When one tends to think of Japanese literature and movies, one of the bigger concepts that might come to mind are the yakuza, or the Japanese version of the mafia. The yakuza have been around in Japan for centuries, and their origins have been traced to almost 500 years ago now. And while these gangsters might still be seen on the streets of Japan today, marked by society’s disdain for tattoos and clothing deemed “gangster-like,” they have become mythologized through entertainment and arts of the country.