HYOGO (TR) – Following an upheaval in Japan’s criminal underworld earlier this month, a newly formed rival gang to the Yamaguchi-gumi held its first meeting on Thursday on Awaji Island, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sep. 24).
At approximately 9:00 a.m., the top boss of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, Kunio Inoue, was seen entering the gang’s headquarters in Awaji City. Tadashi Irie, another top boss, was also observed arriving at the compound.
Inoue, who also heads the Yamaken-gumi, and Irie, the top boss of the Takumi-gumi, were directly involved in the recent dissolution of the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, which is Japan’s largest organized crime group.
On September 1, the Yamaguchi-gumi chose to finalize the excommunication of 13 affiliate gangs, including the Yamaken-gumi (also based in Kobe), the Takumi-gumi (Osaka) and the Kyoyu-kai (Awaji).
The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, which is comprised of 14 gangs, formed four days later. Of the gang’s 3,000 members, approximately 2,000 are from the Yamaken-gumi.
Osamu Teraoka, the head of the Kyoyu-kai, is an upper-level boss of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. The gang is utilizing the headquarters of the Kyoyukai as its base of operations.
