Yakuza , also known as gokudō , or simply the Japanese mafia, are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media call them bōryokudan , while the yakuza call themselves ninkyō dantai . The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization, but is generally used in English-speaking countries to refer to the criminal organization as a whole.