Last night while playing Yakuza 4 [龍が如く4 伝説を継ぐもの], there was a scene where one of the yakuza was apologising after he had performed Yubitsume 指詰め, and I thought it would be an interesting topic for Today’s Japan photo.

This great shot was taken by flickr user underflo. You would have to look carefully before you find out what is interesting about this photo. Anyway, here’s a description taken off Wikipedia on Yubitsume 指詰め:

Yubitsume (指詰め, Japanese for “finger shortening”?) is a Japanese ritual to atone for offenses to another, a way to be punished or to show sincere apology to another, by means of amputating portions of one’s own little finger. It is almost exclusively performed by the Yakuza, the prominent Japanese criminal organization.

The act of committing yubitsume is also referred to as yubi o tobasu (指を飛ばす?), meaning “finger flying” (“he made his finger fly”).

To perform yubitsume, one lays down a small clean cloth and the person performing the ritual lays their hand onto the cloth facing down. Using an extremely sharp knife or Tantō, the person cuts off the portion of his left little finger above the top knuckle on the finger or the tip of the finger. He then wraps the severed portion in the cloth his hand was resting on and submits the “package” very graciously to his oyabun (boss), who also is referred to as a kumicho (Godfather).

If more offenses are committed, then the person moves on to the next joint of the finger to perform yubitsume. More infractions could mean removing portions of the right little finger when no more joints of the left finger remain. In some cases being expelled from a yakuza gang might be accompanied by the person being expelled having to perform the yubitsume ritual.

The finger of the yakuza directly responsible for an offense is called an iki yubi, “living finger”, while the finger of the yakuza that is directly in charge of him is called a shinu yubi, “dead finger”.