8-9-3

16367 views Leave a comment
yakuza_symbols_numbers

Yakuza Numbers: The Worst Hand

What is the origin of Yakuza?

Numbers.

Ya Ku Za means 8-9-3, a losing combination in a card game (called Oichokabu) usually played with a deck of hanafuda (Japanese Flower-card game).

Ya = yattsu (eight)
Ku = nine
Za = san (three)

yakuza_numbers_893_explained

 

A player’s score in Oichokabu is decided by adding the scores on several cards and using only the smallest digit.

8 + 9 + 3 = 20 = 0 points
“8-9-3” means “no points” or “useless”

Odo-Yakuza-yakuza_Anton-Kusters

Underworld By Anton Kusters

In 2011, the photographer Anton Kusters was allowed entry into one of Japan’s Yakuza families…

Read More: Why Neo-Nazis love these numbers: 14, 19, 28, 1488 and 88?

RELATED ITEMS
Author Bio

M C

Editor in Chief Mehdi Chourou