Paradoxically, had there been a consistently acquiescent attitude on the part of the state, had the state invariably chosen to bargain with the mafia, de facto acknowledging its semilegal status—enjoyed, for instance, by the yakuza in Japan—the mafia would not have been so violent.

QUESTION: Why would Japanese yakuza remain less violent under state acquiescence, and does that hold across contexts?

Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Busi…, loc. 29