Reuters Aki Tsurumaki says he never felt his life was in danger during the 15 years he has been helping companies escape entanglements with Japan's “yakuza” crime syndicates. But the 42-year-old lawyer jokes that he does not take any chances, adding with a smile, “I never stand near the edge of the train platform.” The dark and sometimes dangerous triad of ties among gangsters, businesses and politicians has a long tradition in Japan, which helps explain why a scandal engulfing Japan's Olympus Corp has stirred up media and market talk of possible yakuza links, despite company denials and a lack of evidence. Ousted Olympus CEO Michael Woodford has told Reuters he will not return to Japan to meet investigators due to “security issues”, although he declines to spell out his fears. And Facta, a Japanese magazine that broke the Olympus story, says a Cayman Islands firm linked to some Olympus deals had indirect ties to “anti-social forces” — a common euphemism for organized crime. Olympus President Shuichi Takayama, who took over last month, revealed on Tuesday that the company had hidden losses for two decades, using a series of unusual M&A deals in the past five years. As for “anti-social forces”, Takayama has told reporters he is unaware of “any such thing”. But it is not the first time that a corporate or financial controversy has given rise to speculation of yakuza involvement. “I think it's a very sad indictment of corporate Japan that that's the working assumption,” said Peter Godwin, managing partner at law firm Herbert Smith in Tokyo, when asked why the corporate controversies often stir talk about yakuza. “I can only assume that Japanese people think the yakuza are so intrinsically part of the fabric of corporate Japan that it's a realistic possibility and it's their first thought.” Ties between yakuza and financial firms again grabbed attention in the mid-1990s when the government budgeted funds to help wind up failed mortgage firms. Government officials said a hefty chunk of these firms' bad loans involved organized crime money. Two years ago, Fujitsu Ltd fired its president for alleged links to organized crime, an allegation he denies and one that has prompted him to take court action to clear his name. Changes, however, might be afoot. A recent crackdown that targets not just gangsters but the companies that do business with them could, if strictly enforced, make already-wary managers think even harder about the dangers of doing deals with yakuza or their front companies. Ordinances that outlaw business dealings with yakuza and those who have close ties to crime syndicates went into effect in Tokyo and Okinawa prefectures last month, the last in a series of similar laws across Japan. The push by local governments stemmed from a central government directive issued four years ago that aimed to choke off quasi-legal and legitimate sources of funding by organised crime syndicates, said Morio Umeda, a former policeman who helps run an anti
