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Yakuza

November 1, 2009 5:00 PM

How does a foreigner jump the line in America for a life-saving transplant? It might be because he is a high-ranking member of Japan's mafia, whose influence is worldwide. Lara Logan reports.

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by Aonghas_Crowe November 16, 2009 4:54 PM EST
There are a number of inaccuracies in the report about yakuza which have already been mentioned above. Anyone interested in learning more about the life of a gangster might want to read a cracking good book called "Confessions of a Yakuza" by Junichi Saga (translated by John Bester).

You can read excerpts of it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Yakuza-Life-Japans-Underworld/dp/4770019483

My own zany experiences with yakuza are detailed in brief here:
http://aonghascrowe.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/bubbles/
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by Aonghas_Crowe November 16, 2009 4:53 PM EST
There are a number of inaccuracies in the report about yakuza which have already been mentioned above. Anyone interested in learning more about the life of a gangster might want to read a cracking good book called "Confessions of a Yakuza" by Junichi Saga (translated by John Bester).

You can read excerpts of it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Yakuza-Life-Japans-Underworld/dp/4770019483

My own zany experiences with yakuza are detailed in brief here:
http://aonghascrowe.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/bubbles/
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by kimiwabaka November 15, 2009 3:14 AM EST
While the portion of the story that relates to Organ transplants and corruption maybe true, but many of the claims Adelstein makes about the Yakuza and even tattoos is off base (read BS). He tells you about the typical Yakuza BS they put in the movies that isn't quite the way it really is in real life. Even the "tracing their roots to the Samurai" thing is crap. It's hard for me to judge how much truth the rest of the story holds when it starts off with lies. The story also fails to tell you that Tadamasa Goto is now studying to be a buddhist priest, and there likely is no "hit out" on Adelstein anymore if there ever was one. Do you really think the "John Goti" of the Yakuza couldn't kill a single American reporter in Japan if he really wanted to?

I'm amazed 60 minutes didn't do any fact checking first.
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by FriteCH November 10, 2009 3:23 AM EST
Why didn't the FBI get the information BEFORE this man received his transplant? 10% of the info expected is pretty pathetic. What influence did it have on his jump in line?
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by RAGGEE November 7, 2009 10:56 AM EST
What a story.thank you 60mns. TO JAKE:PLEASE LEAVE THE COUNTRY.look,it's not worthy.think about it.your life vs this thugs who can infiltrate the us justice system and the ucla donar program,how long will it take for them to get inside the japanese police?there are not even prosecuting this thug and his partners who are day & night criminals for life. I JUST HOPE YOUR SAFE.
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by hgarner2000 November 4, 2009 12:22 PM EST
This story is quite an eye opener. I'm a pretty big fan of Japan, but I didn't realize the Yakuza were still that pervasive. My understanding was that crime gangs are on the wane. The Japanese police force is very competent and mobsters aren't able to generate the extortion revenues they used to (there's still plenty of revenue coming from the drug trade I'll bet). Also, they having're recruiting problems. Japan has a strong youth culture and the so called traditionalism of the Yakuza gangs no longer have the same appeal. Also,and check this, a missing finger is a sign of having left a gang, not being punished while in one. I do believe this is something that not all bosses do, although the ones in this story certainly would.
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by bookishwithglasses November 4, 2009 11:51 AM EST
So I just finished reading this guy's book -- Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan -- and it's pretty... well, for lack of a better word, it was crazy. Like, 'holy-oh-my-god, i can't believe that this is even real~!'

He talks a lot about the yakuza, and the Goto liver debacle, and I am amazed that he's still alive, after all this, because the liver thing is just the tip of the iceberg!!!

I'm happy he's doing the reporting (and writing!), because there's no way any sane person would!
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by mommie1234 November 4, 2009 9:15 AM EST
I think all though you don't get paid to think, that if there is a price on body parts then their is a price on a whole body and the families that lost their husband as well as a father, (what does an individual put a higher price on their father or a gang leader)should be compensated at least 2 million dollars a piece for their lost. That man should have never been allowed in this country his own government said so, to what do we owe this learning experience to, I commend the news repoter for his story that should be put at the top of the list.........That was a brave and honorable thing that he had done he risked his own life to report his story more than what those doctors at UCLA did....job well done .I will never donate any part of my body , unless I know where that part is going.......
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by wolfmanfor_2010 November 3, 2009 6:50 PM EST
I have had very little trust in our Goverment after watching the report on 60 minutes about YAKUZA I have None , this country's goverment is better then any other corrupt country its all about money.
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by drom30 November 3, 2009 12:48 AM EST
well, I believe individual people's lives matter and I don't think the FBI has the right to play Organ Transplant God and decide that the lives of decent Americans at the front of the list who may have waited three years for life saving organ transplants were expendable just so long the FBI got the information they wanted. I just can't figure out how people like that can sleep at night. But the moral issues aside, I don't think there could be any question that what it appears the FBI got involved in here was legally improper and needs to be investigated.
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by mudcat460 November 2, 2009 9:40 PM EST
Your segment on Tadamoso Goto lacked a vital component which is the function of UNOS in the transplant process. My sister had a liver transplant and was near death because it is based on the patient's MELD Score, which is arrived at by an algorithm using a a combination of the patients liver profile and other factors. Violation of the rules of the UNOS system results in institutions being excluded from the UNOS system altogether. I don't know what UCLA is doing but it is outside of the current system of organ transplantation.
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by Concerned_Regular November 2, 2009 9:16 PM EST
Jake Adelstein has proven himself to be a courageous, responsible, and dedicated reporter, and 60 Minutes also deserves credit for carrying and broadcasting this news to a wider audience. Dedicated individuals of Adelstein?s character and caliber are the only people that can provide the checks by the Fourth Estate to set a wayward government, government agency, or enterprise to account for misdeeds and malfeasance. I can only hope that this reported outrage of a rank obscenity will be carried to a full and just accounting. Until that is done, the organ-donor program will be suspect to an extent it and we cannot afford. Furthermore, the UCLA Medical Center must be held to a full accounting of this incident, and any others like it, and brought to justice. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Immigration must also answer for their part. The U.S. Congress must also consider additional legislation, with criminal penalties, to prevent thugs from any country from subverting such a well intentioned and vital institution such as the U.S. organ-donor process. Finally, our State Department should re-examine our relations with Japan with regard to their tolerance of the vicious yakuza organization, and with regard to the asymmetric interaction between our and Japan?s police forces (Japan?s authorities provide our enforcement agencies with far less information that we give Japan, according to the Washington Post article).
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by jstorfjell November 2, 2009 7:31 PM EST
If you are goign to put storries such as this out you need to counter them with postive stories about transplantation. This is the type of story that will only drive people away not towards this potential lifesaving gift. The transplant list is based on a MELD system, this is monitored by UNOS. There are multiple factors which determine where a patient is placed on the wait list, these are medical decisions not political. The system for organ distribution is intact, if there is a problem the investigation needs to focus on UCLA and the surgeons who decided that the trasnplant should take place.
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by shimauma1 November 2, 2009 3:10 PM EST
It is absolutely 100% not true that a "high density of tattoos" can lead to any health problems especially liver problems. The whole idea that tattooed skin does not perspire and therefore causes a buildup of toxins in the body is just simply not true. The only possible connection to needing a liver transplant and tattooing is the possibility of contracting hepatitis from unhygienic tattoo practices. To say that being heavily tattooed contributed to somebody needing a liver transplant is false.
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by jimlocke1 November 2, 2009 2:15 PM EST
Another "story" by a disreputable outfit. I encourage all to watch it again and listen carefully. There is absolutely NO evidence presented of any wrongdoing; all of the "reporter's" questions are asking for conjecture, supposition, prediction, mind-reading, speculation, and outright stupidity. I have worked in the transplant field for over 20 years; I've been in hundreds of operating rooms procuring organs for transplants, many for UCLA; I can tell you the chance of 'getting one over' is infinitesimal. There's no news in this attack-piece on a dedicated group of people working 24/7/365 to provide the best health care available to those who need it. The only thing this crap will do is give those looking for an excuse to not donate an excuse to not donate. Way to go, CBS!!
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by doubtingthomas28 November 2, 2009 1:34 PM EST
Does anyone know the definition money laundering? Is it okay for UCLA to take money from gangsters? Isn't that illegal?
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by rswarren November 2, 2009 12:48 PM EST
UCLA REMINDS ME OF DOW CORNNING, WHEN MY WIFE DIED SHE WAS 37 BREAST IMPLANTS HID HER BREAST CANCER AND WHAT DID THEY DO FOR MY 14 & 16 YEAR DAUGHTERS? NOTHING!!!! tHEY SENT ME ABOUT 2 THOUSAND DOLLARS. RAY VERSIGA, GRAND BAY, AL.
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by Virgil-1 November 2, 2009 9:26 AM EST
The USA will now except any countries garbage,especially under the present administration.Downfall of USA.
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by thrush6 November 2, 2009 5:29 AM EST
UCLA is a university and even though it's an educational institution it's also a corporation that wants to take in as much money as it can. They don't have a problem charging $10,000 a year for tuition and they certainly wouldn't have any problem accepting a million in cash from a gangster for a liver transplant. Do you want fries with that?--and when you get home you've got 5 calls from Sallie Mae.
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by rwilkins13 November 2, 2009 2:34 AM EST
The Japanese gangbangers gave bureaucrats at the UCLA medical center a simple choice: take the gold or take the lead.

These gangsters could threaten UCLA doctors, staff and ALL those awaiting liver transplants at the hospital. If you are waiting for a liver do you really want to take an organ that a Yakuza kingpin is claiming for himself?

It is very naïve to think that UCLA doctors and staff are going to stand-up against Japanese organized crime over one or two transplants.
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