceal is the little finger of his left hand--amputated at the second joint. It is well known that cutting off one’s own finger is a sign that he left the yakuza world. Outside of that world, it marks him as a former gangster.

The man continued to fail job interviews because of that little finger.

He was on the verge of despair when a friend introduced him to the Ryuyukai team.

Once on the softball team, the man was given lessons on how to hold and swing a bat effectively even without a pinkie. He met his teammates every weekend and shared his struggles with job hunting.

“Ryuyukai allowed me to maintain this motivation to live an honest life,” said the man, who now works for an installation company he was introduced to.

Ryuzaki said about one in every 10 individuals admitted to the softball team returns to prison for a repeat offense.

“Coming here does not 100 percent guarantee that you will turn into a good person,” Ryuzaki said. “But I don’t want former gangsters to give up on their lives just because of what they were before.”

EX-YAKUZA FACE HURDLES IN JOB PLACEMENT

Figures of the National Police Agency show there were about 22,400 crime syndicate members across Japan as of the end of 2022, less than 20 percent of the peak number reached in 1963.

Some 18,300 individuals left yakuza groups between 2002 and 2022, some with police assistance, but only 1,318 of them have landed jobs.

Police departments around Japan have taken measures to help ex-yakuza find work, such as introducing them to potential employers and paying benefits to businesses that have hired former gangsters.

In February 2022, the NPA instructed police departments across Japan to help former crime syndicate members open bank accounts.

Despite these developments, assisting the social reintegration of those who have left the underworld remains a major challenge.

“More and more businesses are emphasizing compliance,” said an official with the Anti-Organized Crime Campaign Center of Tokyo. “No small number of businesses hesitate to hire former gangsters.”

“Socially excluding those who seriously wish to leave the underworld could set off a negative chain reaction by prompting them to return to the yakuza or to turn to phone scams and other crimes (to support themselves),” said Noboru Hirosue, a part-time researcher with the Ryukoku University Criminology Research Center.

“It is therefore important to give former gangsters a second chance to maintain the peaceful lives of the public,” Hirosue added.