Ura Hello Work c.19: loan shark
What is Shinya Kusaka’s URA HELLO WORK?
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19 – LOAN SHARK (やみ金業者 :YAMIKIN GYOUSHA)
RISK:*****
SALARY:*****
HARD LABOR:****
ILLEGALITY:*****
In January of 2004, Due to the overwhelming growth of loan-sharking, Japan established the “Financial Countermeasures Act.” The aim of the act was to put loan-sharks out of business: it regulated interest rates, advertising and methods of bill-collecting. But, according to loan-shark Mr. Longtail (31, not his real name), the bill didn’t really damage his business at all.
THE LAW HAS NO EFFECT ON “090 FINANCE”
“The loan companies are feeling the pressure of the new regulations, I guess. . . but my business is “090 loans” – it was illegal to begin with! So I’m not really in any more trouble than I was before, right??”
‘090 finance’ refers to loansharks that have no office, so the police can’t find them, and use their cellphones to do business. 090 is the area code of Japanese cellphones.
We’re doing the interview at a coffee shop, and Mr. Talltail stands out splendidly in his gold chains and loud silk shirt: He looks very much like a movie gangster! I was introduced to Talltale by Mr. Islefield, the forger, who said, “He’s a really nice guy.” But, if you asked me to share my first impression of Talltale, I might have to say something different! I asked him about it and he said he was not a ‘made’ Yakuza, but he was a junkouseiin (準構成員: someone connected to a Yakuza family).
“Ask me anything you like,” he said.
Since he was nice enough to say that, I decided to start off with the most invasive, risky thing I could think of: “Why do you dress like that?” It was an inappropriate question, but us normal people always wonder why gangsters dress in such poor taste, and I might never get another chance to satisfy my curiosity on the matter.
He looked faintly indignant for a second but soon composed himself.
“Usually ‘outlaw fashion’ is just younger guys copying the traditions of older guys. But in my case, it’s a bit different. For me, this is a work uniform! In this business, if you don’t look threatening, you can’t collect the money! But times are tough right now. If you even raise your voice these days, you could get charged with kyoukatsu (恐喝: extortion or intimidation). Can you believe that?!? So we try to collect the money as ‘sorftly’ as possible. Looking the part means it’s less likely that I have to raise my voice in the first place! It’s pretty effective, too.”
A very concise, candid answer. Next I asked him about the loan-shark system.
“People talk about yamikin like it’s all one thing, but there’s many different approaches. There’s registered (legal) loan firms, (those are the guys affected by the new law), and 090 guys like me. There’s different rates of rishi (利子：interest), like ‘ten-for-one’ (ten percent rishi, compounded every ten days) and ‘one-for-one’ (ten percent compounded daily), ‘ten for five’ (fifty percent rishi, compounded every ten days), and so on. Basically, the common point is that the rishi is always above what the law allows! As for me, I’m ten-for-three, so I make good money!”
However, because of the law, yamikin can’t advertise openly anymore. So how does Mr. Talltail get people to fall into his traps?
”There’s various techniques, such as the ‘furniture rental store’: set up a real store, full of real furniture. Then you can advertise in evening papers for people looking to ‘rent furniture’ because they’re ‘short on furniture and need some in a hurry.’ Of course the furniture has 30 or 50 percent rishi! Otherwise, you can solicit customers over the phone, or just do your business In Tha $treetz:
“As long as there’s people looking for a hand-out, guys like me will be in business. It’s the law of supply and demand! That’s what validates our existence.”
YOU CAN WORK IN THE MINES OR THE TUNA BOATS – HURRY UP AND CHOOSE!
When you mention yamikin, most people think of the manga “Southern Kings,” where they’re loaning out millions of dollars. I asked Mr. Talltail about this:
“Oh, it’s different in real life! I’m not going to say that there are no yamikin operating at that level, but Southern Kings is just a manga, in the end. The only people with such huge debts are guys with multiple creditors – that’s always a rough situation. In my case, I usually loan two or three hundred dollars at a time. I’ve turned down people that wanted $1000 before!”
He’s totally different than I thought he would be, based on his appearance.
“When it comes to getting clients, I use two methods: flyers and lists. The flyers I put on telephone poles and public phones: ‘Get money with one phone call, no questions asked!’ kind of thing. A lot of people have a jijou (事情、 a ‘certain situation’ = in trouble!), find the flyer, and call me as a last resort. To me, that’s totally nuts, but whatever. The lists are lists of yamikin which circulate underground. Some are made BY yamikin associations, but mostly they are made by clients themselves, and passed hand-to-hand. They list the guy, his rates, his terms and conditions. So it’s easy for the clients to compare and decide. They’ll pick a yamikin who seems OK and call him!”
Of course, Mr. Talltail and his colleagues use black-market cellphones under false names. They can buy them from a professional forger, but usually it’s simpler to make one of their clients buy them a phone in the client’s name.
“I charge 30%, so it’s common for me to lend to guys who THEMSELVES lend money at 50%. That way, I know they can pay me back, and plus since they’re also sharking, they know the rules and I don’t have to explain the game to them.
“Sometimes I have to wire it to a client’s bank account, but I try as much as possible to hand it to them directly. And no written contracts. Also, business must be concluded in one phone call. If they start hemming and hawing, trying to negotiate or barter, I just tell ‘em, ‘Call ya back,’ and hang up. The point is, in this business, you have to do everything smoothly, keep the money moving, work fast, fast, fast.”
Right then, Talltail’s phone began to ring. It seemed to be a call from a client of his: His voice changed, as did his way of speaking. Suddenly he was a threatening Yakuza. Even his face became a mask of hostility – and the client couldn’t even see him! He didn’t explicitly make any threats, but he kept repeating, “You better think of how you’re going to pay me back,” and, “Don’t be late!” After hanging up, he just as suddenly returned to his casual, conversational demeanor. I wasn’t sure which side was the ‘real’ Mr. Talltail. At any rate, I asked him how he did toritate (取り立て：debt collection):
“It’s actually pretty rare that I have to do something drastic. If the client is reasonable, I’m reasonable! But if he’s ridiculous, I have to respond even worse. In this business, it’s fundamental to keep the money circulating. Go around town, collecting rishi from this person and that, and then go around again, loaning it to other people. That’s why we don’t care too much if they don’t pay the principal. Even if I don’t come to see a guy on ‘deadline day’, he might just automatically wire the rishi to my account. That’s not rare!
“But, on the other hand, there’s always some guys that you know they’re going to welsh on you right from the start. And I have to respond to each guy in a way appropriate to the situation. Mostly I start by calling them – but not at home! I call them at work! And not once – ten times an hour. Because their job is a place of business, someone has to answer the phone. And the debtor will quickly get a reputation as someone who owes money – who knows? Maybe he’s a gambler? Maybe he’s mixed up in mob business! He’s disrupting the business. Their co-workers start talking. Usually that’s enough to get them to pay up. If that doesn’t work, you can take them ‘on a ride.’”
Mr. Talltail smirks as he says this.
“You get a big guy to be your driver, someone the client has never seen before. You pull up while he’s walking down the street and invite him into the car. If he gets in, you drive to a spot deep in the mountains. You don’t say a word. Even if he starts asking you questions, you don’t reply. Just keep driving deeper and deeper into the countryside, where no one ever goes. That’s a really effective one! If you’re in a mood, you can stop in some deserted zone, and everyone gets out. Then you throw a shovel at his feet! But if you overdo it, some clients will jump out of the moving car. So you have to be careful. But we’re really good guys at heart, though! We don’t loan money in huge amounts – it’s not worth the risk of arrest. And we’re not as scary as the loan-sharks that have ‘an office’ (i.e. made men). Those guys loan out thousands of dollars at a time! That’s when the rishi payments really start to snowball, it’s a shakkin jigoku (借金地獄 : debtor’s hell)!!
“I know one guy, he’s got a little yamikin business: His rishi rate is ten-for-three, like me, but his approach is totally different. He uses ‘the jump.’ Let me tell you how he works! Say a guy, call him Mr. B., wants to borrow $1,000. But Mr. B. is such a dead-beat he’s on the ‘blacklist’, which means that normal banks won’t lend to him. But my friend will. The client, Mr. B, signed the contract; but the funny thing is, the only thing on the contract is the amount! No rishi rate or deadline or anything else. Just “Mr. B borrowed $1,000”. But borrowing $1,000, doesn’t mean he GETS $1,000. There’s the first-ten-days’ rishi, isn’t there? $300. My friend deducts the rishi in advance! So Mr. B only gets $700.
“So. After ten days, Mr. B. has to pay the second $300 in rishi. He can’t afford to. So my friend says, ‘OK, I’m not a mean guy. I’m not some crazy gangster like in the movies. I’ll tell you what – I’ll loan you the $300 until you get back on your feet. See you in ten days!’
“So Mr. B. now has a principal of $1,300, which means the rishi rises to $400. In ten days, Mr. B. still can’t pay. No problem! My friend loans him the $400. Mr. B’s principal is now $1,700, and the interest on that is – well, around $650.
“After ten more days, Mr. B. owes $2,700. The next time, $4,300. The next time, $4,300. (incidentally, the interest payments go from $300 to $400, $6,500, $800ish, and then $1,300.)”
Frankly, I don’t understand this, I say.
“Hell, I barely understand it myself! It’s best that way. The mathematical calculations involved in ‘the jump’ are totally crazy. Even if you explain it to someone they can’t get it. Which means the client never knows what hit ‘em, right? Even when they pay you back part of the debt, they’re confused about how much is left. . . Especially if you start rounding the figures in funny ways. Especially if you start rounding the figures in funny ways. In the space of two months, a $1,000 debt can exceed $10,000! So why would a yamikin use a method that almost guarantees the client can’t repay? Well if the client is a woman, she can be forced into prostitution. If it’s a guy, his new career choices are even more grim: he can work on the tuna boat, or help build a tunnel deep in the earth.
“You make it sound like it’s his choice: ‘Which would you prefer?’ Anyway Mr. B. wound up choosing tunnel-construction. He managed to pay off the loan after a year, so it worked out ok!”
Mr. Talltail has been speaking about another yamikin’s busness practices, but I get the feeling his own clients wind up sharing the same fate. If they don’t pay, the debts grow exponentially, and if they CAN’T pay, then what happens?
“Well, some clients, they borrow from one guy to pay off another guy, as the debts grow, and eventually it all blows up, doesn’t it! Then, I tell them, they have to pay me before they even think about paying back their other creditors. Many times, I go to collect, but I’m too late: the client has already given his last dime to another yamikin! They don’t have to pay the whole thing – I’m happy with $500 or even $100. That way they can work off the principal. But if they can’t pay at all- then they have to sell their body in the end, don’t they?”
Mr. Talltale’s merciless words contrast with his mild-mannered speaking-voice – he talks as if this were the most casual topic, and forcing people into slavery was no big deal. Who cares if they die while building a tunnel, or get lost at sea? The important thing is that he keeps his hands clean of any obvious crimes. He’s very frank and patient with my questions, but in the end he’s really a criminal. I can clearly see in my mind the line between me and him.
CHASING WHILE BEING CHASED!
Mr. Talltale says that yamikin have to be very aggressive while collecting loans: “If it did not require force and daring, everyone would be doing it, wouldn’t they? Of course there are a lot of would-be beginner yamikin that find out the hard way they don’t have what it takes. I was almost one of those guys – I almost got ate up!
“It started like this: I borrowed $20,000 from my ‘boss’ at the ‘organization’ to start my own loan-shark business. I borrowed at 10% interest and loaned at 30%. It seemed like no-brainer! But when my clients would dodge me, or welsh on me . . I couldn’t very well turn around and welsh on my ‘boss.’ So my debts to him started snowballing. He started asking ME if maybe I should consider riding the tuna boat or working in the tunnel. So I got more serious about my debt collections after that! I would stalk people, beat people, do whatever it took, because it was my ass!
“The worst is when you get arrested. Doing the time isn’t the bad part: If you don’t manage to reach an agreement with your yamikin before you go in, they’ll keep charging you interest while you’re inside! One guy had to do a one-year stretch, and when he got out, he had to work in slavery at a factory deep in the mountains for two years. So in my case, I worked my ass off for my first six months, and then finally I had a sort of equilibrium between the money I was getting and the money I owed. But I was always afraid of losing that equilibrium if and when I eventually got busted. So I can’t say it’s a fun job to do.”
It seems the yamikin’s lot in life to always persue others while being persued. Even if you get arrested, you can’t quit the job afterwards. Mr. Talltail said he’ll keep on doing the 090 operation. For my final question, I asked him what advice he could give to people who don’t want to get so deep in debt that the marrow is sucked from their bones.
His advice was chillingly simple: “Don’t borrow shit!”
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Another fun episode! I’m sad these are almost over.
By the way, “just do your business In Tha $treetz” — is that a literal translation? Cuz I just looked up “Tha $treetz” in Jim Breen’s dictionary and nothing came up.
Nada.
@miles: Allright, smartass! here’s the kanji used in the book:
http://kanji.gotdns.com/japanese_symbols/1554
You can cross-ref it with Breen if you like!
Jesus I almost spit oolong tea all over my keyboard when I opened that link.
Guess I should have known to check your dictionary first.
Well played sir.
damn, these are sooooo good! makes me wonder if there’s an equivalent of this book for gaijin in japan, but that would probably already be in english to begin with. do you ever translate crazy english into japanese?