Japan - Blog 2.0 - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-28T23:55:54Z
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Yakuza - Japan's Mafia
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview
2020-06-21T18:26:49.000Z
2020-06-21T18:26:49.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9236983267,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236983267,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9236983267?profile=original" width="600" /></a>The Japanese Yakuza is one of the more traditional Organized Crime groups. The Yakuza are the main power in Japan and have branched out to other Asian countries, the United States, Canada and parts of Europe. However Japan remains their main stronghold. The Yakuza are active in gambling, drugs, prostitution, construction, weaponsmuggling, extortion, money-laundering and blackmail.<br /> <br /> The name "Yakuza" comes from the losing number set of the game oicho-kabu (a version of black jack). That number set: 8-9-3 is spoken as ya-ku-za. The word yakuza is therefor used to describe a person who is not appreciated by society, an outcast.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><span class="font-size-3"><strong>BOSSES:</strong></span></p>
<div style="text-align:center;"><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/learning-from-mistakes-murdering-one-s-rival-and-retiring-to-thai">Shigeharu Shirai</a> (Boss of the Kodo-kai)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-kakuji-seijo">Kakuji "Seijo" Inagawa</a> (founder of the Inagawa-kai)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-kenichi-shinoda">Shinobu Tsukasa</a> (sixth boss of the Yamaguchi-Gumi)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-hisayuki-machii">Hisayuki Machii</a> (dead, natural causes)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-yoshinori-watanabe">Yoshinori Watanabe</a> (retired boss of the Yamaguchi Gumi)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-kazuo-taoka">Kazuo "The Bear" Taoka</a> (dead, natural causes)<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-yoshio-kodama">Yoshio Kodama</a> (dead, natural causes)<br /> <br /> <strong><span class="font-size-3">ARTICLES & VIDEOS:</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align:center;"><br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/yakuza-boss-busted-by-dea-trying-to-buy-surface-to-air-missiles-p">Yakuza boss busted by DEA trying to buy surface-to-air missiles, plotting to flood New York with meth and heroin</a><br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/video/30-years-with-the-yakuza-bad-blood">30 Years With the Yakuza | Bad Blood</a><br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/a-new-york-mafia-capo-a-member-of-the-yakuza-a-mob-soldier-ex-con">A New York Mafia capo, a member of the Yakuza, a mob soldier, ex-convicts & an Irish gangster rate crime movies</a><br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/video/the-end-of-the-yakuza-in-japan-an-aging-mafia-fails-to-attract-yo">The end of the Yakuza in Japan? An aging mafia fails to attract young people</a> <br /> <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/yakuza-boss-sentenced-to-death-after-judge-rules-his-underlings-w">Yakuza boss sentenced to death</a> after judge rules his underlings would not have killed without his consent<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-korean-underworld-from-its-birth-to-its-rise-and-current-stat">The Korean Underworld:</a> From its birth to its rise and current state of criminal affairs<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-gangsters-arrested-after-assaulting-men-who-told-them-to-s">Yakuza gangsters arrested after assaulting men</a> who told them to stop urinating in public<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-bosses-held-liable-for-crime-committed-by-underling-as-jap">Yakuza bosses held liable for crime</a> committed by underling<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/home-of-yakuza-boss-burglarized-during-new-year-festivities">Home of Yakuza boss burglarized during New Year festivities</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-on-death-row-playing-tricks-until-time-s-up">Yakuza on death row:</a> Playing tricks until time’s up<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-charged-with-ordering-hit-on-manager-of-car-dealershi">Yakuza boss charged with ordering hit</a> - Victim slashed with katana sword<br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/japan-s-banks-can-reject-loans-to-yakuza-gangsters">Japan’s banks can reject loans to Yakuza gangsters</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/japan-s-yakuza-membership-continues-to-rapidly-decline">Japan’s Yakuza membership continues to rapidly decline</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/u-s-treasury-sanctions-yakuza-groups-and-its-bosses">U.S. Treasury sanctions Yakuza groups and its bosses</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-mob-boss-bludgeoned-to-death-outside-his-home">Yakuza mob boss bludgeoned to death outside his home</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-membership-hits-all-time-low">Yakuza membership hits all-time low</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-clan-boss-and-members-pose-for-belgian-photographer">Yakuza Clan Boss And Members Pose For Photographer</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/underworld-fued-in-japan">Underworld Feud in Japan</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-retires">Yakuza Boss Retires</a><br /> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-test-japans">Japan's Mob Needs Gangsters With Brains!</a></div></div>
Yakuza bosses held liable for crime committed by underling as Japan gets tough on organized crime
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-bosses-held-liable-for-crime-committed-by-underling-as-jap
2019-05-24T15:19:14.000Z
2019-05-24T15:19:14.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-bosses-held-liable-for-crime-committed-by-underling-as-jap" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237011873,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237011873?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>For the first time in history, two <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Yakuza</a> mob bosses were held liable for a crime committed by one of the members of his organization. Isao Seki, the current leader of the Sumiyoshi-kai, Japan’s second largest crime syndicate, and Hareaki Fukuda, his predecessor, were ordered on Thursday to pay over ¥6 million yen ($55,000) to two victims of a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Fraud" target="_blank">fraud</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-charged-with-ordering-hit-on-manager-of-car-dealershi">Yakuza boss charged with ordering hit</a> - Victim slashed with katana sword</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The victims – all elderly women – were called at their homes by people pretending to be their relatives. They were told to wire them money to help them with some issues, reminiscent of various online scams in which rich Nigerian princes or young men and ladies need some funds to help them with their problems.</p>
<p>Two of the women fell for the scam and paid a total of ¥5 million yen. The racket was set up and run by a member of an organization affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai clan. Two other men assisted him. According to the Japanese judge, the scheme benefitted from the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Yakuza</a> link and thus the two mob leaders are held accountable for the crimes of their underlings.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-john-wick-separating-fact-from-fiction-in-hollywood-s-vi" target="_blank">The Real John Wick</a>: Separating fact from fiction in Hollywood’s violent gangster vengeance blockbuster</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>It’s the first time this has happened and a result of Japan’s tougher anti-Yakuza laws aimed at weakening the formidable Mafia group.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Yakuza section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
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Yakuza gangsters arrested after assaulting men who told them to stop urinating in public
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-gangsters-arrested-after-assaulting-men-who-told-them-to-s
2019-05-24T15:07:22.000Z
2019-05-24T15:07:22.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-gangsters-arrested-after-assaulting-men-who-told-them-to-s" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237124083,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237124083?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>A wiseguy is always right. And so is a member of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Yakuza</a>, Japan’s Mafia. So what do you do when you see one of them urinating in public on the sidewalk? Two pedestrians in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Tokyo" target="_blank">Tokyo</a> decided to speak up and warn the gangster to stop. Big mistake.</p>
<p>Around 1 a.m. on May 17, two Yakuza mobsters were enjoying a drink or two, or three, or… well fuck, who’s counting? 58-year-old Tadataka Horiguchi (photo above) and 52-year-old Takayuki Tanaka were enjoying a night out on the city, drinking wine like water. At one point, Horiguchi had to take a leak and went outside to piss.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-bosses-held-liable-for-crime-committed-by-underling-as-jap" target="_blank">Yakuza bosses held liable for crime</a> committed by underling as Japan gets tough on organized crime</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>There, on a road in the Taihei area of Sumida Ward, Tokyo, two pedestrians walked by as Horiguchi was urinating. They told him to stop this disgusting act. Annoyed, Horiguchi went back inside and told his drinking buddy what had happened.</p>
<p>This prompted Tanaka to pick up a wine bottle and use it on the two civilians, hitting both of them in the head with it. The two hard-drinking <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Yakuza</a> gangsters were arrested this week and admitted their guilt.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-real-john-wick-separating-fact-from-fiction-in-hollywood-s-vi" target="_blank">The Real John Wick</a>: Separating fact from fiction in Hollywood’s violent gangster vengeance blockbuster</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Like most gangsters, members of the Yakuza live by their own rules. They are outlaws. But they are not above the law. Something they find out pretty fast after trying to live as an outlaw.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Yakuza section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
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</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Home of Yakuza boss burglarized during New Year festivities
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/home-of-yakuza-boss-burglarized-during-new-year-festivities
2019-01-05T13:09:04.000Z
2019-01-05T13:09:04.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/home-of-yakuza-boss-burglarized-during-new-year-festivities" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237112661,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237112661?profile=original" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>Some criminals never learn. Like the burglar who broke into the home of a Yakuza boss during the New Year celebrations. The culprit got away with at least 2 million yen, almost $20,000, but will he – or she – live long enough to enjoy it?</p>
<p>The burglary occurred somewhere between late December and January 1, according to the Kobe Shimbun newspaper. The burglar ransacked the place and stole a safe containing the 2 million yen and also made off with precious metals.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-on-death-row-playing-tricks-until-time-s-up" target="_blank"><strong>Yakuza on Death Row: Playing tricks until time’s up</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The man of the house, a <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Yakuza</a> boss of the Yamaken-gumi, a group affiliated with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, was out on the town celebrating the arrival of the New Year with his underlings in the city of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Kobe" target="_blank">Kobe</a>.</p>
<p>Whoever was dumb enough to break into the residence obviously knew that. What happens next? Well, in these kinds of cases, the victim usually doesn’t call on police to punish the perpetrator. Instead, he handles it personally.</p>
<p>Just like <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chicago-boss-antonino-accardo" target="_blank">Chicago Mafia boss Anthony Accardo</a> did when his <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with" target="_blank">home was burglarized</a>. He ordered his most ferocious hitman to wipe out anyone who was involved plus those who might’ve been, just to send out <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-message-dont-fuck-with" target="_blank">the message</a> that you did not break into the house of a mob boss.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Yakuza section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
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</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Yakuza on Death Row: Playing tricks until time’s up
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-on-death-row-playing-tricks-until-time-s-up
2018-12-29T12:30:00.000Z
2018-12-29T12:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-on-death-row-playing-tricks-until-time-s-up" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237113855,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237113855?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Two different cases. Both, violent killings committed by members of the Yakuza, Japan’s Mafia, and both resulted in its murderers being on death row. One gangster was executed on Thursday. The other, a former Yakuza boss, is playing games with the justice system to evade a similar fate.</p>
<p>Keizo Kawamura (right, who also used the surname Okamoto), a 60-year-old gangster of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Yamaguchi" target="_blank">Yamaguchi-gumi</a>, Japan’s largest <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Yakuza group</a>, was hanged on Thursday for his role in the kidnapping and murder of the president and a worker <a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237114058,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237114058?profile=original" /></a>of Cosmo Research Corp. – an investment firm - in an apartment building in Osaka on January 29, 1988, after robbing him of some ¥100 million in cash.</p>
<p>His partner in crime, 67-year-old investment adviser Hiroya Suemori, was hanged the same day. Both men tried to hide their crimes by burying the two bodies in concrete and dumping them in a mountainous area of Kyoto Prefecture. They had been sentenced to death in September of 2004.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-charged-with-ordering-hit-on-manager-of-car-dealershi" target="_blank">Yakuza boss charged with ordering hit</a> - Victim slashed with katana sword</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Japan and capital punishment</strong></span></p>
<p>Japan resumed the death penalty in 1993. At the time of this writing 110 inmates are on death row and over 80 are seeking retrials. <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Japan" target="_blank">Japan</a>’s authorities are under pressure from human rights groups and various law organizations to abolish capital punishment. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has called to abolish the death penalty by 2020 and replace it with lifetime imprisonment instead.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Yakuza boss tries to outsmart justice</strong></span></p>
<p>Such discussions give hope to many convicts currently on death row. Like 70-year-old Osamu Yano, the former head of the Yano Mutsumi-kai, at one-time an affiliate gang of the Sumiyoshi-kai. He is currently on death row for ordering two of his underlings to shoot up a “snack” hostess club in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture on January 25, 2003. The attack left four people dead.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-mob-boss-bludgeoned-to-death-outside-his-home" target="_blank"><strong>Yakuza mob boss bludgeoned to death outside his home</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>But, in light of the recent talk, he had some tricks up his sleeve to delay his own execution, a judge handling his case stated this month. How? By confessing to two murders he had previously been found innocent of.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Murder confessions</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237114465,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237114465?profile=original" /></a>Yano (right) began his confessions in April of 2016, when he told police about his role in the murder of 60-year-old real estate executive Shizuo Tsugawa over a dispute Yano’s group had with him over a redevelopment project near Isehara Station in Isehara City, Kanagawa Prefecture in 1996. With Yano’s information, police were able to locate man’s body in a mountainous area of Isehara.</p>
<p>A few months later, in November, Yano also confessed to the killing of 49-year-old Mamoru Saito, another real estate executive, who had been dumped in Saitama Prefecture. Police found human bones in a mountainous area of the town of Tokigawa that were later confirmed to belong to Saito, who went missing after a meeting in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Tokyo" target="_blank">Tokyo</a>’s Toshima Ward on April 5, 1998.</p>
<p>Yano told investigators that the man was kidnapped and subsequently strangled to death over money problems that included a loan of ¥86 million yen.</p>
<p>With all his cards on the table, one presumes, all Yano can do now is wait and see if his trick pays off. For that to happen he will be depending on Japan’s government to abolish capital punishment. If that will happen before they schedule his execution remains to be seen.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Yakuza section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Yakuza boss charged with ordering hit on manager of car dealership who was slashed with Japanese sword
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-charged-with-ordering-hit-on-manager-of-car-dealershi
2018-10-20T08:45:06.000Z
2018-10-20T08:45:06.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-charged-with-ordering-hit-on-manager-of-car-dealershi" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237115670,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237115670?profile=original" width="600" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>Using a katana sword to whack a debtor? That kind of stuff only happens when the Japanese Mafia is involved. Yakuza boss Kim Yeong-cheol (photo above) was arrested last week by police and charged with ordering just such an attack on a used-car dealership manager in November of 2017. Kim is a leader of the Inagawa-kai, one of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Japan’s most powerful crime groups</a>.</p>
<p>His indictment follows the previous arrest of two of his underlings in June. Security camera footage caught three men wearing ski masks enter the manager’s office late in the afternoon on November 9 of last year. They sprayed the man’s face with tear gas before one of them pulled out a Japanese sword and slashed the manager’s stomach, the <a href="https://www.tokyoreporter.com" target="_blank">Tokyo Reporter</a> states.</p>
<p>With the man wounded and bleeding, the mobsters left with 500,000 yen and two cell phones. The manager was later transported to the hospital and is expected to recover. 71-year-old Kim denies any involvement in the attack, telling police: “I have absolutely no connection [to the matter].”</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Yakuza section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Learning from mistakes, murdering one’s rival and retiring to Thailand - Profile of Yakuza boss Shigeharu Shirai
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/learning-from-mistakes-murdering-one-s-rival-and-retiring-to-thai
2018-01-12T13:55:28.000Z
2018-01-12T13:55:28.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/learning-from-mistakes-murdering-one-s-rival-and-retiring-to-thai" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237100463,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237100463?profile=original" width="579" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Sure. Shigeharu Shirai has made mistakes. Who hasn’t? But he’s learned from them. He’s paid for them. In his line of business mistakes cost. Sometimes even a life. To keep that in mind, he’s had to cut off his little finger. Just so he remembers that mistakes cost dearly and have no place among the powerful members of the Yakuza.</p>
<p>His deformed hand branded him as a mobster for the rest of his life. In Japan, people immediately know what caused the loss of that finger. The mistake set his criminal career in stone. No turning back.</p>
<p>As he moved up in the world of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Yakuza" target="_blank">Yakuza</a>, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Japan’s Mafia</a>, he showed he had matured, that he was missing a finger but had gained knowledge. He also gained elaborate tattoos all over his body – another staple of the Yakuza. The <em>irezumi</em> tats were a sign of his important status. By the 2000s, Shirai had become a leader of the Kodo-kai, an affiliate gang of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-yoshinori-watanabe" target="_blank">Yamaguchi-gumi</a>, Japan’s largest Yakuza clan.</p>
<p>Leading the Kodo-kai proved troubling. There were some squabbles that resulted in a split within the group and subsequent deadly violence. The boss of the rival faction was shot to death in the village of Takasucho in Tsu City in July of 2003. Police quickly found that Shirai had taken out the rival leader within his own clan and began arresting several of the group’s members – seven of them were convicted and sentenced to between 12 and 17 years in prison.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/u-s-treasury-sanctions-yakuza-groups-and-its-bosses" target="_blank">U.S. Treasury sanctions Yakuza groups and its bosses</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The increased attention from authorities caused Shirai to break a sweat. In 2005, he decided it best to pack up his things and sneak to a foreign country. Japanese investigators were confronted with a Yakuza boss who vanished into thin air to evade facing punishment for murdering his gangland rival.</p>
<p>When the clock struck 12 and people wished their loved ones a happy 2018, Shirai celebrated his thirteenth year as a fugitive. He had settled in the Lopburi Province, smackdown in the middle of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Thailand" target="_blank">Thailand</a>, where he married a Thai woman. Now in his early 70s,, he was simply living out the rest of his life.</p>
<p>By all accounts, he kept a low profile. He didn’t have much money to spent and is alleged to have slept in parks after he no longer had funds to stay in hotels. A couple of times a year, a Japanese man came and gave him some cash. How much is unknown. As is the reason.</p>
<p>Though the easy guess is the man did so because of Shirai’s position as a Yakuza boss. He might be a fugitive. He might be retired. But he still has the tattoos. He still misses that finger. He still devoted his life to the clan. He still is a boss.</p>
<p>In Thailand, Shirai had begun to draw some attention to himself. His tattoos amazed one man who decided to take a photo and share it on his Facebook account. At 74 years of age, Shirai probably didn’t realize the mistake he had just made. Within days the image was shared thousands of times and Japanese police contacted their Thai colleagues.</p>
<p>Last Wednesday, January 10, Shirai was doing some shopping in Lopburi when he was swarmed by a Thai SWAT team and placed under arrest. The jig was up.</p>
<p>Shirai admitted that he was the leader of the Kodo-kai, a Thai police spokesman stated after the arrest. Of course, being a member - or even a boss - of the Yakuza is not a crime. Murder, however, is. On that note, “The suspect has not confessed to murder but has admitted that the victim used to bully him,” the spokesman added.</p>
<p>His retirement in Thailand may have come to an abrupt end, but men in Shirai’s world know that there is no such thing as retirement. All it takes is one mistake. And then they pull you back in.</p>
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Japan’s Yakuza membership continues to rapidly decline
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/japan-s-yakuza-membership-continues-to-rapidly-decline
2017-03-18T07:30:00.000Z
2017-03-18T07:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/japan-s-yakuza-membership-continues-to-rapidly-decline" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237011873,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237011873?profile=original" width="510" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>Japan’s National Police Agency claims a success in the fight against the country’s organized crime element, better known as the Yakuza: its membership is declining rapidly. On Thursday, officers announced that by the end of last year all of Japan’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Yakuza" target="_blank">Yakuza</a> groups comprised a total of 39,100 gangsters.</p>
<p>That number is down significantly from the one when authorities first began counting <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview" target="_blank">Yakuza</a> members. “The Tokyo Metropolitan Police estimated that in 1958 there were 70,000 yakuza in the whole of Japan; five years later the number had swelled to 184,000, more men than in Japan’s entire army that year,” authors David Kaplan and Alec Dubro wrote in <em>Yakuza: Japan’s Criminal Underworld</em>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-mob-boss-bludgeoned-to-death-outside-his-home" target="_blank">Yakuza mob boss bludgeoned to death outside his home</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Membership has been <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-membership-hits-all-time-low" target="_blank">declining for several years</a> now. “Mobs are losing further strength, as the spread of anti-organized crime legislation, ordinances and movements, as well as police crackdowns, are making it increasingly difficult for them to earn money,” a police official said.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-yoshinori-watanabe" target="_blank">Yamaguchi-gumi</a> has long been – and remains - Japan’s biggest crime group, but since its internecine war divided the clan into two, it too has seen a decline in membership. The Yamaguchi-gumi lost 2,300 members since 2015 and was at 11,800 people last year. While the breakaway clan, known as the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, was at 5,500 members in 2016, down 600 from the previous year.</p>
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U.S. Treasury sanctions Yakuza groups and its bosses
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/u-s-treasury-sanctions-yakuza-groups-and-its-bosses
2016-12-31T14:42:43.000Z
2016-12-31T14:42:43.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/u-s-treasury-sanctions-yakuza-groups-and-its-bosses"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237081681,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237081681?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>The United States continues its fight against organized crime abroad. Yesterday, the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, a powerful group within the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Yakuza">Yakuza</a>, the Japanese Mafia, and three of its bosses.</p>
<p>The sanctions are aimed at two Yakuza groups: The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi and its core clan, the Yamaken-gumi, and Kunio Inoue, Osamu Teraoka, and Takashi Ikeda, three of its leaders. As a result of these actions, all U.S. assets of those designated are frozen, and Americans are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.</p>
<p>The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi was formed in September of 2015 when thirteen subsidiary gangs, including the Yamaken-gumi, broke away from their parent syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, to form their own <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Yakuza">Yakuza group</a>. Authorities estimate that approximately 30 percent of Yamaguchi-gumi’s membership went to the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, which now has roughly 7,000 members, including associates.</p>
<p>The three Yakuza bosses who were sanctioned yesterday, play an important role in their respective clans. Kunio Inoue is the leader of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate and Yamaken-gumi subsidiary gang. It was Inoue who declared the formation of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi by issuing a statement validating the departure of dissident factions from the Yamaguchi-gumi as a movement to protect the will of past Yamaguchi-gumi leaders.</p>
<p>After the split between the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi and the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-yoshinori-watanabe">Yamaguchi-gumi</a>, a gangland war has broken out throughout Japan, leading to several violent and deadly incidents.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Read: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-mob-boss-bludgeoned-to-death-outside-his-home">Yakuza mob boss bludgeoned to death outside his home</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Osamu Teraoka is the wakagashira, an upper-level boss, of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, and head of the Kyoyu-kai subsidiary gang. He also played a prominent role in the breakaway movement that led to the division of the Yamaguchi-gumi. He presides over the business operations of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. He also lets the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi use the Kyoyu-kai headquarters as its base of operations. </p>
<p>And then there is the “money man,” Takashi Ikeda, who holds a key position in the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi as the shateigashira (leader among brothers of the godfather) and head of the Ikeda-gumi subsidiary gang. His nickname is based on the fact that he controls large amount of funds for the Yakuza. Before the split, Ikeda once held a position as the regional leader of Yamaguchi-gumi clans in nine prefectures and oversaw 3,580 Yamaguchi-gumi members.</p>
<p>The U.S. Treasury has now designated seventeen individuals and seven entities affiliated with the Yakuza. It marks the second time a second-tier Yakuza affiliate has been targeted; the first designation was of the Kodo-kai in April 2015. Tadashi Irie and Toshio Masaki, previously designated on December 19, 2013 as members of the Yamaguchi-gumi, have also joined the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, as indicated in the chart below.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237081488,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237081488?profile=original" width="663" /></a>The <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Japanese Yakuza</a> itself was labeled a significant criminal organization by President Barack Obama in the summer of 2011 and ordered the Treasury Department to find ways to undermine its criminal activities around the world.</p>
<p>The Yakuza has criminal affiliates in Asia, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/europe-overview">Europe</a>, and the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in">Americas</a>, where it uses front companies in legitimate industries, including construction, real estate, and finance, to launder money and hide illicit proceeds. In the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-in">United States</a>, the Yakuza has been involved in drug trafficking and money laundering, specifically in <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=California">California</a> and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Hawaii">Hawaii</a>.</p>
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Yakuza membership hits all-time low
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-membership-hits-all-time-low
2014-03-07T22:00:00.000Z
2014-03-07T22:00:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-membership-hits-all-time-low"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237011873,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237011873?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>The Yakuza is not doing so great. According to Japan’s National Police Agency, the total membership in Yakuza organized crime groups dropped below 60,000 for the first time since police started keeping records. Last year, all the Yakuza groups combined had 58,600 members, down from about 63,200 in 2012.</p>
<p>Membership has been going down for decades, but things are getting grim for the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Yakuza</a> as it seems that Japanese society as a whole is fed up with the gangs. Add to that the global economic crisis and tougher anti-Yakuza laws and becoming a gangster isn’t as attractive as it once was.</p>
<p>In 1991, Japan’s police created the Law Concerning Prevention of Unjust Acts by Boryokudan Members, also known as the Organized Crime Countermeasures Act. With this law, authorities banned eleven types of criminal activities such as extortionate acts, protection rackets, and loansharking.</p>
<p>In their book <a href="http://amzn.to/1f8jLOP" target="_blank">Yakuza: Japan’s Criminal Underworld</a>, authors <a href="http://amzn.to/1cIFHeu" target="_blank">David E. Kaplan</a> and Alec Dubro write that this law caused a big drop in Yakuza membership. “Police trumpeted reports of thousands of yakuza members retiring and scores of gangs disbanding. Newspapers ran stories about doctors removing tattoos and transplanting little toes to replace severed pinkies.”</p>
<p>But they are quick to point out that despite this drop in numbers, things weren’t that simple. “The new law did succeed in driving tens of thousands of mobsters out of their gang headquarters and off official gang rolls. But most did not leave the underworld; they merely shifted into harder-to-track associate and freelance roles. The law did help pare down overall numbers of yakuza by some 10,000, according to police statistics. By 1994, however, gang membership had stabilized at 80,000; nearly half were now designated ‘associates’.”</p>
<p>Yakuza gangs are known to be very visible and easy to find. They are quite unique in that way compared to other crime groups who operate in the shadows. But when under attack they will behave like any other criminal brotherhood and hide beneath the surface. So whether they really lost thousands of members or whether these just went underground has yet to be determined.</p>
<p>Still, though ‘official’ membership has dwindled, don’t be fooled. Yakuza gangs continue to hold enormous power. The Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's biggest crime group, had 25,700 members in 2013. Despite losing 2,000 gangsters, that number makes the entire Italian American Mafia look like a small gathering of Fantasy Football enthusiasts. Even Yamaguchi-gumi rival, the Sumiyoshi-kai, had 9,500 members. Down 1,100 from a year before.</p>
<p>With that many men willing to commit violence and crimes on its behalf, the Yakuza has by no means lost its bite.</p>
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Yakuza Clan Boss And Members Pose For Photographer
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-clan-boss-and-members-pose-for-belgian-photographer
2012-02-11T18:30:00.000Z
2012-02-11T18:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-clan-boss-and-members-pose-for-belgian-photographer"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237011873,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237011873?profile=original" width="510" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>The Japanese Yakuza has always lent itself perfectly for visually stunning movies and anime comics. The broad-shouldered gangsters wearing expensive suits and sporting intimidating looks at any outsider who dares to cross an invisible red line. Yet, it is without their suits that the Yakuza members truly become a visual menace. Though they are undressed, they still wear a suit. One that is tattooed on their skin. From top to bottom. It is an integral part of their brotherhood.</p>
<p>Belgian photographer <a href="http://www.antonkusters.com/" target="_blank">Anton Kusters</a> wanted to capture all of this with his photo camera. He writes: “Through 10 months of negotiations with the Shinseikai, a traditional <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/yakuza-overview">Japanese crime family</a> that controls the streets of Kabukicho, in the heart of Tokyo, Japan, my brother Malik and I became two of the only westerners ever to be granted this kind of access to the closed world of Japanese organized crime.”</p>
<p>“With a mix of photography, film, writing and graphic design, I try to share not only their complex relationship to Japanese society, but also to show the personal struggle of being forced to live in two different worlds at the same time; worlds that often have conflicting morals and values. It turns out not to be a simple ‘black’ versus ‘white’ relationship, but most definitely one with many, many, many shades of grey,” Kusters shares on his blog.</p>
<p>You can view some of his <a href="http://www.antonkusters.com/projects/yakuza/" target="_blank">photos of the Yakuza</a> and order his book <a href="http://www.antonkusters.com/the-2nd-edition-of-yakuza-i-heed-your-call/" target="_blank">ODO YAKUZA TOKYO</a>, which features the entire collection of photos, at his <a href="http://www.antonkusters.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.</p>
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Organized Crime Test: Japan's Mob Needs Gangsters With Brains!
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/organized-crime-test-japans
2010-11-10T19:19:28.000Z
2010-11-10T19:19:28.000Z
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<p><br /> By Clarence Walker, Investigative Crime Journalist<br /> <br /> Intelligent gangsters wanted: Any guys out there ready to work in the underworld?<br /> <br /> If so, Japan's organized crime syndicates need immediate assistance. They need extra muscle to run prostitution rings, drug trafficking, collect debts, assassinating rivals and shaking down bar owners. To join this outfit - a candidate might think a blood oath must be taken, as with the La Cosa Nostra mafia -or undergo an initiation and commit murder.<br /> <br /> Well...guess what? None of the above apply. The exquisite requirements are like returning to school and involve an academic challenge., so with pen and paper, a potential player must take a gangster test! Thats right. No violence required to prove your manhood.<br /> <br /> To qualify, it's all about mind power, and make a passing score on a written exam provided by a thoughful crime boss.<br /> <br /> Why should a wannabe thug take an academic test? Here's why: Japan's largest and most notorious organized crime group, the Yamaguchi-gumi, with an estimated 40,000 members, has devised legal protection by having current members and those seeking work in the underworld take a gangster test to show understanding of Japan's revised Anti-Organized Crime Law, and police say the gangster exam has been distributed to Japan's organized crime groups across the nation.<br /> <br /> Basically, if a crime is committed by subordinates from a given crime syndicate, and even if the boss had no direct involvement in said crime, the new revised law allows citizens to sue the syndicate for damages ranging up to millions of dollars. Lawsuits can be filed against syndicates regarding shoot outs, extortions, assaults, murder, public brawls, and shootings liable to harm or severely injure innocent parties and civil lawsuits have been filed by concerned citizens, politicians and government officials who are fed up with blatant organized crime in their districts.<br /> <br /> Now that lawmakers have strengthened the law, the crime bosses, already dealing with the decline of the economy which hinders efforts for the outfits pursuit of raking in astronomical dollars, has came under fire to school their gangsters about the law to stave off future multi-million dollar lawsuits.<br /> <br /> According to Wikipedia, "the Yamaguchi-gumi is one of the world's wealthiest gangs, commanding billions of dollars a year from extortion, gambling, the sex industry, guns, drugs, real estate and construction kickback schemes." They are also involved in stock market manipulation and internet pornography.<br /> <br /> "Civil action is growing across the country," said Yasushi Murakami, a lawyer who represented 160 residents of Tokoyo's Akasaska district. After several months of legal action against organized crime groups, the Akasaska residents finally scored a major victory this past April to banish the 'Inagawa Kai Syndicate' from their district.<br /> <br /> Murakami added, "people are refusing to tolerate gangsters."<br /> <br /> With recent injunctions leveled against various Japan-based crime syndicates, the Yazuka crime bosses have been edgy about the law, passed in 2008.<br /> <br /> Here's why: If a citizen sues a syndicate and wins the damages can result in millions of dollars against highly-ranked leaders who are legally responsible for the criminal actions of their street-level members.<br /> <br /> In September 2008, two top members of the Sumiyoshi-kai underworld group agreed to pay Y97.5 million (640,000) to the relatives of a man shot dead when three gunmen opened fire in a bar in 'Gunma Prefecture'. During the fracas, three citizens were killed when the gangsters tried to assassinate a rival gang boss who survived the attempt on his life.<br /> <br /> The gangster exam was discovered during police investigation of a Yazuka-related murder in Western Japan. The Mainichi Shimbun news media reported: Police found a 12-question exam paper, complete with model answers.<br /> <br /> Questions included, "what kind of activities are banned?"<br /> <br /> (A) industrial waste dumping.<br /> <br /> (B) bootlegging fuel.<br /> <br /> (C) theft of construction vehicles.<br /> <br /> (D) phone fraud scams.<br /> <br /> (E) all of the above.<br /> <br /> If a candidate answered "E" they answered correctly.<br /> <br /> Another question: "What are you required to do in all your activities?"<br /> <br /> If the person says, "consult with my bosses", he answered correctly.<br /> <br /> "Its all about money," said Jake Adelstein, an author who has written extensively about Japan's underworld groups.<br /> <br /> "When you think about it, this is an extremely sensible move. The Yamaguchi-gumi is essentially a gigantic corporation and if you are running a company of this scale, the first thing you want to do is reduce your liabilities."<br /> <br /> "Gang leaders don't want to pay hefty court fines because one of their men got into a bar fight and broke someone's jaw," Adelstein points out.<br /> <br /> A Battle Against Organized Crime<br /> <br /> Known as the Yakuza, Japanese gangsters have operated for decades from exclusive buildings adorned with blinking neon signs symbolizing their illegal trade throughout different districts.<br /> <br /> Yakuza: The word means 'good-for-nothing', but the group were once romanticized as noble outlaws with a code of honor. Such prestige is slowly fading. And the reason for the Yakuza's declining popularity derives from the conflicts with the Akasaka citizens. Akasaka, an upscale business and entertainment district, underscores a dramatic change in the way Japan regards the underworld.<br /> <br /> Of note, for years, criminal gangs in Japan were allowed to ply their illegal trade in exchange for payoffs to police and by cooperating with the law to keep turf wars in check and prevent their activities from spilling over into the law-abiding public section.<br /> <br /> What caused the public revolt against the organized crime group was the continuing gang violence culminating in the death of prominent innocent citizens. For example, Iccho Ito, 61, the mayor of Nagasaki, was shot to death in broad daylight in April 2007 as he campaigned for re-election.<br /> <br /> The killer, a member of the Yamaguchi clan, killed the mayor because he had a grievance against the city. The gangster has since been sentenced to die for the brazen crime.<br /> <br /> The death of Mayor Ito outraged the public, who viewed the senseless murder as an attack on Japanese democracy. Shortly after Ito's killing, a policeman died in a shootout in central Japan.<br /> <br /> "What we worry about most is our children," said Akasaka resident, Takako Takemura. "We just do not want gangsters in our neighborhood."<br /> <br /> As gang violence spiraled out of control, the government firmly enforced gun law restrictions and racketeering laws. Last year, police and government officials held anti-gang seminars and provided protection to citizens as part of their assistance in more than 50 lawsuits filed by citizens seeking to keep gangs out of their neighborhoods.<br /> <br /> Lawsuit Restrictions<br /> <br /> The Akasaka settlement effectively bans the Inagawa-kai, Japan's third largest crime syndicate, from owning and moving into a three-story building located a few blocks from the headquarters of the Inagawi's rival, identified as Sumiyoshi-kai. The Sumiyoshi are the second largest crime group in Japan.<br /> <br /> In the Minato ward area, the assembly group which oversees Akasaka has waged a fierce battle to prevent gang members from renting public housing. Another sign of frustration and ebbing tolerance for the gangs comes from the refusal by Japanese companies to pay organized crime protection money.<br /> <br /> Citizens now living in northern Japan near the city of Sendal are seeking a court injunction against an affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi. In southern Japan a court agreed with 100 residents to ban the Yakuza from using an apartment building and an anger-incited mob in the city of Chikushino forced gang members from a two-story house later converted into a police station.<br /> <br /> "It was possible because we stood up together against gangsters," says Masanori Hoashi, a Chikushino official. "Many people feel more strongly about guarding their community against organized crime."<br /> <br /> Police have identified 22 groups nationwide as crime syndicates, with an estimated 80,000 members. Certainly the revamped anti-organized crime laws and the lawsuits filed by citizens are forcing gangs away from neighborhoods but apparently not enough damage has been done to take a serious bite out of the kind of crimes they commit. For instance, between 2007-2008, police arrested 27,169 organized crime members in 57, 524 cases.<br /> <br /> According to Hideaki Alhara, head of the nonprofit Japan Crime Prevention, said, "If gangsters move out of one building, its not the end of the story because they are still around making trouble somewhere else."<br /> <br /> Exploited Loopholes<br /> <br /> Based on the police's discovery of secretive information demanding candidates to take exams for membership into a crime organization, as required by crime bosses, it seems the crime syndicates have already found loopholes in the law to absolve them from legal responsibility. For one, police found written retroactive letters of expulsion to prove a suspect was no longer a gang member at the time the person committed a crime.<br /> <br /> The biblical wisdom reads, "Money is the root of all sorts of evil." Therefore ask yourself: If organized crime is about making money 'as it always has been', can die-hard gangsters play by the legal rules of law and still make illegal money without getting caught?<br /> <br /> Now here's the moral of the story, among Japan's crime syndicates, and the gangster test to avoid lawsuits:<br /> <br /> A written document found by police that was distributed by a Yazuka group said, "it is now illegal to give financial rewards or promote someone involved in a 'hit' against rival gang members. "But it is not illegal to give them a salary with a front company and promote them within that organization."<br /> <br /> Now that's how organized crime really works because its all about making money and lawsuits will never stop it.</p>
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Yakuza Boss Retires
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-retires
2010-11-04T20:42:00.000Z
2010-11-04T20:42:00.000Z
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<p>By Hollander (pseudonym)<br /> Posted in 2005<br /><br /> Sources: The Japan times, Kyodo News, Mainichi Daily News and webpage THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN JAPAN.<br /> <br /> The Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest underworld gang has been thrown into chaos and uncertainty following leader Yoshinori Watanabe's announcement late 2004 that he would "take a break" from his responsibilities. On Nov. 12, the Supreme Court ruled that Watanabe was legally responsible for the actions of Yamaguchi-gumi mobsters. The lawsuit had been filed by the family of police sergeant Takeshi Fujitake who had been fatally shot by a mobster in 1995. Fujitake had been posted at a gang office in Kyoto to watch over a gang warfare that was heating up during August 1995. Two members of the Yamaguchi-gumi mistook Fujitake as a member of a yakuza gang connected to Aizu Kotetsu-kai and gunned him down in cold blood. The two are currently serving time for killing the 44-year-old officer. The Supreme Court ruling was a great surprise to gang members, some of whom got angry at Watanabe for not doing more to defend the syndicate.<br /> <br /> <img style="float:right;" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236982674,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" />Under the leadership of Yoshinori Watanabe Yamaguchi-gumi has grown into one of the world's most powerful criminal enterprises. In 1961, during a war with a rival gang, Watanabe was charged with weapons possession and served just over a year in prison. During the so-called Osaka gang wars in the mid-1970s, he was arrested once again for weapons possession. After his release, he continued to gain more power, becoming leader of Yamaken-gumi in 1982 and moving up the ranks within Yamaguchi-gumi. The Kobe-based Yamaken-gumi, a 7,000-member section, is the strongest and most influential among the gangs. The enactment of a law to crack down on organized crime in 1993 took a big bite out of the Yamaguchi-gumi's activities. But Watanabe worked on expanding traditional yakuza businesses like gambling, sex and drugs. He invested in the stock market and has expanded the empire to legitimate businesses as hospitals and chemical companies. The structure of the Yamaguchi-gumi is complex. Police estimated the total number of official members at about 18,000, with an unknown number of unofficial members. Watanabe is flanked by two advisers, Kazuo Nakanishi and Otomatsu Konishi, both of whom once challenged him for the leadership role. Below Watanabe are a group of 11 "Council" members. These are senior bosses, based mostly in the Kansai region, who set policy for Yamaguchi-gumi as a whole. The Council is headed by Saizou Kishimoto, head of Kishimoto-gumi and Yamaguchi-gumi's de facto second in command. A typical Japanese crime organization operates via a pyramid structure. Numerous groups exist under the umbrella of major crime syndicates, with each of the groups also having a number of subgroups. The 2004 Yamaguchi-gumi telephone directory, issued by the syndicate itself, lists 101 gangs. Monthly meetings bring together the gang bosses from around Japan who gather to hear the Council's decisions. Watanabe does not attend these meetings, sending his message through Kishimoto. While Kishimoto's announcement might focus on general matters, much of the concern the gang bosses have is related to practical matters like money.<br /> <br /> Although the assassination of gangboss Masaru Takumi in August 1997 and subsequent shootings around the nation have kept the gangs in the headlines, compared with 15 or 20 years ago the yakuza in general are less visible. Masaru Takumi, considered by many to be Watanabe's heir apparent, was gunned down at a popular Kobe hotel during a gang war. Harutoshi Zaitsu, member of the Osaka-based Nakano-kai, one of the most notorious gangs, ordered the assassination. Two of the four shooters have given themselves up and expressed remorse for murdering an innocent dentist who was sitting nearby, but Harutoshi Zaitsu and the two other killers, Kiyoteru Toriyabara and Kouji Ishihara have been on the run. As a result of the assasination of Takumi many Nakano-kai members were arrested. Not only are Zaitsu, Toriyabara and Ishihara being hunted by the police, but members of the Takumi-gumi are also said to be seeking revenge for the killing. On the afternoon of April 20, 2002, a man rode his motorcycle up alongside the car in which gang boss Kenji Hirota was traveling. He pulled out a gun and shot several times into the front passenger side of the car, where the mobster was seated. The female driver of the car tried to speed away, but the the hitman kept up until he could pump one more shot into him before fleeing. The 54-year-old Hirota died of his wounds shortly after. Police believe the killing was part of the continued warfare between the Nakano-kai and its former parent organization Yamaguchi Gumi. Hirota, the reputed number two of the Nakano-kai, has been on the wanted list for some time in connection of an alleged golf-course development fraud. A mobster is arrested in July and he admits the assassination. In 2004 during a yakuza trial in Osaka, prosecutors said 66-year-old Takashi Takizawa, a senior boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi, knew his bodyguards were armed to protect themselves from attack by members of the Nakano-kai. Takizawa was grilled after he left a hotel in Osaka on Sept. 20, 1997, and the five mobsters with him were arrested. Takizawa and 62-year-old Kenichi Shinoda, another boss who was with Takizawa at the hotel, managed to flee and were placed on a wanted list. Shinoda surrendered himself to police in June 1998, while Takizawa, head of the Horyo-kai, was arrested in July 2001 after almost four years on the lam. Prosecutors had demanded a 10-year prison term, but the Osaka District Court dismissed the prosecutors claim. In a separate trial, Shinoda, head of the Kodo-kai, was sentenced to six years imprisonment in a Osaka High Court ruling that overturned a district court decision. The Kodo-kai is a Nagoya-based gang with about 2,000 members, Shinoda knew that his bodyguards were armed.<br /> <br /> Those familiar with the gang says the Yamaguchi-gumi is placing more of a focus on Tokyo it has been since about 1991. Before, there was an unspoken agreement that the Yamaguchi-gumi would not open offices in the Metropolitan area, it now has some 750 members in 35 organizations. About 200 of these members belong to the Yamaken-gumi. It's March 15, 2003 and a group of tough-looking men in dark suits, are gathering for a Kanto-district meeting of the Yamaken-gumi. The meetings are a symbol of the Yamaguchi-gumi's increasing presence in Japan's capital as the gang shifts from its traditional Kansai-area base. Police estimate that over the past six years the gang's numbers have tripled in the Metropolitan area. The Yamaken-gumi and its leader, Kaneyoshi Kuwata, will play a large role in selecting an eventual successor to Watanabe. Kuwata, a 65-year-old boss was arrested in December 1997 on suspicion of violating weapons control laws. He was traveling in a convoy of cars from a bar in Tokyo's Roppongi red light district. Tokyo police searched all six cars in which the boss and 19 other mobsters were riding and found five handguns. Kuwata was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Police statistics also support an increasing Yamaguchi-gumi presence in Tokyo. In November 2002 a Tokyo member of the Yamaken-gumi was shot dead outside a hotel near JR Tokyo Station. Although the background to the incident remains unclear, the person who replaced the victim was a higher-ranking member. At least 100 black-market moneylenders that can be traced back to the Yamaguchi-gumi have been uncovered.<br /> <br /> The Osaka-based Hanabusa-gumi and its boss, Goro Hanabusa, are expected to play an influential role in the selection of a new don, watchers say. Hanabusa is considered a good friend of Watanabe. "The problem of the successor is serious," says one investigation official. It is not an orderly, formal transfer of authority that worries police and residents, but violent street battles between rival gangs fighting for power in the absence of a strong leader -- the same kind of strife that killed Masahisa Takenaka in 1985. The bosses of the Yamaguchi-gumi are getting old, and the younger members might see this as a good opportunity to challenge their elders.<br /> <br /> On Friday June 29th, 2005 police said that Yamaguchi-gumi boss Yoshinori Watanabe stepped down and was replaced by his second-in-command Kenichi Shinoda. A source familiar with the Japanese underworld said Mr Watanabe was thought to be in poor health.</p>
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Underworld Fued in Japan
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/underworld-fued-in-japan
2010-11-04T20:00:00.000Z
2010-11-04T20:00:00.000Z
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9881457677?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p>By Hollander (pseudonym)<br />Posted in 2002</p>
<p>In 2001 there have been a series of incidents amongst Hatsuka-kai yakuza, most notably the shooting of two Sumiyoshi-kai executives by Inagawa-kai members at a funeral in Tokyo. The Hatsuka-kai is an association promoting good inter-group relations between the major Kanto-based crime syndicates. On Aug. 18, 2001, some 700 people were attending the wake of a Sumiyoshi-kai boss held at the Yotsugi crematory in Tokyo. Two hitmen Kazumi Yoshikawa (52) and Yoshio Murakami pretended to be mourners and they suddenly opened fire. The 52-year-old boss Ikuo Kumagawa and Takashi Endo (57) were showered with bullets, they died later at a hospital. A third yakuza was also shot, but escaped with only minor injuries. The bloody assault took place in front of policemen who surrounded the crematory in anticipation of trouble. The two gunmen, both members of the Omaeda Ikka which is one of the most militant gangs in the Inagawa-kai, were arrested and admitted that they targeted Kumagawa over a turf war. Yoshikawa must spend his life behind bars while Murakami, was handed a 20-year term for his part in the gangland killings. It's possible that the disputants rejected offers of mediation from fellow Hatsuka-kai members. According to some sources the funeral shooting was rather a feud in the Kokusui-kai (another Tokyo-based yakuza syndicate) than a feud between Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai. There have been a series incidents with different intentions of each yakuza group that had led to the shooting, which is much more complicated to explain. The Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai made peace with each other, but one group, the Yano Mutsumi-kai, persisted in their attempts to attack the Omaeda Ikka.</p>
<p>After a series of attacks on Omaeda Ikka-related targets, a senior member of the Yano Mutsumi-kai, was shot dead in a Tokyo hospital on Feb. 25, 2002. Takashi Ishizuka (54) was being treated for gunshot wounds he received earlier, Ishizuka was shot in the arm and stomach by a man in his 50s after the men quarreled on a street in the Kanamecho district of Tokyo. Investigators believe Masao Tatsuriki (54) and Kumio Arai (56) murdered Ishizuka on the orders of 54-year-old Osamu Yano, head of the Yano Mutsumi-kai. Police suspecting that they murdered Ishizuka in a bid to silence him over his failed attack on the rival organization. Police officers were guarding the entrance to the first-floor intensive care unit at the time but the hit men carried out the daring attack from outside. Arai smashed a window to let Tatsuriki, who was armed with a Makarov pistol, shower the gangster with bullets at close range. Osamu Yano, Tatsuriki and Arai were indicted in September 2003. Yano and Tatsuriki were earlier indicted for attacking the home of the leader of the Omaeda Ikka. A firebomb was hurled at the house in March 2002. Yano and Tatsuriki, who have been detained at a Gunma detention center, and Arai who had been jailed over a separate crime, were placed in the custody of the Metropolitan Police Department. Arai has reportedly admitted to the allegations but the other two are denying them. Confessions by Arai led investigators to find the gun used in the crime in a Saitama Prefecture river.</p>
<p>Moreover, police suspect that the Yano Mutsumi-kai may have been involved in the 'Maebashi bar massacre' in January 2003. Japan was shocked by the Jan. 25 shooting which resulted in three civilians and a yakuza dead in Maebashi, Gumma Prefecture, a city north of Tokyo. The two gunmen, wearing white, full-face helmets, fatally shot the 31-year-old gangster Ryoichi Seya as he was getting out of a car near the bar at about 11 30 p.m., before breaking into the establishment. They then indiscriminately fired a dozen bullets inside the Katsu bar, killing the three and seriously injuring two others, and fled the scene on foot. The gunmen fired their weapons without saying a word and officers found one pistol in front of the bar. One of the gunmen used a .38 caliber Makarov semiautomatic pistol, a type formerly used by the Soviet military. One of two people injured was Kunio Goto. It is believed the gunmen were targeting Goto, a 55 year-old high-ranking member of Omaeda Ikka. The bar is known as a gathering place for yakuza and Goto is a regular customer. It was not the first shooting involving Goto. Three gunmen launched a volley of shots, four months before the shooting. Kunio Goto was driving home with acquaintances after playing golf when he was attacked in the village Shirasawa, Gunma Prefecture. The men coming from the opposite lane crashed their vehicle into his friends' car. Goto, tried to escape, but was shot in the right shoulder before the three gangsters fled the scene with the help of a fourth gangster acting as the get away driver. Shortly after the daytime shooting, local residents in Showa, a village next to Shirasawa, saw several men burning the car before they left in another vehicle.</p>
<p>Goto was lying low on the floor to dodge bullets when the assasins stormed the Maebashi bar because he had heard the shots, fired in the parking lot outside, killing his bodyguard Seya. Goto must have been painfully aware of the fact that he had become a target. But the yakuza boss succeeded to survive for the second time, an unprecedented disgrace. From the assasins' point of view, they cannot afford missing the same target twice. This was probably why more than 20 shots were fired in the incident. The assassination of the two yakuza bosses at the Tokyo crematory may have been behind the massacre. The Omaeda Ikka had been expelled from Inagawa-kai to take the responsibility of the funeral shooting. However, the gangland war has resurfaced again recently after many former members of the Omaeda Ikka virtually resurrected the group by joining another Inagawa-kai affiliate. Goto's role in the 2001 hit is not clear but investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the Tokyo attack and the Maebashi incident are related. Four days after the massacre a gangster who turned himself in was arrested. The man was identified as Haruo Doi (43) a member of the Sumiyoshi-kai,. Doi turned himself in, saying he fired shots in the bar on the night of Jan. 25. Doi did not hand over a weapon to local police in Maebashi, but he directed them to a stretch of a river where they found two automatic weapons and a dark jumper. The arrest warrant on Doi was not for his suspected role in the killings, but for allegations that he possessed three guns and 26 bullets used in the crime. Police also searched several gangsters' offices the same day in connection with the case. The National Police Agency ordered police nationwide to crack down on crime groups affiliated with Sumiyoshi-kai, with a focus on seizing illegal handguns.</p>
<p>The bloodbath in Maebashi was followed in December 2003 by another one, when five gangsters were shot dead in a yakuza office in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture. The shooting took place in a quiet residential area at a private house surrounded by high walls. Kaiichi Yamamoto (56), boss of the Yamamoto-gumi in the Sumiyoshi-kai syndicate turned himself in and has been arrested. Yamamoto gunned down the five during talks over internal struggles. The gang boss said he took two handguns to a regular meeting of Sumiyoshi-kai leaders operating in Saitama Prefecture. Yamamoto, shot 69-year-old Genichi Hosoda, boss of the Hosoda-gumi, which is also under the umbrella of the Sumiyoshi-kai and four others. Police identified the four other slain men as Takahide Namba (64), Katsutomo Namba (61), Hideaki Suzuki (41), and Hiroshi Yamada (56). The five had sustained head and abdominal wounds, with the shots having apparently been fired at close range, investigators said. Police subsequently dispatched officers to guard the headquarters of Yamamoto's gang in Iruma against retaliatory attacks.</p>
<p>One of two gunmen in the shooting at the Katsu bar was finally arrested in February 2004. Masato Kohinata (34), a member of Yano Mutsumi-kai, was arrested. Also arrested was Osamu Yano, who allegedly ordered Kohinata and another gunman Kenichiro Yamada (38) to murder Kunio Goto. Kohinata, had already been arrested and indicted on separate charges. After the Maebashi shooting, Kohinata fled to the Philippines, but was arrested in December 2003 for allegedly preparing a car used in the first attempt to kill Goto. In light of new evidence, Kohinata confessed that he had fired the shots upon the orders of his boss. "I acted upon the boss's orders," officers quoted Kohinata as saying, referring to Yano.</p>
<p>The Maebashi District Court sentenced Masato Kohinata to death on March 29, 2005. Presiding Judge Yasuhiro Kuga said Kohinata had "firm intent to kill" the four people. "Capital punishment is the only choice," the judge said, dismissing a request for leniency the defense lawyer had sought due to Kohinata's confession. "Because this country has the death penalty, this choice is inevitable." the judge said, adding Kohinata should spend the rest of his life apologizing to the relatives of the victims. According to the court, Kohinata and his alleged accomplice, Kenichiro Yamada, also shot and seriously wounded Goto as well as one other person. Yamada is standing trial for murder. Yano, the boss of Yano Mutsumi-kai, is also on trial. Yamada and Yano, now 56, have denied any wrongdoing. The defense counsel for Masato Kohinata immediately filed an appeal against the ruling.</p>
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Profile of Yakuza boss Kakuji 'Seijo' Inagawa
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-kakuji-seijo
2010-11-03T20:35:12.000Z
2010-11-03T20:35:12.000Z
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<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9881451461?profile=RESIZE_180x180&width=123"></div><div><p>By Hollander (a pseudonym)<br /> Posted on August 10, 2008<br /> <br /> Japanese gangster Kakuji 'Seijo' Inagawa was best known for founding a notorious yakuza syndicate based in the Tokyo-Yokohama region. The Inagawa-kai has around 9,500 members, divided into over 300 gangs, and thousands of associates. It was one of the first yakuza groups to expand its operations to outside of Japan. Japan's yakuza have published adresses, often in the best areas of a city, with gangsters proudly bearing namecards and corporate insignia. Like the Yamaguchi-gumi, the Inagawa-kai is structured in traditional pyramid fashion, but the syndicate enjoys greater discipline and tighter organization while at the same time remaining more flexible. Most of its members were drawn from the bakuto (gamblers) and illegal gambling has long been Inagawa-kai's main source of income.<br /> <br /> Seijo Inagawa was born near the port city of Yokohama in 1914, he never attended school. He was recruited in the yakuza as an enforcer when he was a teenage judo student. During the second world war Inagawa organized a small street gang to harass and intimidate the Koreans and Chinese who controlled the city's black market and protection rackets. In 1949 he formed the Inagawa-gumi, his gang was now almost equal to that of his early mentor Masajiro Tsuruoka, the reigning oyabun (godfather) of Yokohama.<br /> <br /> By the 1960s Inagawa's influence had spread to the capital Tokyo and the northern island of Hokkaido. His major source of revenue came frome the lucrative casino gambling rackets, which he single-handedly controlled. Continued police harassment compelled Inagawa to seek legitimacy through political channels. In its fight against the communists the Japanese government frequently overlooked the misdeeds of the yakuza whose symphaties were tied to the political right. Even today yakuza bosses are on first-name terms with corporate presidents and senior politicians. Former prime minister Yoshiro Mori gave a speech at a wedding attended by Seijo's son Yuko Inagawa, at the time the boss of Inagawa-kai.<br /> <br /> In 1963 Inagawa changed the name of the gang and petitioned the authorities to grant it political status. By 1964 more than 2,700 yakuza stood under his command. When freed in 1969, Inagawa had been incarcerated in Fukushima prison, he discovered that his once powerful gang had been decimated by internal feuds, defections, and police arrests. Under the guidance of legendary Yoshio Kodama (photo left) an alliance was forged with the Yamaguchi-gumi, by far the largest yakuza syndicate.<br /> <br /> In 1973 the powerful combine Yamaguchi/Inagawa controlled virtually every yakuza gang in the nation. Inagawa had branched out into loan sharking, gun smuggling, drug dealing, and other forms of vice. The police estimated that in 1979 the illegal activities were fronted by 879 legitimate businesses; constructionfirms, restaurants, golf and country clubs, and entertainment companies. The combined yearly income was US$200 million. Seijo Inagawa oversaw his criminal empire from a lavish hotel suite in downtown Tokyo.<br /> <br /> After the aging Inagawa retired in 1986 his second in command Susumu Ishii became the new kumicho (boss). Ishii joined the Inagawa-kai in 1958 and rose to the numer two position, but he was imprisoned for illegal gambling from 1978-1984. He was released from prison at the start of Japan's 'Bubble economy'. A time of skyrocketing land and stockprices in the economy that peaked from 1986 to 1990. Susumu Ishii, once described as the world's richest gangster, led the Inagawa-kai's move into real estate and stock. Through various loans, banking deals, and real estate scams he accumulated assets of over US$ 1.5 billion. But his health declined rapidly, in September 1990 he retired as boss.<br /> <br /> He was replaced by Yuko 'Toi' Inagawa, son of the founder. Ishii died in 1991 over 5,000 people attended his funeral at the Ikegami temple in Tokyo. Toi Inagawa controlled the syndicate from 1990 until 2005, when he died of illness in May 2005. A clear succesor has not emerged, but his son Hideki Inagawa is seen as the most likely candidate.<br /> <br /> When Seijo Inagawa, the elder statesman of the Japanese underworld, died on December 2007 at the age of 94 the street gang he once started was one of the most powerful and richest organized crime groups in the world.</p>
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Profile of Yakuza boss Kenichi Shinoda
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-kenichi-shinoda
2010-11-03T20:33:25.000Z
2010-11-03T20:33:25.000Z
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<p><br /> By Hollander (a pseudonym)<br /> Posted on February 27, 2007<br /> <br /> In July 2005 Watanabe was effectively dismissed from his position and replaced by Kenichi Shinoda as the sixth-generation boss (kumicho) of the Yamaguchi-gumi.<br /> <br /> Kenichi Shinoda, in yakuza circles known as Shinobu Tsukasa, was born January 25, 1942. He is a more aggressive and proactive personality than his predecessor. This reputation was first established in 1969 by his activities during a gang war between the expanding Hirota-gumi and local rivals belonging to the Dai Nippon Heiwa-Kai. culminating in his murder of a boss in the traditional way, using a katana. Tsukasa served 13 years in prison for this attack. In June 1984 Tsukasa founded the Kodo-kai based in Nagoya, he had been the underboss of the former Hirota-gumi. Under Tsukasa, the Kodo-kai was a successful gang, establishing branches in 18 prefectures-- including expansion into the Kanto region, traditionally not Yamaguchi turf. The Kodo-kai (with an estimated membership of 4000) is the second-largest Yamaguchi affiliate after the Yamaken-gumi.<br /> <br /> Shinobu Tsukasa is the first Yamaguchi-gumi boss not to hail from the Kansai region. He also eschews the "supreme Godfather" image, after his appointment as boss, he insisted on taking the train to his induction ceremony instead of a chauffeured limousine.Tsukasa’s decision to act was spurred by the fact that he himself was facing prosecution for allowing his bodyguards to be armed. He had appealed all the way to the Supreme Court and a decision was coming soon. If he did not act before the verdict there was a strong chance that he would be unable to influence events. In November 2004, Tsukasa and his followers set things in motion when they announced that Watanabe was taking a period of leave from directly running the syndicate. The following May, Tsukasa was named as the new underboss (wakagashira). Two months later, Tsukasa and his supporters ordered Watanabe to go and he went. Unlike the mafia, where it is said the only way out is in a coffin, it is common for yakuza bosses to retire. Alongside Tsukasa’s promotion, there has been a raft of personnel changes at the top. The executive council has been reformed and strengthened with Tsukasa’s allies given key posts. The new underboss is Kiyoshi Takayama, formerly Tsukasa’s underboss and now the boss of the second generation Kodo-kai. This is the first time in the history of the Yamaguchi-gumi that the underboss has been chosen from the serving boss’s gang. In the eight years since the murder of powerful Takumi in 1997, there had been no replacement as underboss, and a lack of clear leadership. According to sources Takayama is one of the most intelligent yakuza-bosses ever.<br /> <br /> In March 2001, Tsukasa had been found not guilty by the district court. The prosecutors then appealed to the Osaka High Court which overturned this ruling and sentenced him to six years imprisonment. Tsukasa in turn appealed to the Supreme Court which upheld the High Court’s verdict. On December 4, 2005, only four months after being named boss, Tsukasa began serving a six-year prison sentence. With the boss in prison, his underboss is running the syndicate on a day to day basis.<br /> <br /> The Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi is expected to continue the expansion into Tokyo and Eastern Japan. According to both yakuza and police, this movement will inevitably create conflict between the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Kanto-Hatsukakai, a federation of Tokyo-based yakuza groups including the Inagawa-kai and the Sumiyoshi-kai. On a national level, many of the smaller yakuza gangs have links with the Yamaguchi-gumi for example Tsukasa has a brother relationship with Toshitsugu Zukoshi, boss of the fifth generation Aizu Kotetsu-kai.</p>
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Profile of Yakuza boss Hisayuki Machii
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-hisayuki-machii
2010-11-03T20:31:26.000Z
2010-11-03T20:31:26.000Z
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<p><br /> By Hollander (pseudonym)<br /> Posted on February 22, 2007<br /><br /> The Korean yakuza are a powerful presence in Japan, despite the fact that Koreans suffer discrimination in Japanese society. Although Japanese-born people of Korean ancestry are a significant segment of the Japanese population, they are still considered resident aliens. But Koreans, who are often shunned in legitimate trades, are embraced by the Japanese yakuza precisely because they fit the group's "outsider" image. The man who paved the way was the Korean yakuza godfather Hisayuki Machii.<br /> <br /> Born Chong Gwon Yong in 1923 in Japanese-occupied Korea, Machii was an ambitious street hood who saw opportunity in Japan and seized it. The son of a small-time steel merchant, he was a college dropout who felt more at home on the streets than in the classroom. After the Japanese surrender, Machii worked with the US occupation authorities, which valued his staunch anticommunist beliefs. While leaders of the Japanese yakuza were imprisoned or under close scrutiny by the American occupying forces, the Korean yakuza were free to take over the lucrative black markets. Machii was charged with one murder and was believed to have committed at least one other, but managed to avoid any time in prison for the alleged crimes.<br /> <br /> In 1948 Machii established the Tosei-kai (Voice of the East Gang) and soon took over Tokyo's famed Ginza entertainment district. But rather than trying to rival the Japanese godfathers, Machii made alliances with them, and throughout his career, he remained close to both Yoshio Kodama and Kazuo Taoka. The Tosei-kai which grew to over 1,500 members by the early 1960's, became so powerful in Tokyo that they were known as the "Ginza police," and even the Yamaguchi-gumi's all-powerful Taoka had to cut a deal with Machii to allow that group to operate in Tokyo. Tosei-kai soldiers were often used as strikebreakers during the occupation years. Machii's vast empire included tourism, entertainment, bars and restaurants, prostitution, and oil importing.<br /> <br /> He and Kodama made a fortune on real estate investments alone. More importantly, he brokered deals between the Korean government and the yakuza that allowed Japanese criminals to set up rackets in Korea, a country that had been victimized by the Japanese for many years. Thanks to the Korean boss's diplomacy, South Korea became a yakuza playground, refuge, and investment center. Fugitves from Japanese justice would hidding out in the coastal cities of Korea until the heat passed. Befitting his role as fixer between the underworlds of both countries, Machii was allowed to acquire the largest ferry service between Shimanoseki, Japan, and Pusan, South Korea—the shortest route between the two countries. Syndicates like the Inagawa-kai set up casino's in cooperation with their new Korean friends. In major cities like Seoul and Pusan, money was laundered in the traditional yakuza 'water trades' of bars, cabarets, and restaurants. All the major syndicates appeared to have their fingers in two key areas: prostitution and drugs. As Korean society liberalized, the nature of organized crime changed. Korean crime syndicates grew larger and more sophisticated. As in Japan, the gangs have disguised themselves as social organizations, or religious groups. The Japanese influence on Korean gangs was so large that yakuza were even training them to be gangsters.<br /> <br /> In the mid-1960s, pressure from the police forced Hisayuki Machii to officially disband the Tosei-kai. He formed two supposedly legitimate organizations around this time, the Towa Sogo Kigyo (East Asia Enterprises Company) and Towa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai (East Asia Friendship Enterprises Association), which became fronts for his criminal activities. He was widely believed to have helped the Korean CIA kidnap then-leading Korean opposition leader Kim Dae Jung from a Tokyo hotel. Kim was whisked out to sea where he was bound, gagged, blindfolded and fitted with weights so that his body would never surface. The execution by drowning was abruptly cancelled when aircraft buzzed the ship, and Kim was mysteriously delivered to his neighborhood in Seoul. American intervention is said to have saved his life. A police investigation revealed that Machii's people had rented every other room on the floor of the hotel where Kim had been staying, but Machii was never charged with any crime in connection with kidnapping. The Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai, commonly known as the Toa-kai, is still an active gang in Japan with an estimated membership of 1,000. The group is still comprised of mostly ethnic Koreans.<br /> <br /> Machii "retired" in his 80s and was frequently seen vacationing in Hawaii, he died on September 14, 2002.</p>
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Profile of Yakuza boss Yoshio Kodama
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-yoshio-kodama
2010-11-03T20:23:47.000Z
2010-11-03T20:23:47.000Z
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<p><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> Posted in 2001<br /><br /> Yoshio Kodama was born in 1911 and grew up in a poor family and spent most of his childhood living with relatives in Korea. At an early age Kodama showed much interest in politics and at age 21 started his own right wing ultra nationalist political group, the main objective of this group was to assassinate the prime minister and top cabinet ministers. Before his group could do this however Kodama's plans were discovered and he was arrested and imprisoned for 3½ years. When Kodama got out he started working for that same government he wanted to kill and worked as an espionage agent for them. As an espionage agent Kodama maintained an extensive network of spies throughout Asia. He saw to it that countless shipments filled with nickel, cobalt, copper, and radium were on their way to Japan all to strengthen Japan in the war. Kodama didn't totally play by the rules however together with the normal shipments he shipped heroin. After his work he was awarded the title of Rear Admiral by the Japanese government and when the war was over Kodama was worth an estimated $175 million dollars.<br /> <br /> Despite all the money Kodama was in big trouble after the war he was classified a class A war criminal by the allied powers and was sentenced to 2 years in prison. After those 2 years he was released on a general amnesty. Out of prison Kodama started working for the allied powers as a go between for the G-2 section of the allied forces and the Yakuza. Kodama supplied Yakuza muscle to take out orders by the political party and allied forces. Kodama and his connections were branched out throughout Japan and Asia he had enormous power. In the early 1960s Kodama used his power to organize a truce between several warring Yakuza Clans. He made an alliance between Kazuo Taoka boss of the Yamaguchi Gumi and Hisayuki Machii a Korean boss in charge of the Tosei Kai after the truce Kodama was looked upon as the Underworld's visionary Godfather and made peace between several other warring Yakuza clans.<br /> <br /> In the mid 70s Kodama used his power to give Lockheed Corporation an 'in' in the Japanese market. Kodamo in return for a $2.1 million dollar bribe discredited an A.N.A. president who resigned and therefor made way for Lockheed. It became a big scandal when the truth came out and Kodama's good name was dragged through the mud. While awaiting trial Kodama suffered a stroke and in January 1984 died peacefully. He is still looked at as the big peacemaker of the Japanese Underworld.</p>
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