The life of a mafia member isn’t exactly known for being free of violence and brutality – but those in the Japanese yakuza have to go through a particularly grisly ritual.
The yakuza, Japan‘s equivalent of the mafia, are fans of what’s known as yubitsume, which translates to ‘finger shortening’ (or yubi o tobasu/‘finger flying’).
It essentially involves cutting off a portion of your little finger, serving as a method of atonement for serious wrongdoing – having sometimes been considered as an alternative repayment for debt if someone can’t cough up the cash.
Its origins are unclear, but thought to date back to the bakuto, who were itinerant gamblers in Japan from the 18th to 20th centuries. Along with the tekiya, they are…
Read the full article at: https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-brutal-reason-yakuza-members-cut-off-their-little-finger-20210825