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.

The Great Hanshin Earthquake occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum intensity of 7 on the JMA Seismic Intensity Scale. The tremors lasted for approximately 20 seconds. The focus of the earthquake was located 17 km beneath its epicenter, on the northern end of Awaji Island, 20 km away from the center of the city of Kobe.