I was doing a quick google translate search to look for the Japanese word for
pharmacist. Turns out it is yakuzaishi. Ishi means doctor & Yakuza is
obviously the well-known criminal syndicate. It beats me as to how this
combination of words came to be regarded as the word for pharmacists in
Japanese! Does it stand for a criminal doctor / useless doctor!!?
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question
meaning translation etymology
What is the origin of pharmacists being called 'yakuzaishi' in japanese? Is there some relation to the yakuza?
No, there is no connection between the words. The phonetic sharing of 'ya',
'ku' and 'za' is just a coincidence.

The word ヤクザ is thought to have derived from the scoring system of gambling
games ([see this explanation](http://gogen-
allguide.com/ya/yakuza.html#:%7E:text=%E3%80%90%E3%83%A4%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B6%E3%81%AE%E8%AA%9E%E6%BA%90%E3%83%BB%E7%94%B1%E6%9D%A5%E3%80%91,%E3%81%AE%E3%81%8C%E5%A7%8B%E3%81%BE%E3%82%8A%E3%81%A7%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E3%80%82)),
with the numbers 8, 9, 3 (= ya, ku, za) being an unwanted or useless
combination. This is thought to be the origin of the name of the criminal
gangs which became known as yakuza.

The word 薬剤師 (やくざい+し) is composed of the base word 薬剤 (medicine) and a suffix
師 (teacher, specialist). So the word simply means 'a specialist in medicines',
which we now call 'pharmacist'. It is completely unrelated to the word ヤクザ.

In Japanese, there are many cases where there is a coincidental sharing of
sounds which have no actual etymological connection.
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answer