Japan's once-mighty Yakuza, notorious figures in organised crime, has seemingly fallen on hard times. Tokyo police recently arrested a high-ranking member of the Takinogawa gang, part of the country's second-largest yakuza syndicate, the Sumiyoshi-kai. His crime? Stealing Pokémon cards.
Yakuza, the Japanese equivalent of gangsters or mafiosos, was once a powerful force in organized crime. Their membership peaked in the 1960s at over 180,000. In 2013, US regulators assisted Japan in cracking down on the Yakuza by targeting their finances.
