About this episode

The episode explores the life of Mako Nishimura, a woman who rose through the ranks of the yakuza and faced the consequences of her lifestyle amidst Japan's economic decline.

Mako Nishimura graduated from high school delinquent to kamikaze biker gang, street tough and, eventually, a fully made member of a yakuza syndicate - the first (or perhaps second?) woman to do so. Nishimura made her gang huge amounts of cash selling women plus selling, and taking, huge quantities of methamphetamines. But by the end of the 1980s, Nishimura’s life was unraveling into a mess of addiction, violence and madness. When Japan’s economic bubble burst at the end of the decade, the yakuza would be staring at a long and painful decline. And Nishimura had bigger problems: she’d fallen in love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Mako Nishimura

Topics covered

• yakuza
• crime
• addiction
• Japanese culture
• women in crime
• economic decline

Keywords

• Mako Nishimura
• yakuza
• kamikaze biker gang
• addiction
• methamphetamines
• Japan
• crime

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: yakuza

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