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The story
On September 8, businessman Yuta Misaki — formerly known as the “Green Juice Prince” — took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the term “tokuryu” (used for Japan’s anonymous, fluid-membership crime groups), saying it “sounds like they’re trying to look cool,” and proposed changing the name. On a 5ch Entertainment & Sports News+ thread, posters debated whether saddling the groups with a derogatory nickname would actually deter them, citing the precedent of bosozoku biker gangs being rebranded “chinsotan” (a mocking term roughly meaning “pathetic speed freaks”). Many were skeptical, arguing a name change means nothing to operatives who join purely for the money, while others countered that the sheer embarrassment factor could still work as a psychological deterrent.
Tue 9/8, 6:34 PM
Yuta Misaki (37), the businessman formerly known as the “Green Juice Prince,” updated his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 8th with his personal take on the trend of calling anonymous, fluid-membership crime groups “tokuryu.”
Misaki opened with: “It’s a sign of the times when you go in for a job interview at a normal company and end up getting steered toward a shady ‘dark part-time job.’ Honestly, I think they should change the name ‘tokuryu’ too — it sounds a little too cool for what it actually is.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
No way
Way too embarrassing
So true, too embarrassing to even walk outside
And yet "bosozoku" stuck just fine
Did "rare" ever turn into an insult though? (the 珍 in 珍走団/chinsotan literally means "rare/odd")
Case in point: chinsotan
Totally different situation
Those guys are bottomless idiots
Then how about "Former Green Juice Prince Yuta Misaki"
People like that have zero sense of shame
If he ever ends up winning some prestigious award by mistake down the line, that's probably still what they'll call him in the headline
Makes you wonder why the police gave them such a cool-sounding name in the first place
I guess it's like "marubou" or those other police code words — that kind of jargon just happens
Some kind of "improvised, fluid special crime organization"?
Apparently their ability to adapt on the fly puts government workers to shame
Making the name lamer isn't going to change anything
Never heard of anyone actually calling themselves a "toritetsu" though
so there's nobody left to even call chinsotan
Actually passed some the other day on Koshu Kaido near Hachioji…
They really have become "rare" in every sense of the word now
Head to Kanagawa, you'll still spot them
Just the other day there was a news story about a former bosozoku guy in Sagamihara who got killed in a "zoku hunt" (vigilante attacks targeting old biker-gang members)
Chinsotan guys were the "yeehaw, we're the bad boys!" attention-seeking type, so a lame nickname actually worked on them
Tokuryu is a completely different animal
I think it does work
There was a boxer covered in facial tattoos who said that when he was in prison, everyone around him was bragging about their crimes
Those guys genuinely think committing crimes is cool
but what does it even mean
I think it's short for "anonymous, fluid crime group" or something like that
Background and Key Points of the Debate
“Tokuryu” is a term Japan’s National Police Agency has used since around 2023 to describe the “dark part-time job” (yami baito) style groups that recruit operatives through social media for specialized fraud and robbery schemes. Unlike organized crime syndicates with a fixed hierarchy, these groups are defined by fluidity — the people giving orders and the people carrying out the crimes can change with every job. The thread’s debate centered on whether turning the name into an insult would actually deter anyone. Many were skeptical, pointing to the precedent of bosozoku bikers, who kept riding even after being mockingly rebranded “chinsotan.” Others pushed back, noting that while bosozoku members craved status and cool factor among their peers, tokuryu operatives mostly sign up for the money — a difference in motivation that makes the comparison too simple. Misaki’s own back-and-forth over what to call himself stayed firmly in self-deprecating joke territory.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “Former Green Juice Prince Proposes Renaming “Tokuryu”: “It Should Be a Name Everyone Finds Embarrassing”.”
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