Odd Taxi is a Japanese anime television series. Set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, it tells the story of walrus taxi driver Hiroshi Odokawa, who converses with his passengers and learns about various mysteries and oddities occurring in Tokyo. These conversations get him involved in the strange disappearance of a schoolgirl, and that leads to him being followed by both the police and the yakuza.
First tankōbon volume cover of the manga, featuring Hiroshi Odokawa
Characters of Odd Taxi. From top to bottom, left to right: Shirakawa, Homosapiens, Goriki, Kakihana, Odokawa, Dobu, the Daimon brothers, Yano, Mystery Kiss
Yakuza , also known as gokudō , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , while the yakuza call themselves ninkyō dantai . The English equivalent for the term yakuza is gangster, meaning an individual involved in a Mafia-like criminal organization.
An early example of irezumi tattoos, 1870s
The Kabukicho district of Shinjuku has historically been known as a popular yakuza hangout in Tokyo.
Yakuza often take part in local festivals such as Sanja Matsuri where they often ride the shrine through the streets proudly showing off their elaborate tattoos.
Poster for the 1948 Akira Kurosawa film Drunken Angel, a yakuza eiga-genre film
