The JP government will regret its strict anti-Yakuza stance and the slow demise of that traditional criminal subculture. They void left will be filled by lawless gangs and more secretive groups that won’t abide to the rigid rules of Japanese society and thus will be less controllable. The Yakuza was an open book. They weren’t a secret society like the Triads or the Mafia in the west. The government had the right to access to their membership files at any given moment. It wasn’t difficult to spot them and track their ranking. Not to mention their adherence to Japanese strict gun laws.
Yes pushing them underground will also make them less transparant, but they would still make money and corruption will still be there.
Don't forget that Japanese society still has a fairly strong "social class" undercurrent. Almost 90% of Yakuza members are either "burakumin" (who are descendants of Japanese people who had to do the "dirty jobs" during the feudal era) or "zainichi" (descendants of Koreans who migrated to Japan more than a hundred years ago). Others can be disgraced former lawmen, school dropouts, etc... Basically the Yakuza are an organization for people who find that they have no place in the general Japanese society. No matter a strict anti-Yakuza stance, all of these people still exist and will continue to exist and they will continue to be frustrated. I don't think outlawing Yakuza is gonna do much good. Underground societies will always exist and with a strict anti-Yakuza stance they will have no control over them.
