Only if you count Round One, Sega, Taito or Namco as organized crime (all of which run major nationwide arcade franchises). I don't claim every arcade is free of organized crime (quite contrary), the industry has moved on quite a bit.
I mean it's already proven that Konami is a Yakuza business, it's pretty safe to assume that in uniform culture like Japan, no non-shady entities would get into video game arcades because the risk to compete with organised crime isn't worth it.
I admit, one would have to have lived in Japan and made all sorts of experiences there in the entertainment sector in order to not discount this as paranoid bs.
But when you understand how the Japanese economy is divided by sectors, and that historically, the entertainment sector (hostess clubs, adult video makers, brothels, arcades, gambling parlours, horse racing, boat racing, etc.) has always been run by organised crime, it's very obvious that no reputable company would touch it.
"Run by the mob" to us in the West conjures up images of thugs doing half-assed things in an unorganised, small way, but that's not true for Japan. The Yakuza not having to hide in Japan, has succeeded building well-functioning, big international corporations - when you visit their offices, you'll meet no tattooed thugs with missing pinkys. But that doesn't mean that they're not another branch of a criminal empire.
> it's already proven that Konami is a Yakuza business
It was never proven so. Honestly speaking this rumor (from the Western side) is mostly a knee-jerk reaction from Kojima's firing, which lacks substantial evidences. Yes, Konami is well known for its shitty business and toxic inside culture but that can always happen without Yakuza ties. To my knowledge there was no direct evidence demonstrated for any major gaming company being under the heavy Yakuza influence. Partly because it is so sensitive subject and partly because you are misunderstanding Yakuza ties.
You are right that Yakuza does run big corporations, but traditional Yakuza was concentrated on specific industries like construction and gambling. The 1991 Act on Organized Crimes [1] effectively destroyed the lowermost structure of Yakuza groups so they no longer possess an effective means for violence (and any remaining lower structure has been largely outsourced by now). Major groups surviving today are therefore more like investment funds, with the seed money coming from past organized crimes. They do still commit crime (and they still fight wars with rival groups a lot), but their crimes are no longer discernible from other financial crimes. Having a Yakuza tie in terms of funding is not really a surprising matter for that reason. They can't overtake existing enterprises as like they could in the last century.
> no non-shady entities would get into video game arcades because the risk to compete with organised crime isn't worth it.
Do you know that Japanese showbiz has a rather strong Yakuza influence and yet there are many companies not affiliated with Yakuza? Unlike supposed Yakuza connections to gaming companies there is a substantial body of evidences, Yoshimoto Kogyo and Burning Production to name a few (known to be affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi and Inagawa-kai respectively), and yet their influence falls short of the entire industry.
The problem you have is that you don't have practical experience living and working in the country and haven't been able to develop a feel or "bullshit radar" for how things work there. The 1991 act was just another sham which was set up for show, i.e. to convince Japan's overseas trading partners that it is cracking down on organised crime. It's just a document Japan can always point at and say "see we have outlawed the Yakuza, aren't we just like you?",similarly how you just did ;-)
You simply need to understand that in Japan, that the insight you made: "Yes, Konami is well known for its shitty business and toxic inside culture but that can always happen without Yakuza ties" is simply wrong.
Companies who behave like this in Japan are not normal companies. They always have ties to organised crime, full stop. No normal company would risk being seen as a black kigyō, because like I tried to explain above, the divisions between those companies and reputable companies in Japan are extremely strong and there is no gray area.
From your name, I reckon you are culturally inclined to perpetuate false myths out of some East Asian pride reflex?
If you had enough insight to infer my nationality (which is not even a secret), you should have also inferred that most Koreans have no f---ing reason to have "some East Asian pride reflex" right? You really sounds like some random Westerner who happens to know something about Japan and is desperately trying to overgeneralize that to other Asian countries.
By the way, the same can be said for most Koreans. In fact Koreans don't like Japan so much that there are widespread false beliefs about Japan---say, the social acceptance of the Adult Video industry (which still doesn't exist) or the fabricated reporting of COVID-19 cases (which might or might not have been happened, but if it did happen, was not that excessive as the rumor suggested) or even that there is zero stigma about game centers (there is, but not to the extent you have initially suggested). There are also many true beliefs that I can independently verify from multiple sources, including those about the modern Yakuza. But you seem to believe that the Japanese society is so conglomerated that it can make any such source up to cover its innards and you can only trust insider's accounts (and I do have plenty from my friends in Japan). How am I supposed to rationally continue this discussion given that?
As a Japanese, I can say "Yes, Konami is well known for its shitty business and toxic inside culture but that can always happen without Yakuza ties". Other Japanese people would agree. Working environment in some Japanese company could be terribly bad for worker. See "Most Evil Corporation of the Year" award.
Stop trolling. You should have any source to say "this company is operated by yakuza".
