Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/108

 2,500 convictions in one year against 1,033 in 1891.

The loafer (gorotsuki), one of the pests of modern Japan, has no exact counterpart elsewhere. He nominally pursues a legitimate profession, but devotes the greater part of his time and attention to nefarious practices. There are about a thousand of these persons in Tōkyō, and, like the pickpockets, they are regularly organised in groups, each under a "parent" (oyabun). The "parent" usually lives in sumptuous style. His income is derived from several sources, the chief being fees or blackmail levied from gamblers, and presents received for acting as agent in all kinds of shady enterprises. Gambling, it should be noted, was a practice against which the Tokugawa Government legislated strenuously. A law of 1655 contained several penalties for every one taking part in games of chance. Another law of 1664 provided that if any one, having fallen into distress or lost his estate by gambling, made application to a magistrate, disclosing the fact, he would not only escape punishment, but also have his property returned to him. Yet another law of 1666 extended the veto to lotteries. Still, according to the records, gambling had become so prevalent throughout the provinces of Shimoosa, Kōzuke, and Shimotsuke in 1767 that the payment of taxes was effected, agriculture neglected, and a large tract of land left lying waste. The Government then