Mako Nishimura is a former yakuza member widely believed to be the only woman ever officially accepted into Japan’s traditionally male-dominated criminal underworld.
After running away from home as a teenager, she joined the yakuza in the 1980s and spent over 30 years handling extortion and collecting debts.
Today, she has turned her life around and runs a nonprofit called Gojinkai, which helps ex-convicts reintegrate into society.