Concerned for the waning morale of its members, not to mention how the dwindling membership numbers are affecting the organization and its varied activities, the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's biggest crime syndicate, has published a magazine exclusive for its legion. Yep, it is not available on news or magazine stands for everyone to see.

As with any typical publication, the first issue of the "Yamaguchi-gumi Shinpo," which is translated as the Gazette Clan Yamaguchi, bore features on fishing and board games, as well as a poetry page on satirical haikus. But most of all, it contained a piece from the group's don or godfather, Kenichi Shinoda, wherein he encouraged younger members to continue to imbibe and exhibit the values and disciplines taught to them by the outfit.

Daimon of the Yamaguchi-gumi

The publication has only eight pages and exclusively distributed to the syndicate's members which is believed to be at 27,000.

The Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest and most infamous yakuza organization and also lauded as one of the largest criminal organisations in the world. It is involved in a vast number of illegal activities such as arms trafficiking, bid rigging, contract killing, drug trafficking, assassinations, bank fraud, money laundering, murder, prostitution, and illegal gambling, among others.

But as Japan forged on to implement anti-yakuza measures, members surmise the end of the road could just be a matter of time.

"They may feel that it has become harder to carry on with their activities under anti-mafia ordinances that bar them from opening new bank accounts and signing real estate contracts," a police was quoted by the local the Mainichi Shimbun as saying.

Which could be true since Shinoda said in his piece that times have indeed become hard for Japan's mafia and that the organization must learn to adapt and expand away from their "brand" if only to ensure the sustained profitability of their operations.

According to Japan's National Police Agency, the Yamaguchi-gumi, founded prior to World War II, represents more than 40 per cent of the nation's organised criminals, but lost 3,300 members in 2012.