Doctor's chop shop

[Taro Toporific]

Doctor held over ritual maiming of gang victim
The Times Online, July 13, 2005
IT IS one of the most infamous and chilling rites of the Japanese mafia, or yakuza... is known as yubitsume, or finger-cutting, and serves as a demonstration of the offender's sincerity ... this week a new twist in the grisly tradition came to light when a Tokyo doctor was arrested for overseeing a finger-chopping ritual under local anaesthetic... at his clinic to a Japanese businessman who had gone bankrupt, leaving him in debt to Kyoji Kakutani, a gangster who had invested in it. After Mr Kakutani amputated the finger with a hammer and chisel, Dr Shin popped the digit into a bottle of formaldehyde, handed it to its former owner, and charged the whole thing to the Japanese health system....more...

[Tsuru]

After Mr Kakutani amputated the finger with a hammer and chisel

8O

Whatever happened to the razor sharp chef's knife?

[Red Floyd]

I might be wrong, but I think the hammer and chisel is the ye olde way to do it.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I think there's some confusion here by another newbie reporter. That's just standard practice for removing a hangnail under the Japanese medical system.