, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization. The yakuza are known for their strict codes of conduct, their organized fiefdom nature and several unconventional ritual practices such as yubitsume or amputation of the left little finger. Members are often portrayed as males with heavily-tattooed bodies and wearing fundoshi, sometimes with a kimono or, in more recent years, a Western-style "sharp" suit covering them. This group is still regarded as being among "the most sophisticated and wealthiest criminal organizations". At their height, the yakuza maintained a large presence in the Japanese media and operated internationally. At their peak in the early 1960s, police estimated that the yakuza had a membership of more than 200,000. However, this number has drastically dropped, a decline attributed to changing market opportunities and several legal and social developments in Japan which discourage the growth of yakuza membership. The yakuza still regularly engage in an array of criminal activities and many Japanese citizens still remain fearful of the threat these individuals pose to their safety. There remains no strict prohibition on yakuza membership in Japan today, although much legislation has been passed by the Japanese government aimed at impeding revenue and increasing liability for criminal activities. Etymology The name yakuza originates from the traditional Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu, a game in which the goal is to draw three cards adding up to a score of 9. If the sum of the cards exceeds 10, its second digit is used as the score instead, and if the sum is exactly 10, the score is 0. If the three cards drawn are 8-9-3 (pronounced ya-ku-sa in Japanese), the sum is 20 and therefore the score is zero, making it the worst possible hand that can be drawn. In Japanese, the word yakuza is commonly written in katakana (ヤクザ). Origins Despite uncertainty about the single origin of yakuza organizations, most modern yakuza derive from two social classifications which emerged in the mid-Edo period (1603–1868): tekiya, those who primarily peddled illicit, stolen or shoddy goods; and bakuto, those who were involved in or participated in gambling. Tekiya (peddlers) ranked as one of the lowest social groups