Yubitsume is the favored method for a member of the Yakuza (Japanese organized crime) to apologize. The choice of hand has to do with the level of screw up. Intentional offenses require a joint from a finger of the right hand while unintentional offenses call for a joint from a finger of the left hand to be cut off. The word Yubitsume means “finger shortening”.
Today with the Yakuza on the decline some rehabilitated criminals are buying prosthetic finger components to replace those cut off for the sake of honor during their lives of crime.
The Yakuza tattoos are a different matter. Once worn with impunity, some bath houses now prohibit those with criminal tattoo patterns from entering public baths (and polite society).
