In the aftermath of the devastating March tsunami, Japan's underworld made a rare display of philanthropy, handing out emergency supplies to survivors, sometimes days before aid agencies arrived.

Three months later, however, the yakuza appears to have dispensed with largesse and is instead hoping to cash in on the daunting clean-up effort in dozens of ruined towns and villages.

The government and police fear they are losing the battle to prevent crime syndicates from winning lucrative contracts to remove millions of tonnes of debris left in the tsunami's wake, including contaminated rubble near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that many firms are reluctant to handle.

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Not to be left out, the Chinese mob is trying to get in on the action, too.

The magazine recounts the story of a leading Chinese gangster who, accompanied by a national politician, visited the mayor of Minamisoma - a town near Fukushima Daiichi, where a partial evacuation order is in place - hoping to win contracts to remove radioactive waste that, according to police, could have ended up at disposal sites in China.

Really? He has to bring the waste with him back to China? Couldn't he dispose of it in someone else's country? Mebbe one of those poor island nations? Or just dump it in the ocean along with all that radioactive water Japan's throwing in there now?