Yakuza’s First Female Member: Nishimura Mako

REPORTER:  

Tatted up and missing a pinky, the markers of life in Japan’s underworld.

Nishimura Mako was the first woman to be flagged by police as a member of the country’s mafia – the yakuza.

She’s one of only a handful of women ever to join the ranks of a notorious organized crime syndicate — and as a woman her path into the group was anything but easy.

Nishimura Mako (FORMER YAKUZA):  

They would look down on me just because I was a woman, which I hated. So I basically lived as a man. Like I said, they would look down on women. For example, when I was sent to fight with guys from another group, they saw I was a woman and stopped treating me seriously. Because I hated being looked down on, I really did my best to act like a man.

REPORTER:  

Be it in human and drug trafficking, extortion or fraud -- the yakuza make their money through crime.

Nishimura had to act like her male counterparts to earn respect.

Nishimura Mako (FORMER YAKUZA):  

I learned to speak, look and fight like a man, trying to be as yakuza-like and manly as my boss at the time.

REPORTER:  

But the criminal empire she joined is now shrinking, down from nearly 200,000 members at its peak in 1963 to just under 20,000 now, the lowest numbers since records began.

Nishimura Mako (FORMER YAKUZA):  

There used to be businesses and citizens willing to trade with us, but nowadays they know any such association would put their businesses at risk, so everyone is staying away from the yakuza.

REPORTER:  

Tougher anti-mafia laws and police crackdowns have made it harder for the yakuza to operate, with membership dropping. Nishimura – now 58 -- sees a future without the syndicate.

Nishimura Mako (FORMER YAKUZA):  

I think yakuza will keep shrinking. I hope they will go extinct.

REPORTER:  

Now retired from crime, she’s rebuilding her life and helping others do the same, guiding former gangsters through the same struggle she once faced — learning how to live like law-abiding citizens again.

Nishimura Mako (FORMER YAKUZA):  

I'm trying to run this non profit for ex-criminals, so former yakuza feel more at ease hanging out here than with the criminal bunch from their past.

REPORTER:  

Once feared in the world of organized crime, Nishimura Mako now finds purpose in helping others walk away from it. Moving into the light as the notorious gangs fade into the shadows of history.