Former Yakuza VTuber Taro “Jailbird Taro” explains… Surprising Characteristics of Many “Lawyers Specializing in Poles” Who Are Hired for High Fees
Going to prison is said to be part of the yakuza’s job. There was once a time when secret talks were held between the yakuza and the police, and it was decided who would go to prison, for what crime, and for how long, when they turned themselves in.
Those days came to an end with the passage of the Riot Law (Law Concerning Prevention of Unjust Acts by Organized Crime Groups), and sentences and other matters are now determined by court decisions. In such cases, lawyers are needed, but it is unlikely that there are lawyers who are willing to defend yakuza.
So how do yakuza find lawyers? A former yakuza himself, “Taro Jongjang,” who is a virtual youtuber (VTuber) under the name “Jongjang Taro,” which refers to a person who has been in prison many times, talks about the situation of lawyers for yakuza.
In the Showa period, there were lawyers who worked exclusively for the yakuza and lawyers who specialized in yakuza cases, but I don’t think there are many lawyers today. In those days, yakuza also had money, so they hired lawyers for quite a lot of money. So many of them were yakuza lawyers because they were paid well.”
The work of such yakuza lawyers has a slightly different characteristic from that of ordinary criminal trial lawyers.
For the yakuza, going to jail is, in a sense, a part of their job, so rather than fighting for acquittal or probation, they had lawyers to get them out on bail. So lawyers who were good at getting bail were very useful.”
Another reason yakuza lawyers receive high legal fees is that they win bail. Yakuza lawyers receive a starting fee and about 10% of the bail amount, and since bail for yakuza can range from 3 to 5 million yen, the amount paid to lawyers is high.
Lawyers defend yakuza with such high legal fees. If they do not get the results they want, are there any repercussions?
No,” he said. “The yakuza will not do anything to the lawyers if they don’t get what they want. There is no way that the Yakuza will do anything to the lawyers if they don’t get what they want. And since they are not basically fighting a case of innocence, there is nothing we can do about it. At best, we can fire them.
Yakuza and lawyers have a curious relationship. With the enactment of the Violent Crime Control Law, yakuza are now being arrested for reasons that would normally be unthinkable. They are gradually running out of places to turn to.
