Shintaro Hayashi, a Tokyo prosthetics maker, spent most of this life making medical prostheses for people who’d lost breasts, limbs, etc, but now does a booming trade in fake pinkie fingers for ex-yakuza gangsters who don’t want to broadcast their criminal past (yakuza members who screw up have their pinkies lopped off in retaliation).
The doctor molds silicone prosthetic pinkies, made to seamlessly mask the amputation, making for a smoother transition to the outside world. Priced at nearly $3,000 each, the fingers are carefully painted, to match the exact skin color of the client. Former yakuza members, who make up 5 percent of Hayashi’s business, often keep several sets of fingers for different seasons – the light skinned version for winter, and a tanned look for summer.Hayashi sums up his clientele in three categories: Those who are dragged into his office by girlfriends worried about their reputations, ex-members who are eager to move up the corporate ladder but worried about the repercussions of their past being exposed, longtime yakuza who have no intention of getting out, but need to cover up for a child’s wedding or grandchild’s sporting event.
“Many people keep a fist, to prevent detection,” he said. “But there comes a point where you can’t hide your fingers any longer. Some people have one joint severed, others have worse,” he said.
Prosthetic Fingers Help Reform Japan’s Feared Yakuza Gangsters [Akiko Fujita/ABC]