yakuza - Blog 2.0 - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-29T12:05:03Z
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/yakuza
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.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<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>
<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></div>
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
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236984091,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<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>
<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></div>
Yakuza Boss Retires
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-retires
2010-11-04T20:42:00.000Z
2010-11-04T20:42:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236982872,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<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>
<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></div>
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
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<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>
<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>
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
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<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>
<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></div>
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
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236982077,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<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>
<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></div>
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
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236980700,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<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>
<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></div>
Profile of Yakuza boss Yoshinori Watanabe
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-yoshinori-watanabe
2010-11-03T20:29:04.000Z
2010-11-03T20:29:04.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236980866,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<p><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> Posted in 2001<br /> Updated in 2005<br /><br /> Yoshinori Watanabe was born in 1941 in the Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo. Watanabe was born into a big farming family and had a pretty good life. After finishing middle school he moved to Tokyo and worked in restaurants making noodles. After a couple of years he had had enough and moved to Kobe where he joined the Yamaken Gumi a gang that is part of the Yamaguchi Gumi Clan. When Watanabe joined the Yamaguchi Gumi, somewhere around 1960, they were embroiled in a series of deadly turf wars. And according to the underworld legends it was in these wars that Watanabe showed his skills as a leader. He proved to be tough and smart and was, besides a hard worker, lethally efficient in resolving disputes. The bosses recognized his talent and after the wars Watanabe quickly rose through the ranks.<br /> <br /> By the early 1980s the Yamaguchi Gumi Clan was in chaos. They had lost their 3rd Boss in 1981 due to a heart attack, his successor to liver failure and his eventual successor to assassins. Then in 1988, it was Watanabes turn. He became the 5th boss in the history of the Yamaguchi Gumi Clan. By now the Yamaguchi Gumi were the biggest Yakuza Clan in Japan but during the 1980s they were split into 2 rival factions and lost power during the war that followed, which left 26 members dead. To many people the Yamaguchi Gumi was done for and would probably be taken over by another Yakuza Clan. At first they seemed to be right. Watanabe didn't do much in his first months as top boss but then as the 1990s began law enforcement began to see dramatic changes in the Yamaguchi Gumi Clan. Watanabe started to bring the Yamaguchi Gumi back to the top of Japanese Organized Crime. He abandoned the centralized power structure, and split it into 7 semi-autonomous regional groups, making it harder for police to keep tabs on, and easier to control internal and external friction. He forged new alliances and cemented existing ones with rival Clans nationwide, and he rekindled an earlier leader's dream of making the gang a nationwide power. When Watanabe swept to power, the Clan had offices in 39 of Japan's 47 prefectures. Today, that's up to 43. At the same time, Watanabe added 5,000 full-time men to the Clan. By 1999, according to police statistics, the Yamaguchi Gumi had 165000 full time members more than 5 times the size of the entire American Mafia at it's peak in the 1950s. Thanks to Watanabe the membership was up a third since he took over in 1988.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9881443055,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="148" alt="9881443055?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Under Watanabe the Yamaguchi Gumi also survived the major crackdown on Organized Crime and the Japanese recession. Where other Yakuza Clans were decimated by the police crackdown that jailed there leadership, and the recession that made members decide it was time for a new job, the Yamaguchi Gumi grabbed what was left and managed to muscle in on the new economy. It wasn't all good times for Watanabe though: 2 of his underbosses were jailed and a third was murdered but all in all you could say Watanabe is enjoying a lot of good times for a Yakuza boss. But because he is the most powerful Yakuza boss of the moment police forces are aiming all their ammo at him and are doing all they can to get him behind bars. But this might not be so easy, not just because Watanabe is well isolated from the actual crimes but also because the Yamaguchi Gumi have a strong hold on politics. During the House Election the Yamaguchi Gumi helped raise money and get out the vote for scores of politicians. Exactly what such relationships yield is unclear. But they suggest that short of taking on Watanabe's political allies, the police stand little chance of bringing him to his knees. Equally unnerving, in a recent issue of Shukan Taishu, a magazine closely read by police and Yakuza alike, an unnamed Yamaguchi Gumi underboss warned that if the police ever threatened the Clan in earnest it would not hesitate to retaliate.<br /> <br /> Watanabe currently lives in a palatial home in one of Kobe's old-money neighbourhoods, he is a simple man, say people who know him. He avoids rich food. He lifts weights. He jogs. He hikes in the Kobe hills. He has a single-digit golf handicap. He skis in winter, and jet-skis in summer. He is an avid student of Chinese history and Japanese law. He enjoys karaoke. (His repertoire includes a Japanese ballad set to the music from The Godfather.) Those who know him say he sees himself first and foremost as an unorthodox public servant. To his mind, there will always be losers, people incapable of holding down regular jobs. Since the Yakuza provides work for such people, and helps keep their aggression and frustrations in check, or at least directed mainly at one another, he thinks of it as a pragmatic solution to an intractable problem. He admits it may not be ideal. But he believes the Yakuza is far better than the alternative--disorganized crime characterized by random attacks such as those that plague other developed nations. He may have a point. Since Japan launched its Yakuza crackdown a decade ago, serious crime has soared by 70%, the arrest rate for such crimes has fallen to 70% from 90%, and the police have been plagued by a snowballing series of cover-ups and scandals.<br /> <br /> "If a gang of young thugs turns up and starts causing trouble, the Yakuza go out and sort them out because it's bad for business," says Ichiro Senda, a former mid-ranking Yamaguchi Gumi boss who once worked under Watanabe. "But if the Yakuza are gone who'll there be to make sure punks don't terrorize ordinary people. The police? I wouldn't count on it."<br /> <br /> UPDATE JULY 30, 2005: On Friday July 29, 2005 Yoshinori Watanabe stepped down as boss of the Yamaguchi-gumi, according to police. He was replaced by by his second-in-command Kenichi Shinoda. A source familiar with the Japanese underworld said Watanabe was thought to be in poor health.</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></div>
Profile of Yakuza boss Kazuo Taoka
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/yakuza-boss-kazuo-taoka
2010-11-03T20:26:36.000Z
2010-11-03T20:26:36.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9881448278?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=260"></div><div><p><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> Posted in 2001<br /><br /> Kazuo Taoka was boss of the most powerful Yakuza Family in Japan: The Yamaguchi Gumi. He was the toughest and most feared Yakuza boss Japan ever had and under his reign the Yamaguchi Gumi grew more powerful than ever before. Kazuo is considered the most succesful Yakuza boss ever. But like most crime bosses Kazuo Taoka also would fall.<br /> <br /> Taoka was born in 1913 in Kobe, Japan. His parents could not take care of him and so at an early age he became an orphan. To make money Taoka began working on the docks of Kobe and pretty soon turned to a life of crime to survive. He joined a gang under the leadership of Noburu Yamaguchi. Taoka proved he was fit for a life of crime when he fought in street fights. One of his special moves was to claw his opponents eyes with his fingers, this move gave him his nickname: 'Kuma' or in English 'Bear'. In 1936 at the age of 23 Taoka was sentenced to 8 years in prison for killing a rival Yakuza member. He was released from prison in 1943 and rejoined his palls in the Yamaguchi Gumi clan. In 1946 his Boss Noburu Yamaguchi died and at the age of 33 he took over as the new Oyabun (Boss) of the Yamaguchi Gumi who at that time were decimated, by arrests and milititary draft, to an estimate 25 kobun (made guys, soldiers). But under Taoka things would get better....a lot better.<br /> <br /> Taoka turned out to be an amazing Oyabun. Thanks to his organzational skills the Yamaguchi Gumi's membership soon increased and they became strong enough to challenge other groups in the area. First to succumb to the Yamaguchi Gumi's powers were the Honda Kai group, they were a major gambling group in Kobe and were taken over by the Yamaguchi Gumi. Next up were the Meiyu Kai from Osaka, they also were defeated and this gave the Yamaguchi Gumi a major share in the Osaka rackets. Taoka wasn't satisfied yet and ordered his soldiers to take on the Miyamoto Gumi, they were threatened and under threat they decided it was better to join the Yamaguchi Gumi Clan, and so the Yamaguchi Gumi had new members and grew even more powerful. Taoka then wanted to move in on Yokohama but this move didn't go through after talks with major Yakuza Oyabun Kodama. Kodama was one of the most respected Yakuza Oyabuns of Japan and brokered a pact between the Yamaguchi Gumi and Tokyo's powerful Inagawa Kai Clan. This alliance created a Yakuza monopoly with only 4 of Japan's prefectures free of their control.<br /> <br /> By 1978 at the age of 65 Taoka was living the life. He had the power and the money and could sit back and enjoy. But it's at those kind of times that trouble is around the corner. In July 1978 Taoka was relaxing in a Kyoto Kyoto nightclub. He was as always surrouned by his bodyguards, but that didn't stop a young man from walking up to Taoka and shooting him with a .38 caliber gun. Eventhough there were bodyguards all around Taoka the young man managed to escape leaving Taoka wouned with a gunshot in the neck. Taoka was rushed to a hospital and survived. He found out that the young man who shot him was part of the Matsuda Clan. The Oyabun of the Matsuda Clan had been whacked by the Yamaguchi Gumi and several of the Matsuda Clan's members had vowed to take revenge. This young man tried, failed and was found dead several weeks later in the woods near Kobe.<br /> <br /> Taoka recovered from his wounds and went on to control his criminal empire. These were the glory days for the Yakuza. Within 2 decades things would change for the worse just like it would for their Italian counterparts in the United States. But this was not on Taoka's mind, he was still living like an emperor and enjoying his power and wealth. In 1981 Kazuo Taoka died of a heart attack. His funeral was a big affair attended by high ranking Yamaguchi Gumi members from all over Japan as well as a number of well known celebrity entertainers. After his death the Yamaguchi Gumi Clan had some trouble with getting back to normal. During the customary 3 month mourning period police took advantage and arrested 900 Yamaguchi Gumi members in the hope of turning some of them informer and maybe breaking the Clan. Taoka's had chosen his successor before he died but at the time he was in prison and could not lead the Clan and so Taoka's widow decided to become Oyabun for the time being to prevent an internal war. She didn't make any major decissions but maintained peace untill a permanent new Oyabun was selected.</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></div>
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
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236979867,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="" /></p>
<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>
<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></div>