A crowd of yankis at a Yokomichi Silvers concert in Kabukicho, Tokyo, 12 December 1988
The Yanki subculture is a subculture of rebellious youths in Japan which originated in the 1950s, influenced by American "greaser" and motorcycle culture (hence their name, a reference to the "Yankee" national identity of many Americans). The subculture originated among working-class youths who formed motorcycle gangs and were later influenced by hip-hop to purchase American cars such as Lincolns and Cadillacs, by the yakuza to buy luxury cars with a gangster image such as the Toyota Celsior, by their working-class roots to wear construction workers' clothing such as oversized baggy pants and overalls, and by a glorified image of Japan's militaristic past to idolize the samurai and kamikaze pilots and support right-wing ultranationalism. Members of the Yanki subculture were variably seen as punks, hooligans, and wannabe yakuza by society.