TOKYO (TR) – As fears of an underworld conflict mount, investigative sources revealed on Tuesday that executives from the Yamaguchi-gumi had a clandestine meeting with an ally, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sep. 15).
Japan’s largest gang summoned executives of the Tokyo-based Inagawa-kai to its Kobe headquarters. For two decades, the two gangs have maintained cordial relations.
The meeting comes after recent turmoil involving the Yamaguchi-gumi, which is Japan’s largest organized crime group.
On September 1, the Yamaguchi-gumi excommunicated 13 affiliate gangs, including the Yamaken-gumi and the Kyoyu-kai.
The renegade gangs have now formed the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, a rival gang to the Yamaguchi-gumi that will be headed by Kunio Inoue, the 67-year-old boss of the Yamaken-gumi.
On September 5, the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi met with executives from the Tokyo-based Sumiyoshi-kai.
Law enforcement is now concerned that the two meetings may be in preparation for a turf war in Tokyo, and preventative measures are being taken.
Since the dissolution, police have raided the headquarters of the Yamaken-gumi and Kyoyu-kai. On Thursday, Tokyo police searched the Nagoya headquarters of the Tsukasa Kogo, an organization that remained within the Yamaguchi-gumi.
