World Notes
Gangs: (When talking about yakuza and waku, there isn’t really a Sanuki-specific group of clans. Yakuza and Waku are so wide spread that they are simply Shikoku sized organizations with various levels of presence in all four provinces on the island. For the most part, the smallest presence is Sanuki province itself.)
Seaweed, Gajin, Tsunami, Subtle Breeze, and Justice Gangs: There is no ‘lead’ waku (pirate) gang. There are five who have chaotic relationships between them that shift constantly. Sometimes they’re helpful to each other, most often they are viciously competitive, and sometimes they outright war on each other. These five are the major players and although there are smaller groups and independents, all of them have some form of relationship with one of these five. Seaweed has the strongest land presence and an actual fortress. They field a small standing army of both Ronin bushi, budoka, and yakuza and are the main fencers with Honshu. They are active on the sea, but have a more balanced approach to business and have an eye to being a ruling class eventually so are cultivating land power as well as water power. The Tsunami Waku are deep sea specialists. They raid the trade vessels that move back and forth from China and Korea to Nippon and while they pull fewer hits, they are almost always bigger ones. They are hard men who spend the most time on decks and practically live on the sea. They also are the most willing to put into ports around the country and use Shikoku as merely a main base. Subtle Breeze are newcomers and filled with disaffected youths out for adventure and often to escape capture for crimes on Honshu. Not particularly skilled, and not particularly wealthy, they are numerous and relatively obnoxious. Their leaders are focusing all their energy on gang internal stability rather than external work since, with their numbers, if they can tame and harness these youths, they will be a real force. The Gaijin gang is a more international group. They take misfits from all countries and rake the shores of Nippon. The other waku do treat them as second class citizens, but they are more skilled at sailing and raiding then the rest, and DO have at least 50% Nipponese in their ranks. The Justice Gang are the crazy bastards. They gravitate toward risky crap that thumb noses at the Samurai and Merchant gangs. They make huge enemies, have massive turn over, but recruit disenfranchised as easily as pouring water from a pitcher. They are often kept in check by the other gangs whom have no wish to have samurai raid the island en-masse. All five of these gangs know how to party hard. Gang held forts, ports, and villages are dens for vice, violence, and debauchery. One quick note: Women in these gangs hold a unique place. Counter-intuitively, the leaders treat women more respectfully than many other poor areas of Nippon. Prostitution abounds throughout the island but the non-‘professional’ women are often judged by their worth to the Gang first, and while violence against them still happens, the rates are surprisingly low. This is also a function of the gender ratio. While women are not recruited, those few that take up the life actually have a unique position of privilege if they are skilled. They are protected by their brethren. The social status factors of these gangs are around .35.
Ginaki Family/Gang: The Diamyo of the province of Awa is also the leader of the Ginaki yakuza gang. The entire province is under his sway and no other yakuza would dare operate within its borders (although waku gangs are free to). They have a mild presence in Sanuki and are actively trying for more. They focus on extortion within their province and straight theft in the other provinces. They almost all have dual roles as both yakuza gang members and farmers, merchants, artisans, etc. The province is surprisingly little different from other provinces. Their status factor is .5 within their province of Awa and .3 outside the province.
Three Mountain Gang: Based in Iyo, this is one of the stronger gangs, but disorganized. They are little more than a group of independent yakuza who’ve managed to carve out a territory but aren’t large enough to hold it against all comers, so they have banded together. They have a weak gang leadership although some individuals and their followers are quite powerful. Mostly, they run prostitution, gambling, transportation, and drugs, but the ratios vary wildly depending on the ‘boss’. They have a mild presence in Sanuki due to their drug access and a few gambling houses. Status factor is .3.
Beppo Gang: Based in Iyo, they are dealers in information. They have tendrils in all four provinces on the island, as well as on Honshu. Some have their hands in the bureaucrat’s pockets, some create large networks of informants, many are tied into the waku so that they learn and understand the trends of political activity far and wide. They trade on this information in several ways: sometimes they are sought to procure a particular piece of information, sometimes sought for advice (even given positions of advisors), and often hired as spy’s (especially for those not wanting to employ ninja. Their power off island is greater than their power on the island. Status factor is .2
Funaki Gang: Based in Iyo, their presence in Sanuki is minor and it’s usually crass muggings and simple lawless rabble. They are actively hunted but know that safety often lies in Iyo if they can flee their crimes quickly enough. Status factor is .1