Way of the YAKUZA

a Kaidan Faction Guide for Criminal Organizations

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Designer/Author: Jonathan McAnulty

Cover Artist: John Wigley
Cartographer: Michael K. Tumey
Illustrator: Michael K. Tumey
Page Layout: Michael K. Tumey
Publisher: Steven D. Russell
Compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, requires Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo Publishing LLC
See http://paizo.com//pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Paizo Publishing, LLC does not
guarantee compatibility, and does not endorse this product.

Kaidan: a Japanese Ghost Story Copyright C 2010, Steven D. Russel, Open Gaming License Copyright C 2007
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Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing LLC and are
used under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License. See http://paizo.com/PathfinderRPG/compatiblity for more
information about compatibility license.

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Table of Contents
Adventure Background Page 2
Adventure Synopsis Page 3
The Introduction Page 4
Beginning the Adventure Page 5
Map of the Monastery Page 7
Miyamakoori Monastery Page 8
Appendix One: New Monsters Page 16
Appendix Two: Pre-generated Characters Page 21
Appendix Three: Gamemaster Aids Page 27

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Way of the Yakuza
Part 1: Introducing the Yakuza
Greetings, my friend. If you have come for
knowledge, enter and have a seat. Pardon me, that I
do not rise and greet you properly, but I am not as
young as I once was. As the hair grays, the bones
grow weak. I’ve outlived more than most and I’ll
wager there’s a few more I’ll yet outlive.
Yes, indeed. I’ve seen many young bo-kan like
yourself come through those doors over the years.
Full of spirit and ready to take on anyone, be they
demon or men. Most do not last long. Perhaps you
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will be different? ...Or, perhaps not. Only time will
tell, for ours is a dangerous path. Yet we would
choose no other.
In every village and every town, our presence is felt.
Though others see only the gambling houses and sake
shops, we know the true reason we fight. We are the
champions of our people, and the heroes of the
outcast. It is we who defend our way of life.
Come, I shall instruct you in the way of the yakuza, that
you may be prepared for the road you have chosen...
The yakuza is your true family. You are but one
member and all must work as a team. Never
betray your yakuza family, not even to your own
wife or child.
The Beginning of the Yakuza
In the days before the immortal emperor, after the
first great war with the oni, the land was a lawless
place. Many companies of soldiers were dismissed
from service. Many of these ronin, suddenly bereft
of income and food, turned to banditry. They
formed bands of kabukimono, looting and
plundering unprotected villages. They were a
violent, garish lot. The worst of their depredations
were directed against the eta and the hinin, for the
nobles and the samurai, or asuras, considered the
protection of such as we to be beneath them. Better,
in their mind, that a hundred unclean die than one
of their own suffers inconvenience.
In those days, the hinin and the eta castes were not
as they were now. They were a people apart from
each other, though they moved in the same realm.
The eta had land and money. Materially, most of the
hinin had little but the clothes on their back, living
hand to mouth. Yet the majority of the hinin had that
which the eta lacked: freedom! We could move
where we would in the land, doing as we pleased and
answerable to none. This is not to say that we were
not afflicted as the eta. The bakuto [lit. gambler]
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houses in particular were ripe targets and it was not
safe for the tekiya vendors.
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It is said that Osa Hideyoshi of Oten-jo in Hamato
province, the owner of a prosperous bakuto house,
was the first to organize the hinin into a force
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capable of resisting the kabukimono. Arming those
under him with weapons plundered from the asuras,
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he skillfully drove the gangs from the region around
his village. His success spurred on others and soon
hinin gangs in various towns and villages throughout
Hamato began forming, each pledging allegiance to
Hideyoshi-sama, who they named kumicho [lit.
boss]. Beyond Hamato, other yakuza gangs began to
form, offering protection to hinin and eta alike. As
the gangs gained in power and prestige, they began
to command respect from the communities in which
they operated. It was only natural that the various
kumicho began taking control of hinin businesses
such as gambling, women, and entertainment. The
eta were also brought into the fold, being made to
pay for the protection the yakuza were providing for
them. As the various kumicho gained in wealth, they
proceeded to buy ever more houses and businesses.
They hired more men, including some of the very
kabukimono they had once fought against. Within
time, the yakuza became a force to be reckoned with,
one not easily ignored, even by the nobility.
Yakuza Interests
Today, the yakuza are well organized, with gangs in
every city and hinin-eta village. Some, misinformed,
think of the yakuza as criminals. It is not so. Perhaps
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we operate outside of the emperor’s laws, but it was
the nobles who cast us out. This is not to say that we
are common thieves. We do not condone activities
such as burglary, petty theft, or violence against our
people. Indeed, should some nefarious individual
attempt such a thing in our territory he would soon
find himself our enemy. Our primary purpose, as
ever, is the defense of the people, and in exchange for
this defense, we impose a levy on our eta brethren,
though we never require more than we judge a
person has the ability to pay. At the same time, the
yakuza manage and control almost every aspect of
hinin life. Naturally, we maintain bakuto parlors,
brothels and taverns. But our interests extend far
beyond these things and we earn much profit from
theaters, butchery, tanneries and even cemetery
maintenance. Any and every aspect of hinin-eta life
falls within our purview and we work diligently to
protect our interests, both from the government
bureaucracy and from rival yakuza gangs seeking to
expand their own territory.
The yakuza also make it a practice to loan out money
to our eta-hinin brethren. While some complain about
our rates of interest, there are few other lenders
willing to take a chance on our people. In truth, we
ask little of those we make loans to except that they
continue to pay us as they are able. Some less
scrupulous yakuza gangs sometimes take advantage of
their borrowers, using debt as an excuse to confiscate
property, but generally, those who can pay back their
debts have little to fear from the yakuza. When an
individual cannot repay his loans, arrangements can
be made for him, or his family, both male and female,
to work off the debt. Many young bo-kan got their
start in the gangs while working to repay their
parent’s obligations.
There are several yakuza gangs who maintain warehouses
and operate markets. It is a sad truth that the nobles
would keep our people poor, ill defended and ill fed, the
better to keep us in line. For the sake of survival, it is
necessary to learn to move cargo, both goods and people,
away from the sight of those who would oppress and
abuse us. There are few things the yakuza cannot arrange
to buy and sell, should the price be right, and most yakuza
gangs have some experience at smuggling.
Yakuza Organization
While it is not improper to speak of yakuza gangs, it is
important to realize that, in truth, each gang is best
thought of as a family. When a man wishes to join the
yakuza, he does so through a ceremony akin to a
traditional wedding. Within a holy yokinto shrine, the
hopeful exchanges sake with the man he would accept
as oyabun. Following this ceremony, the new recruit is
instructed to think of all within the yakuza gang as his
family, closer than even blood kin.
The kumicho, or boss, of each yakuza gang is
formally addressed as the oyabun and is responsible
for the actions of all within his “family.” Those
underneath him are considered brothers, though
their rank within the gang determines if they are
Kyodai (big brother) or Shatei (little brother).
Naturally, one brother’s superior may well be
another brother’s younger “sibling.” In larger gangs,
there may even be multiple oyabun, with one oyabun
being the kobun, or son, of another, more senior
oyabun.
The yakuza has many different needs, and while it is
common for outsiders to associate the yakuza with
the image of the bo-kan, not all of our members are
young toughs. The yakuza organization possesses
many accountants, administrators, litigants, sake
servers, and bakuto. Additionally, within our employ,
even when they are not a direct part of the family,
are the entertainers, geisha, merchants and
workmen who serve in the businesses we operate.
Few oyabun run all matters themselves. Instead,
they choose a first lieutenant, or wakagashira, to
assist them in running the gang. These wakagashira,
like the kamuchi himself, help shape the attitudes
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and behavior of each gang.
When a man joins the yakuza, it is natural for us to
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consider his women as a part of the family as well.
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Wives, daughters, and even girlfriends of a member
are accorded respect according to the respect due
their man. Women, with only a few exceptions, never
wield great authority within the ranks, excepting that
natural influence they may be able, through strength
of personality, to exert over their men. Upon rare
occasion, if she can find an oyabun to accept her, a
woman will formally pledge herself to the group, even
to the point of obtaining tattoos on her arms and
back. Such women often serve in the bakuto parlors as
dealers, or dice casters. Parlors with female dealers do
indeed prove popular, no doubt, in part, due to the
custom of the dealer being shirtless when casting dice.
Conduct yourself properly when you wear the
insignia of your yakuza family so that shame
may not come on our name.
Yakuza Life
Specific customs may differ wildly from one yakuza
gang to another. Some kumicho run their families as
one would run a large business conglomerate, where
the focus is constantly on profit and new ventures.
Other oyabun, especially in the smaller gangs, choose
to focus on the individual needs of their people and
communities, taking their responsibilities as surrogate
parents to heart. The personality and the specific
organization of each gang thus, in many ways, reflect
the attitudes and concerns of the man leading the gang.
Still, there are some things in common among all
yakuza. Nearly every gang, regardless of size,
maintains a bakuto parlor, a structure that frequently
doubles as a sake house and sometimes even as a
brothel. As we draw our name (ya-ku-za is a losing
hand in the game of oicho-kabu) and much of our
heritage from a game of chance, this is only proper, an
homage to our roots.
Another custom which is now ubiquitous among the
various families is the ritual of penance, yabitsume,
for sleights against one’s oyabun and failure to
perform one’s duty properly. This ritual finger cutting
is more common in some gangs than in others,
depending on the severity of the oyabun, but all
practice it to one degree or another. For a first
transgression, the yakuza member is required to cut
his little finger off at the second knuckle and present
the cut finger to the oyabun as tribute. The loss of the
finger means that the one so punished must, of
necessity have a greater difficulty in wielding his
sword. Further transgressions lead to the loss of the
ring finger. If a member transgresses a third time,
most oyabun will determine the offender to be an
incorrigible son and order him slain or banished.
Truly great offenses sometimes bring retribution on
the wife and children of the traitor.