In terms of Japanese crime syndicates, what is the difference between 組 and 会?


As you can see in this one [Wikipedia
article](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Yakuza_syndicates), there is
a long list of these syndicates. Not only that, but most of them have 組 or 会
as a suffix.

According to Weblio, [組](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E7%B5%84) has the
meanings of “A company, a party, a team, a crew, a gang”, and
[会](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BC%9A) has the meanings of “A society,
a club, an association”.

Is there a difference between the two suffixes when they are applied to crime
syndicates? I'm just curious.




～組 usually follows a founder's family name (e.g., 山口組, 東組, 浅野組). This is
because ～組 was originally a naming convention of Japanese carpenters, who
worked in a smaller, family-like organization in the past. There are still
many (benign) general contractors named like `family-name + 組` in Japan (see
[this
list](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BC%E3%83%8D%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3)).
Japanese yakuza borrowed their convention.

～会 is a more generic suffix which can follow a place name (e.g., 住吉会 named
after Sumiyoshi Town, Tokyo), a "concept" (e.g., 共政会 "cooperatively governed",
旭琉會 "rising sun of Okinawa", 親和会 "fellowship") as well as a person name (e.g.,
工藤会 founded by Genji Kudo). There are tons of NPOs named like ～会.

Anyway, once it has been established as the name of an organization, there is
no meaningful difference.




～組 usually follows a founder's family name (e.g., 山口組, 東組, 浅野組). This is
because ～組 was originally a naming convention of Japanese carpenters, who
worked in a smaller, family-like organization in the past. There are still
many (benign) general contractors named like `family-name + 組` in Japan (see
[this
list](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BC%E3%83%8D%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3)).
Japanese yakuza borrowed their convention.

～会 is a more generic suffix which can follow a place name (e.g., 住吉会 named
after Sumiyoshi Town, Tokyo), a "concept" (e.g., 共政会 "cooperatively governed",
旭琉會 "rising sun of Okinawa", 親和会 "fellowship") as well as a person name (e.g.,
工藤会 founded by Genji Kudo). There are tons of NPOs named like ～会.

Anyway, once it has been established as the name of an organization, there is
no meaningful difference.

