Black Market: Dispatches (2016): Season 1, Episode 10 - Underground Fighting - full transcript
The next generation of Japanese street gangs challenge the power of the Yakuza and make inroads into the underground fight scene.
In Japan, it's all about
honor and respect.
Enson -- in a way,
he takes us into this world
where we get to see two men...
who have put everything
on the line
for this just one fight
to prove their manhood.
In the streets of Japan,
what do you do
with all this potential
in a community where
there's no job opportunities?
This is kind of like
the old-school way
of handling things.
It's a little primitive,
but, you know,
it's a lot simpler
as opposed to over here,
sometimes, when it's
who got the biggest gun.
**
Our goal is just to simply
show the world a window
as to why people
do the things they do,
and where that desperation
comes from.
It's like they say,
when the system fails you...
...you create your own system.
**
Kitakyushu may look like
the rest of the country,
but there's another side.
For decades here in Japan,
the black market
had been run by the Yakuza.
But things are changing.
We're here now in Kokura,
which is a town in Kitakyushu,
which is one of the hubs
for organized crime.
The district is known
for its sex workers and drugs
smuggled in through its harbor.
More recently,
gangs have also moved
into another illegal business --
underground
mixed-martial-arts fights.
It's a world I'm familiar with.
I started out
as a street fighter
and went on to fight
professionally for 19 years.
I was ready to die
every time I entered the ring.
Because of that,
a lot of my fans were gangsters.
They feared me
and they respected me.
I got word that there was
an underground fight coming up,
so I went down to Kitakyushu
to see how
a new generation of gangsters
are moving into the fight scene.
I've known this gang
for years...
All right, let's go in.
...and I've seen them grow
from just a couple of guys
into a gang of over a hundred.
This gang has what's known
in Japan as "Gurentai" --
a loosely-organized street gang
similar to what you'll find
in a big American city.
In Japan, almost no one
has guns, even gangsters,
so these guys rely on their
fists and other implements.
U.S.A.!
As the gang has grown,
the cops have taken notice.
**
The Gurentai used to be
the minor leagues
for the Yakuza,
Japan's infamous crime clans.
The Yakuza are Japan's
organized-crime families --
very, very similar to the Mafia
in the United States.
They run protection rackets,
they shake people down,
they control the drugs,
they control the prostitution.
They are deeply enmeshed
in Japanese politics,
and they play a role
in the Japanese financial system
that goes far beyond
what we know as the Mafia.
But in 2011,
the government cracked down
on the Yakuza,
passing new laws making it hard
for the Yakuza members
to do business
and to find new recruits.
Sometimes these crackdowns
are related to a breach
in the unspoken rules.
The Yakuza steps over a line,
and it's time for the police
to remind them who's in charge.
It even became illegal
for Yakuza members
to set foot in fighting arenas.
Control over the fight scene,
both legal and underground,
was now up for grabs.
**
All these gangsters,
they all pretty much run gyms.
Let's go check it out.
The gang's leader, Natsu,
and his lieutenant, Maza,
are training a street fighter
called Kita.
Like millions of young Japanese,
Kita grew up
with few job opportunities
in an economy rocked by years
of stagnation and recession.
The economy in Japan has been
in a near zombie state
for far too long.
The number of jobs available
to young people has fallen off.
They have a hard time
finding meaningful work.
He turned to crime
and did two-and-a-half years
in prison
for aggravated assault.
So, now that he's out,
Kita wants to get work
with this gang
and become part of their family.
Impressing its leader
in an underground fight
is the fastest way.
**
**
It's two days
before the underground match,
and I'm here to meet
Kita's opponent at a rival gym.
For Gurentai gangs,
these gyms also serve
as recruitment centers.
And this is the guy
who runs the gym...
The gym owner introduced me
to a Gurentai fighter
named Shin.
He's hoping a win against Kita
will earn him
some respect on the street.
I wanted to hear
what the Yakuza thought
about the rise
of these young gangs,
so I called
an old Yakuza friend of mine
who is in one
of Japan's most violent clans.
We're gonna go meet Koike
right now and talk to him.
And last time I met him,
he went nuts
and beat up the managers
and kind of wrecked the shops.
I took this footage
with my camera
the last time we hung out.
He was a little upset
with the slow service
from our waiter.
I had to step in before
things got out of hand.
Whoa, check this out.
Yakuzas cannot enter.
And this is -- this is
the police symbol here.
Koike is a Yakuza
from the old school,
known in the streets
for his short fuse.
Ooh.
Seven people, he said.
Seven people.
**
For the Yakuza,
the Gurentai
are just low-level punks
who will never threaten
their power.
But on the streets
of Kitakyushu,
it's clear the Yakuza
is losing its grip
on the next generation.
Kita's opponent, Shin, is like
a lot of gangsters I've met.
He doesn't want to answer
to a Yakuza boss.
**
**
We caught up with Kita
on his way to a tattoo parlor
popular with Natsu and his gang.
**
The government crackdown
means that any Yakuza member
can be rounded up at any time.
For young gangsters like these,
that's just another reason why
they are choosing to join
smaller street gangs.
**
We're going to the ocean side,
where they've organized a fight
that's gonna happen right now.
My experiences, from watching
these type of gangsters fight,
they'll fight for their pride
and their ego.
And these -- these fights
are way more exciting.
We've arrived
at a remote property --
unaccessible by the cops
or the Yakuza.
We're on this -- like,
this private property.
There's more guys
coming down here.
This is where
they usually do it.
This is it, man.
It's gonna happen soon.
Kita and Shin are
fighting for honor and respect.
The $1,600 prize
will go to the gang
of the winning street fighter.
**
Yeah.
Winning the street fight
has got Kita in
with Natsu and his gang.
He's found a new family
and a way to make some cash.
For the Gurentai gangs
of Kitakyushu,
times are flush.
Their move into the fight scene
might be a sign of the times.
As the Yakuza's control over
the Japanese crime world fades,
a new generation of gangster
may be emerging.
**
honor and respect.
Enson -- in a way,
he takes us into this world
where we get to see two men...
who have put everything
on the line
for this just one fight
to prove their manhood.
In the streets of Japan,
what do you do
with all this potential
in a community where
there's no job opportunities?
This is kind of like
the old-school way
of handling things.
It's a little primitive,
but, you know,
it's a lot simpler
as opposed to over here,
sometimes, when it's
who got the biggest gun.
**
Our goal is just to simply
show the world a window
as to why people
do the things they do,
and where that desperation
comes from.
It's like they say,
when the system fails you...
...you create your own system.
**
Kitakyushu may look like
the rest of the country,
but there's another side.
For decades here in Japan,
the black market
had been run by the Yakuza.
But things are changing.
We're here now in Kokura,
which is a town in Kitakyushu,
which is one of the hubs
for organized crime.
The district is known
for its sex workers and drugs
smuggled in through its harbor.
More recently,
gangs have also moved
into another illegal business --
underground
mixed-martial-arts fights.
It's a world I'm familiar with.
I started out
as a street fighter
and went on to fight
professionally for 19 years.
I was ready to die
every time I entered the ring.
Because of that,
a lot of my fans were gangsters.
They feared me
and they respected me.
I got word that there was
an underground fight coming up,
so I went down to Kitakyushu
to see how
a new generation of gangsters
are moving into the fight scene.
I've known this gang
for years...
All right, let's go in.
...and I've seen them grow
from just a couple of guys
into a gang of over a hundred.
This gang has what's known
in Japan as "Gurentai" --
a loosely-organized street gang
similar to what you'll find
in a big American city.
In Japan, almost no one
has guns, even gangsters,
so these guys rely on their
fists and other implements.
U.S.A.!
As the gang has grown,
the cops have taken notice.
**
The Gurentai used to be
the minor leagues
for the Yakuza,
Japan's infamous crime clans.
The Yakuza are Japan's
organized-crime families --
very, very similar to the Mafia
in the United States.
They run protection rackets,
they shake people down,
they control the drugs,
they control the prostitution.
They are deeply enmeshed
in Japanese politics,
and they play a role
in the Japanese financial system
that goes far beyond
what we know as the Mafia.
But in 2011,
the government cracked down
on the Yakuza,
passing new laws making it hard
for the Yakuza members
to do business
and to find new recruits.
Sometimes these crackdowns
are related to a breach
in the unspoken rules.
The Yakuza steps over a line,
and it's time for the police
to remind them who's in charge.
It even became illegal
for Yakuza members
to set foot in fighting arenas.
Control over the fight scene,
both legal and underground,
was now up for grabs.
**
All these gangsters,
they all pretty much run gyms.
Let's go check it out.
The gang's leader, Natsu,
and his lieutenant, Maza,
are training a street fighter
called Kita.
Like millions of young Japanese,
Kita grew up
with few job opportunities
in an economy rocked by years
of stagnation and recession.
The economy in Japan has been
in a near zombie state
for far too long.
The number of jobs available
to young people has fallen off.
They have a hard time
finding meaningful work.
He turned to crime
and did two-and-a-half years
in prison
for aggravated assault.
So, now that he's out,
Kita wants to get work
with this gang
and become part of their family.
Impressing its leader
in an underground fight
is the fastest way.
**
**
It's two days
before the underground match,
and I'm here to meet
Kita's opponent at a rival gym.
For Gurentai gangs,
these gyms also serve
as recruitment centers.
And this is the guy
who runs the gym...
The gym owner introduced me
to a Gurentai fighter
named Shin.
He's hoping a win against Kita
will earn him
some respect on the street.
I wanted to hear
what the Yakuza thought
about the rise
of these young gangs,
so I called
an old Yakuza friend of mine
who is in one
of Japan's most violent clans.
We're gonna go meet Koike
right now and talk to him.
And last time I met him,
he went nuts
and beat up the managers
and kind of wrecked the shops.
I took this footage
with my camera
the last time we hung out.
He was a little upset
with the slow service
from our waiter.
I had to step in before
things got out of hand.
Whoa, check this out.
Yakuzas cannot enter.
And this is -- this is
the police symbol here.
Koike is a Yakuza
from the old school,
known in the streets
for his short fuse.
Ooh.
Seven people, he said.
Seven people.
**
For the Yakuza,
the Gurentai
are just low-level punks
who will never threaten
their power.
But on the streets
of Kitakyushu,
it's clear the Yakuza
is losing its grip
on the next generation.
Kita's opponent, Shin, is like
a lot of gangsters I've met.
He doesn't want to answer
to a Yakuza boss.
**
**
We caught up with Kita
on his way to a tattoo parlor
popular with Natsu and his gang.
**
The government crackdown
means that any Yakuza member
can be rounded up at any time.
For young gangsters like these,
that's just another reason why
they are choosing to join
smaller street gangs.
**
We're going to the ocean side,
where they've organized a fight
that's gonna happen right now.
My experiences, from watching
these type of gangsters fight,
they'll fight for their pride
and their ego.
And these -- these fights
are way more exciting.
We've arrived
at a remote property --
unaccessible by the cops
or the Yakuza.
We're on this -- like,
this private property.
There's more guys
coming down here.
This is where
they usually do it.
This is it, man.
It's gonna happen soon.
Kita and Shin are
fighting for honor and respect.
The $1,600 prize
will go to the gang
of the winning street fighter.
**
Yeah.
Winning the street fight
has got Kita in
with Natsu and his gang.
He's found a new family
and a way to make some cash.
For the Gurentai gangs
of Kitakyushu,
times are flush.
Their move into the fight scene
might be a sign of the times.
As the Yakuza's control over
the Japanese crime world fades,
a new generation of gangster
may be emerging.
**