As the kids in my neighborhood can tell you, I tend to follow Oscar Wilde’s rule that nothing succeeds as much as excess . . . at least when it comes to Halloween. After two weeks, our extensive graveyard and haunted house is now complete. We are however waiting word on whether we will be allowed to give out candy in Virginia or end up like the hapless Yakuza in the Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. The Japanese mob has been banned from handing out treats at Halloween.
The Hyogo Prefectural Police Department asked for the ban on the local Yamaguchi-gumi, which customarily hands out treats at its headquarters in Kobe City. Gangsters even wear costumes over their trademark “suited” tattoos.
The ordinance prohibits crime syndicates from letting children under 18 enter their offices without due reasons such as cases when children are relatives of gangsters. It also bars the giving of cash and goods to children, making phone calls or sending emails to them with the aim of putting youngsters under their control.
What they need is a good mob lawyer to fight to allow put the Gummies back into the Yamaguchi-gumi.
For example, what constitutes a “relative” of the mobsters? Can the children be claimed as temporary foster children? Then there is the definition of distribution. What if the mobsters give the candy to the parents?
My concern is that Yakuza could come to the United States for the freedom of Halloween, setting off a turf war with the American mob plans for the holiday.
