When I was a teenager back in Honolulu in 1999 I used to buy pills from these local Japanese kids who worked for yakuza, they all had small supped up Japanese cars and they boasted a lot. One night I got drunk with one of them and they told me that essentially the Yakuza would help finance medical school for you then you’d pay them back by prescribing pain meds to people they’d send to you. Again it came from a boastful low level dealer so take it with a grain of salt, but it’s a pretty solid system as it’s be hard to prove in court, and he always had all kinds of pills too, most consistent dealer ever.
The problem with all those Japanese visitors is this: They fly to Hawaii on a Japanese airline, they stay at a Japanese owned Hotel and use Japanese tour companies. All that money that comes to Hawaii makes a u-turn and goes right back to Japan.
Out of curiosity, how are mixed race relations in Hawaii? And how is for non mixed multi generational 'Japanese' in Hawaii? I've been a few times but never thought to inquire. Do mixed races generally consider themselves native or Japanese? In the USA mixed races tend to lean towards their non US heritage. (This includes white people). Polynesian culture is very romantic in general so anyone I met part Poly in the USA always leans Poly or disregards anything else completely.
@@littlellama8405There are so many intermarriages that it’s very normal here. If you ask someone what they are when they are mixed, nearly everyone will tell you EVERYTHING they are and not just one of the lineages. For some, their families come from several different ethnicities! People here are sensitive to what is “native”. Whereas in the rest of the mainland U.S. residents of California for instance call themselves “Californian”, here in Hawaii, you don’t call someone “Hawaiian” unless they have Hawaiian ancestry; it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here. I’m a 4th generation Japanese/Okinawan and my family has been here 120+ years and am “local/kamaaina” but will never be considered Hawaiian.
Awesome video!! I recently learned that the California prison gang the "Mexican Mafia" operated out of Hawaii as well.. and it all started with a member of theirs who was actually Japanese!
Remember this, we had NOOO 1% Club or any other Organization on our Islands until our “E huli iā ma Ulukau” passed away here in Hawai’i . They protected our streets and allowed us children areas and safe place to be raised in Waimanalo, Nanakuli, Hakimo Road, Maili, Makaha, Halawa Heights, KPT and even Town. The streets belonged to us as kids. We’d stay outside long after midnight, we’d walk on the roads to Tracks as elementary kids, we’d ride The Bus into Castle Park, Ala Moana. We knew no fear as we all knew that doing wrong to kids could be painful. Mahalo!!!
How have I never heard of this??.. born and raised Maui, did this exist on outer islands too?? And when more or less did this end??.. fascinating stuff that I’d love to learn about.. either way hope all is well my brother..
@@Boomshakalakz Bull don’t shit the grass don’t grow. But feel free to blast their names and see if the Lapu looks for you. Go ahead sunshine stary eyes. You HEAVY right so go ahead.
Im impressed that you included the story of King Kalākaua and Emperor Meiji. Its surprising how much people here dont know about that. I often wonder how Hawaiian history wouldve went if it came to be. Also Henry Huihui's my Uncle. He was cool from what i remember. I only seen him a few times growing up and remember hearing brief stories of him from family. RIP Uncle🙏🏽🤙🏽.
Very interesting. I live on Oahu. Was a bartender and resident of Waikiki through the 90's until 2009, then moved to East Honolulu. . Things have changed so much in the past 30 years, especially in Waikiki. Sadly the nostalgia is pretty much gone. I'm grateful I lived and worked in the hospitality business when I did. Waikiki was so homey then. Everyone knew etch other. I miss it a lot.
neat video! as a real estate agent back in the 90's i ended up working with some of these people. we had an understanding that i was there to be a professional and do my job representing them on legitimate land transactions and to keep anything else they were up to OUT of it. they respected that and i sold quite a few homes. when it all went south on them i ended up representing them when they had to sell their homes. i refused to represent them on commercial sales.
I cannot wait to start playing Infinite Wealth! I've been playing through the entire series since last year, so far I've completed Kiwami 1, Yakuza 0, Kiwami 2, 3, and I'm almost done with 4!
I lived there from 88 to 94(I was 21 - 26). My surfing friend was dating a yaks daughter and we all got to drive around in her sports cars, which we could never afford. Being 56 now, I'm not sure how I should look back on those experiences, but they happened.
I am born and raised in Hawaii, currently live on Maui. I work at the Sheraton hotel in Maui have we have employees who have worked there 30-40+ years and would talk about Yakuza/Mafia activity at our particular hotel in the early days. We know Mr. Osano and his family. I believe he passed away not too long ago. They have been amazing employers to us. All I know is that Sheraton Maui is an amazing place to work. 🤙 And it's super fun hearing this kind of history 🙂
Mahalo for this knowledge. Fellow plantation decedent, Japanese blood as well. Also my father was victim to H. This was by far the most detailed I’ve ever seen going further back than I personally know. But I can confirm some names u dropped are indeed powerful people. Mahalo 👺
The Yakuza isn’t gone here in Hawaii. Now they have families in govt positions and much of them own real-estate in their name as well. Rumors are they still run the docks. Mike Miske the recent crime lord here in Hawaii is also accused of convoluting with the Japanese Yakuza.
Im glad someone is finally covering this topic. If only others would talk about the huge oproblem with cartels and organize crime that still runs rampant in our communities here.
Careful what you ask for. At least it is organized..crime. otherwise get chaos crime. Mafias police each other,and we can tap in and out at our leisure. Aloha
Sorry but you got wrong information about the history between Kingdom of Hawai’i and Japan. 1. Kingdom of hawai’i gained its independence November 28 1843 and had a seat with the family of nations ( Now United Nations ) 2. We was very close, so close that during our last queen Japan asked the queen to recognize Japan as a independent state for the world stage late 1892, sadly January 17 1893 United States invaded the Kingdom of Hawai’i and long story short till this day is a illegal occupation. That’s a long story but strongly encourage to research Other then the first 6mins you are 80% on point with the underground in Hawaii 😅 Recommend reading “ sunny skies shady characters “ Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans Filipino, Chinese, Korean, and Portuguese all had a play in the night time activities #IYKYK
Was too young to know about crime. But in 65-67 I learned to dance Hula from Mrs. Anderson. 🤗 and danced for the tourist at Waikiki beach. Lived at Ewa Beach
Thanks for the great video, Aniki; I'm from Hawaii, and am of Japanese/Native Hawaiian descent myself. I remember a story my uncle told me once about his time in the Honolulu PD: he used to have Waikiki as his beat, and said that during the 1980's, there was an extremely high-priced and beautiful Japanese escort nicknamed "the Golden Lady," who catered almost exclusively to rich Japanese tourists. Even though the police knew she was involved in prostitution, they could never pin charges on her, and my uncle suspected that she had serious help from some illegal backers... the Yakuza maybe...?😮
This is HEAT Aniki! When I seen on Tokyo vice they were in Hawaii I had so many questions but they never went into detail just showed them being arrested This is the deleted scene of that episode 👀thank you
All this time I thought Thomas Magnum, PI, with help from Rick and TC of course, was the reason for the decline of the Yakuza in Hawaii. Great video, thank you!
@@anikihistory The Arpeggio has that mournful feeling to it and, admittedly, I didn't play FF6 until after I played FF7. I'm a horrible human being, I know (j/k🤣). However, all three invite you back to play with them again with their ending themes. I guess "heartbreakingly happy?" Thank God for old school games!
SO well done! I grew up on Oahu in the 50's. My Hawaiian Dad used to talk about these guys! As teens one of our fav's was to drive down Hotel St. to spot the hookers and Mahu's, the gay guys. We had no idea how dangerous this could of been. Aloha from Maui!
Lol, my dad used to cruise the same street with his sister and brother in law back in the 70’s! 🤣🤣🤣 His brother-in-law would drive a red and white Volkswagen bus
@@rhythmaddict808Hahaha. I’m a child of the 80s and yeah, things were so much different then compared to now. Mahus! Are we still even allowed to say that nowadays?
I had a friend who was a cop in Honolulu between 1975 and 1977. He got fired for getting high on the job. He said a good few on the force back then were high as hell. Hawaii is corrupt as hell, even now lol. It will never be as bad as the 60s, 70s, and 80s but nowhere as perfect the airline companies would like you to believe 😂 Edit: i thought i should mention that i am sitting at home in Honolulu watching this.
I think it’s more corrupt now at least then we had more local control and the Vegas cops didn’t close the roads out of town as it burned to the ground likely to steal land, water and power.
I moved to Hawaii in 1982 and lived there 40 years. The yakuza was only mentioned once in the news that i remember. A high ranking member got married in Waikiki and the story ended with something humoris like 'no bodies turned up on any of the beaches during the whole visit'.
If you don't bother them, they don't bother you. Don't be a dick, don't get involved in crime, and don't get involved in politics and you'll have nothing to worry about.
I would disagree with the notion that a royal marriage would make Hawaii a colony, since that’s the last thing the kingdom wanted. Also, Japanese and other Asian migrant workers were mistreated by the bayonet constitution which stripped away their rights to vote in Hawaii. Well, also the fact that Hawaii was the subject of an illegal coup and a couple years later an illegal annexation. But this is from a Hawaiians perspective.
So I was born and raised in my home Hawaii. I am about 65% native Hawaian mixed with Portuguese and Chinese, Caucaisian. That being said, I've seen both the peaceful mellow side of Hawaii and The Aloha Spirit if you will. I''ve also seen the dirty houses and vacant apartmentsof Meth dealers because unfortunately, I became addicted to Meth or as "Ice" as we call it here in Oahu, Hawaii.I seen people go so low as to sell evertythign even they own family. So Its no different in the drug domain. However one thing is true and that even while using Meth I seen addicts show aloha towards each other many times and that fact will never change and that's that ALOHA prevails. Ahui Hou!!
I was vacationing in Oahu a few years back and while walking around a marina in Waikiki area noticed a young lady in a cocktail dress looking a bit distraught smoking a cigerette sitting on the floor. The thing that stood out to me about this was that one of her fingers were missing at the knuckles in a the yakuza movie way. It seemed rather fresh, not bloody like it just happened but like within a week or so. I semi-jokingly told my gf that she was yakuza seeing as how japanese culture and tourist was prevalent on the island, yakuza must be operating here.
Wow, fascinating history. Thank you and loved seeing all the old pics that reflect a very different shade of dark than the tourist post cards of same pics. And never knew that Kalakaua wanted Japan to essentially protect the islands from the colonialists. And so it's wild to wonder what would have happened??? ... In the 60's I grew up North Shore in a surfing family and so the only thing Waikiki was good for was Summer surf ... so never had a clue! But am now aware of how deeply corrupt Hawai'i to the bone and how the entire world is actually run by criminals from the mafia types to the oligarchs CIA and Zionists ... planet criminal paradise ... it never stops dating back to Babylonian money magic.
I was born in '53, in Honolulu, and I can rest assured that my family never knew Yakuza existed. Now here's the ironic twist...in '55 after we left we settled in Columbus Ga. Almost everyone knows nextdoor is Phoenix City, Al. which at the time was still a major crime and corruption hotbed. So basically we're talking from the frying pan into the fire. Thankfully I don't recall my family ever spending any memorable moments if we did cross over the bridge to Alabama.
When I asked a 2nd generation 80 yr old Japanese auntie about the In turn.ent camps, and her family, she said that only the educated Japanese were sent there,and not the workers.
Actually, my grandfather was interned because he was working on the docks at Sand Island. He was in his early 20s and the authorities didn’t even notify his family that he was detained. It must have caused them much worry given the circumstances. From what I understand, it thankfully wasn’t for a long period of time.
About a decade ago i was stationed in Okinawa for the military. My unit had to go to Hawaii for training and I thought, ‘great! I will be back stateside!’ Boy was I wrong 😂 TBH, parts of Waikiki were indistinguishable from Japan.
Great video, very informative. Thank you again for all your work. Would also love to see more expansive information on Kabukimono. A stand alone video on them would be interesting. As well, the tentative connection, if any, between ronin and Yakuza. These aspects have been hinted at in other videos, but would be interesting to explore more deeply. Regardless, all your work is fantastic. Well done.
I’ve heard stories of Jackson Inada my whole life. I have to keep my source close to vest but will let them know this video exists. Maybe they can share more stories from that era.
They own the major Hotels in Waikiki, restaurants, travel agencies , limo services , strip clubs , massage parlors , adult video outlets , drug distribution, illegal gambling , cockfights , anything related to Japanese Tourism since the 90 's .😢😢😢The Japanese Porn Industry also films in Hawaii .
There is a book called " Yakuza " written about 20 years ago which is about the History of the Japanese Mafia .....much of this information is from that book.😊
@@stella-vu8vh Called Sonatine, its a Yakuza movie directed by Takeshi Kitano. After the first act it becomes this surreal psychological breakdown. its really cool. Trigger warning for self harm and such though, it gets kinda gnarly. Not too graphic though.
