His argument does seem incredibly naive though. He is plainly suggesting that the"traditional Yakuza" shun away from nasty violent street crime and so they should be tolerated out of fear of a new and worse breed of criminal being allowed to run rampant. This is fear mongering, a very poor argument, and one which can be applied to organised crime syndicates all over the world. But as the lady pointed out, the Yakuza already (and probably solely) engage in abhorrent activities as it is, and these should not be tolerated or turned a blind eye to. Jake's article is almost like propaganda, it has to be said.
I don't know, we may have more petty and violent street crime in London than Tokyo, but I'd rather deal with that and live in a country where the mob is not directly in bed with the bloody government and nearly every institution in the country and so have an almost untouchable status. Maybe if the Japanese gov didn't tolerate Yakuza as much, Jake wouldn't need to fear for his life as much when he goes to Japan.
and was the first foreign reporter to work at one of the largest newspaper consortiums in the country.
Japanese news media, especially the largest outlets, are hardly renowned for their quality and integrity.