With Dr Martina Baradel, University of Oxford
Department of Sociology (42-43 Park End Street) or MS Teams
Please join either in person or online. For in-person attendees, the talk will be preceded by a light lunch at 12.15pm.
Please email comms@sociology.ox.ac.uk with any questions.
This presentation explores the ritual practices of the yakuza, Japan’s mafia, focusing on sakazukigoto—the sake-sharing ceremony that formalises hierarchical relationships within the syndicate. Drawing on ethnographic research, video analysis, and interviews with members, it considers how ritual operates as both symbolic performance and strategic tool. The yakuza ceremony, deeply rooted in Shintō aesthetics and theatrical precision, reinforces group cohesion, communicates authority, and affirms moral codes centred on loyalty, duty, and tradition.
Through an examination of ritual spaces, gestures, and objects, this talk explores how the yakuza reframe criminal belonging in the language of sacred continuity. It argues that these rituals, increasingly mediated through video and digital circulation, not only materialise internal legitimacy but also aim to broadcast a message of cultural and moral endurance in an era of legal pressure and social marginalisation.
