was a wealthy

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

-based

real estate investor Real estate investing involves the purchase, management and sale or rental of real estate for profit. Someone who actively or passively invests in real estate is called a real estate entrepreneur or a real estate investor. Some investors actively ...

who was known for the large amounts of money he wagered at

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

casinos.

Business background

Kashiwagi owned a home and office in Tokyo, out of which he ran the Kashiwagi Shoji Company. He stated that he was the sole principal of his real estate and investment business. He claimed an income of a hundred million dollars a year, and a billion dollars in assets. His finances were so secretive that a credit review for casino officials declared his profession only as 'business'.

Gambling habits

Kashiwagi regularly played

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

for large sums, betting $100,000 or $200,000 a hand, for hours at a time. He later got into a legal wrangle with the

Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino Trump Plaza was a hotel and casino on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts. Designed by architect Alan Lapidus, it operated from May 15, 1984 until September 16, 2014. History The beginning The ...

in Atlantic City in 1990 over a deal in which Kashiwagi was to bet $12 million. Kashiwagi left the casino with two million dollars in chips, having lost ten million. He claimed the casino had failed to hold up its end of the deal. The character of K.K. Ichikawa (played by

Nobu Matsuhisa Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa (松久信幸 ''Matsuhisa Nobuyuki''; born March 10, 1949) is a Japanese celebrity chef and restaurateur known for his fusion cuisine blending traditional Japanese dishes with Peruvian ingredients. His signature dish ...

) in the film ''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

'' was based on Akio Kashiwagi.

Murder

On January 3, 1992, Kashiwagi was killed, stabbed as many as 150 times with a samurai sword. His body was discovered in his home in Japan near

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

. According to a story published in ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' magazine, Trump was still owed $4 million in unrecovered gambling debts. The murder was never solved.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashiwagi, Akio 1938 births 1992 deaths Deaths by stabbing 20th-century Japanese businesspeople Japanese gamblers Japanese murder victims Male murder victims People murdered in Japan Unsolved murders in Japan

Business background

Gambling habits

Murder

See also

References