Who are yankees in Japan?

Yankees (ヤンキー) are a youth subculture of delinquents called furyō: bleached hair, flashy clothing, altered school uniforms. The word has been used since the 1970s, mainly about high school teenagers, and has nothing to do with organized crime — it's a style, not a criminal career.

How do yankees differ from yakuza?

Yankees are a subculture of high schoolers with distinctive hairstyles and clothing, while yakuza is adult organized crime with a long-standing structure and clans. A teenage yankee almost always just grows up and leaves this fashion behind, rather than becoming a member of a criminal group.

Why does 'yankee' mean both 'American' and 'delinquent'?

The word ヤンキー came from English 'Yankee' and originally just meant 'American.' After World War II, it became a way to tease teenagers who bleached their hair and dressed in Western style — giving rise to the new meaning 'delinquent,' which since the 1970s has coexisted with the older one.

暴走族 (bōsōzoku) are motorcycle gangs, part of the broader yankee culture: literally 'tribe of wild running.' They roar through streets in noisy columns on motorcycles and cars. This isn't just any yankee delinquent, but specifically street bikers whom police track separately.

Who are 'mild yankees'?

マイルドヤンキー is a term proposed in January 2014 by marketer Harada Yohei: provincial youth who stay attached to their hometown and family, but without the fights and motorcycle rides of classic yankees. The word made the candidate list for the 2014 'Word of the Year' award, though it didn't make the top ten.

What does a classic yankee look like?

Bleached or dyed hair, often a regent-pompadour style, altered school uniform — an elongated or shortened jacket, wide bontan pants — and a characteristic squatting pose, ヤンキー座り. Bosozoku motorcycle gangs also wear tokkōfuku jackets with slogans.

Yankees in Japan: Who They Are — Delinquents with Pompadours, Bosozoku, and 'Mild Yankees'

In Japan, 'yankee' doesn't only mean Americans: it also refers to teenage delinquents called furyō (不良) with bleached hair, pompadour regent styles, and altered school uniforms; the loudest of them form motorcycle gangs called bosozoku. The term took hold in the 1970s in Kansai and has nothing to do with yakuza — it's youth fashion, not organized crime.

Outside Japan, the word is confused with gangsters, but the essence is different: yankee is a style of rebellious high school youth, recognizable by hairstyle and uniform, not a criminal organization. Let's break down both meanings of ヤンキー, how furyō and bosozoku are connected, and why 'mild yankees' emerged in 2014 — ones who no longer fight or ride motorcycles.

What the Word 'Yankee' Means in Japan

The word ヤンキー (yankī) has two meanings in Japanese dictionaries. The first comes from English 'Yankee': a nickname for Americans, appearing in Japanese print as early as 1904. The second emerged after World War II: it came to refer to teenage delinquents called furyō (不良), who imitated the hairstyles and fashion of American youth. It has no connection to yakuza or organized crime: it's a subculture of school years, not a criminal career.

How 'American' Became 'Delinquent'

Dictionaries link the shift in meaning to appearance: teenagers who bleached or dyed their hair and dressed in Western style were teased as 'Americans.' In this sense, the word took root primarily in Kansai, with the earliest printed example dating to 1973. Since then, both meanings have coexisted, and context usually makes clear which one is meant.

Japanese	Reading	Translation
ヤンキー	yankī · yankī	Teenage delinquent; also 'American'
不良	furyō · furyō	Delinquent, literally 'not good'
暴走族	bōsōzoku · bōsōzoku	Motorcycle gang
特攻服	tokkōfuku · tokkōfuku	Long jacket with slogans — motorcycle gang uniform
ヤンキー座り	yankī-zuwari · yankī-zuwari	Squatting pose, a recognizable yankee stance
元ヤン	moto-yan · moto-yan	Former yankee — said of those who've grown up

不良: The Kanji for Delinquent

不 — значение: not, non-, negation, bad (in compounds) — онъёми: フ、ブ — 4 штрих(ов). 不 — a negative prefix: in 不良 (furyō), 'not good,' which is how delinquent is said in Japanese. The same prefix appears in 不便 (fuben) 'inconvenient' and 不安 (fuan) 'anxiety.'

不 as a Negative Prefix

不 by itself doesn't mean 'delinquent' — it's a negative prefix before another character: 不良 'not good,' 不便 'inconvenient,' 不安 'anxiety, unease.' The word 不良 means not only a troubled teenager but also generally poor quality or condition: 不良品 — defective goods, 天候不良 — bad weather. The delinquent furyō is just one meaning of a much broader word.

The second key word in this topic is 暴走族 (bōsōzoku), motorcycle gangs: 暴 'violent, wild,' 走 'run, dash,' and 族 'tribe, clan.' This isn't just any yankee, but specifically street motorcycle gangs that roar through night streets in noisy columns; police keep separate records on them.

Write 不 along the guides — the negative character that begins the Japanese word for 'delinquent,' 不良.

Yankees in Manga, Dramas, and Anime

The subgenre about school delinquents is one of the most enduring in Japanese pop culture: over forty years, it hasn't disappeared but simply changed tone.

Be-Bop High School (ビー・バップ・ハイスクール, Kiuchi Kazuhiro, manga 1983–2003) — a classic of the genre about two troublemaking repeat students, Hiroshi and Toru; the first film adaptation came out in 1985.
Today's My Turn!! (今日から俺は!!, Nishimori Hiroyuki, manga 1988–1997) — about a pair of delinquents at the fictional Nanyo High; the 2018 drama and 2020 film brought the genre back into fashion.
Tokyo Revengers (東京卍リベンジャーズ, Wakui Ken, manga 2017–2022, anime since 2021) — a former delinquent travels to the past to save his girlfriend from death in the future.
Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO, Fujisawa Toru, manga 1997–2002) — Onizuka himself was in the motorcycle gang 'Onibaku' in Shonan in his youth before becoming a teacher.

'Mild Yankees': How the Word Changed

In January 2014, marketer Harada Yohei coined the term マイルドヤンキー, 'mild yankee': youth who stay attached to their hometown, family, and childhood friends but don't fight or participate in the motorcycle rides of classic yankees. The word made the candidate list for the 2014 'Word of the Year' award, though it didn't make the top ten. Thus the yankee transformed from a street delinquent into a marketing portrait of a quiet provincial youth.

Yankees and Yakuza: What's Most Often Confused

'Yankees are yakuza.' Incorrect: ヤンキー is a youth subculture of high school, while yakuza is adult organized crime with a long-standing structure and clans. The only thing they share is a reputation for being 'not the most law-abiding.'
'ヤンキー only refers to Americans.' In Japanese, the word has two meanings: the older one is a derogatory nickname for Americans, and the later one, since the 1970s, is a teenage delinquent. Context usually makes it immediately clear which is meant.
'Yankees stayed in the 1980s.' The fashion for regent styles and motorcycle gangs has faded, but the word lives on: in 2014, 'mild yankees' emerged — provincial youth without fights or motorcycles, but with the same loyalty to their hometown.
'Yankees grow up to join the yakuza.' Most simply grow up and work like everyone else; some become local entrepreneurs — investor Fujino Hideto in his book 'Yankee Tigers' (ヤンキーの虎, 2016) describes former yankees who run businesses in the provinces.

FAQ

Who are yankees in Japan?: Yankees (ヤンキー) are a youth subculture of delinquents called furyō: bleached hair, flashy clothing, altered school uniforms. The word has been used since the 1970s, mainly about high school teenagers, and has nothing to do with organized crime — it's a style, not a criminal career.
How do yankees differ from yakuza?: Yankees are a subculture of high schoolers with distinctive hairstyles and clothing, while yakuza is adult organized crime with a long-standing structure and clans. A teenage yankee almost always just grows up and leaves this fashion behind, rather than becoming a member of a criminal group.
Why does 'yankee' mean both 'American' and 'delinquent'?: The word ヤンキー came from English 'Yankee' and originally just meant 'American.' After World War II, it became a way to tease teenagers who bleached their hair and dressed in Western style — giving rise to the new meaning 'delinquent,' which since the 1970s has coexisted with the older one.
What is bosozoku?: 暴走族 (bōsōzoku) are motorcycle gangs, part of the broader yankee culture: literally 'tribe of wild running.' They roar through streets in noisy columns on motorcycles and cars. This isn't just any yankee delinquent, but specifically street bikers whom police track separately.
Who are 'mild yankees'?: マイルドヤンキー is a term proposed in January 2014 by marketer Harada Yohei: provincial youth who stay attached to their hometown and family, but without the fights and motorcycle rides of classic yankees. The word made the candidate list for the 2014 'Word of the Year' award, though it didn't make the top ten.
What does a classic yankee look like?: Bleached or dyed hair, often a regent-pompadour style, altered school uniform — an elongated or shortened jacket, wide bontan pants — and a characteristic squatting pose, ヤンキー座り. Bosozoku motorcycle gangs also wear tokkōfuku jackets with slogans.

Sources

Updated: 2026-09-13