was the founder of the

Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest ''yakuza'' organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest criminal organizations i ...

, which grew to become

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

's largest and most powerful

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

organization. Yamaguchi established the group in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

in 1915, and was its ''kumicho'' or Godfather until 1925 when he was succeeded by his son Noboru Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi died at the age of 57.

References

External links

Yamaguchi-gumi Split Signals Changes in the Yakuza World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamaguchi, Harukichi Yakuza members Yamaguchi-gumi Japanese crime bosses People from Hyōgo Prefecture Kobe 1881 births 1938 deaths