KYOTO (TR) – At the opening of the trial for the alleged murderer of the “Gyoza King” last month, the alleged perpetrator entered a not-guilty plea.
“I am in no way the culprit,” said 59-year-old Yukio Tanaka at the Kyoto District Court on November 26. “I cannot accept this.”
It was a tense atmosphere. Spectators underwent thorough body checks, and bulletproof partitions were installed within the courtroom. During the proceedings, his razor-sharp eyes peered through the tinted lenses of his glasses.
According to weekly tabloid Shukan Bunshun (Dec. 11), the prosecution has its hands full in getting a conviction such the accumulated evidence to date is circumstantial.
Shot dead
On the morning of December 19, 2013, Takayuki Ohigashi, 72, the president of Ohsho Food Service, which operates Gyoza no Ohsho (Gyoza King), was shot dead near a parking lot for the company’s headquarters in Yamashina Ward, Kyoto City, as he commuted to work.
Tanaka was a member of the Kudo-kai criminal syndicate, which until its dissolution was based in Fukuoka Prefecture. He stands accused of murder and violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law.
“He was a senior member of the Kudo-kai,” a judicial affairs reporter tells the tabloid. “He was arrested nine years after the crime. He was identified as a Kudo-kai hitman in another shooting incident while serving time in prison. He continues to deny the allegations in this case.”
The deciding factor in his arrest and indictment was an abundance of physical evidence.
“Two cigarette butts were found near the crime scene, and the DNA type in of saliva [found on the butts] matched that of the defendant perfectly,” a social affairs reporters says. “Gunshot residue was found on one of the motorcycles used in the crime, and security cameras near the scene of the other theft captured footage of a light vehicle with Kurume City [Fukuoka Prefecture] license plates owned by the defendant’s childhood friend. However, all of this evidence is circumstantial, with no direct evidence available.”
Motive unknown
The motive, which is crucial to solving the crime, remains unknown.
“We know that the founding family of Osho engaged in inappropriate transactions worth over 25 billion yen with a certain Kyushu business owner, and that Ohigashi was working to terminate those transactions, but the connection to the crime remains unclear,” a senior investigator says. “The person who orchestrated the shooting has also yet to be identified.”
Tanaka was arrested in 2022, seven years after the release of DNA testing results.
“Kyoto Prefectural Police wanted to begin the process immediately, but the prosecutors were reluctant to agree, arguing that it would be difficult to maintain a public trial without knowing the background, motive and mastermind of the incident,” a senior investigator tells Bunshun. “Ultimately, discussions were held with the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office and the National Police Agency, and it wasn’t until 2022 that the go-ahead was finally given.”
The investigation was also hampered by a lack of coordination with the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, which had been investigating the Kudo-kai for many years.
“Kyoto Prefectural Police tracked down Tanaka through painstaking investigations, including on-site forensics, but their channels for speaking with the Kudo-kai were weak, and they were unable to confirm any organizational involvement,” another investigator says. “Ultimately, a joint investigation headquarters was established, but there was some friction, with Fukuoka Prefectural Police investigators saying, ‘Information isn’t being shared. Kyoto is just doing things on its own.'”
In recent years, the principle of “in case of doubt, the benefit of the doubt” has been thoroughly implemented. This has resulted in many cases of defendants being acquitted, even when they are members of organized crime.
Last year, the Kobe District Court acquitted the head of the Yamaken-gumi gang, who was charged with attempted murder in a 2019 shooting incident, which surprised those involved.
Twelve hearings are scheduled in this case. The verdict is expected to be handed down in October next year.
