The life of a mafia member isn't exactly known for being free of violence and brutality - but those in the Japanese yakuza have to go through a particularly grisly ritual.
The yakuza, Japan's equivalent of the mafia, are fans of what's known as yubitsume, which translates to 'finger shortening' (or yubi o tobasu/'finger flying').
It essentially involves cutting off a portion of your little finger, serving as a method of atonement for serious wrongdoing - having sometimes been considered as an alternative repayment for debt if someone can't cough up the cash.
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Its origins are unclear, but thought to date back to the bakuto, who were itinerant gamblers in Japan from the 18th to 20th centuries. Along with the tekiya, they are seen as the forerunners of what is now the Yakuza. At the time, yubitsume was used as a method of atonement for those who could not afford to pay off gambling debts.
A 2014 paper, published in the Journal of Injury and Violence Research, delved into the 'ritualistic self-amputation', saying it has become associated with members of the Japanese mafia.
While not everyone who has undergone yubitsume is a gang member, the authors explain that a 1993 government survey found that 45 percent of modern yakuza members had severed finger joints - while 15 percent had performed the act at least twice.
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"This practice of self-mutilation is done as a sign of apology for making a mistake deemed punishable by higher-ranking members or violating the code of the yakuza," the authors explain in the paper's abstract.
"Members of the yakuza may present to emergency departments seeking medical assistance to stop hemorrhage or treat infection at the site of injury following self-amputation or to have the severed portion of the injured finger reattached."
They continue: "Yubitsume has its origins among Japanese gamblers called bakuto. The bakuto introduced yubitsume as punishment for serious offenses that did not warrant execution or expulsion from the criminal organization to which the offender belonged.
"The practice motivated a gambler to pay his debts, for if he failed to do so, he would have to sever a portion of one of his small fingers as an alternative method of payment.
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"The acute pain of the process was not the only reason yubitsume was feared. Consequences in the long term were also considered. The truncation of the small finger would weaken a gambler's grip on his sword, thereby putting him at a disadvantage in future sword fights.
"In effect, by paying his debts, a gambler safeguarded his adeptness at self-defense."
In the paper, the authors explain how the yakuza member is required to amputate their small finger 'without any assistance from another member', in turn making the ritual 'more difficult to perform'.
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Sometimes - but not always - a small piece of cloth is used to wrap the severed portion of finger in, before it is handed over to the head of the yakuza family.
"According to interviews with the Japanese National Police Agency, some members use anesthetics to perform yubitsume or go to a hospital to have the severed portion reattached after showing it to their boss," they say, also citing a case where a 51-year-old yakuza member swallowed his amputated finger because he was 'required to prove that he did not intend to reconstruct his finger'.
In the end, his finger was repaired at the hospital without the severed portion - presumably because it was slowly being digested in his own stomach.
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Topics: World News, News, Japan, World News, News, Japan