The is a

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 ...

group based in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

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 ...

History

The Kyosei-kai was formed in May 1964 from seven yakuza clans united by

bakuto ''Bakuto'' (博徒) were itinerant gamblers active in Japan from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. They were one of two forerunners (the other being ''tekiya'', or peddlers) to modern Japanese organized crime syndicates called ''yakuza''. ...

Tatsuo Yamamura."1993 Police White Paper Chapter 1 : The Actual Condition of the Boryokudan"
1993, ''

National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: Cuban National Police *East Timor: National Police of E ...

Condition

The Kyosei-kai is known for its history of fierce conflicts with various other yakuza groups, and therefore, the Kyosei-kai is thought to be most responsible for creating Hiroshima's "town of violence" image."Chitizens standing up against boryokudan conflicts"
''

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

'' Notably the Kyosei-kai has been in conflict with 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 ...

, the largest yakuza syndicate, since the early 1960s. The Kyosei-kai was a leading member of two anti-Yamaguchi federations, the Kansai Hatsuka-kai (formed in 1970) and the Nishinippon Hatsuka-kai (formed in 1989), and has formed a new anti-Yamaguchi federation named the Gosha-kai since 1996 with three other Chugoku-based organizations, the Kyodo-kai, the

Asano-gumi The is a yakuza group based in Okayama, Japan. The Asano-gumi is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 60 active members. History The Asano-gumi was formed in 1945 as a bakuto organization named the by Kunio Oyama. The group restarted as ...

, the

Goda-ikka The is a yakuza group based in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Yamaguchi, Japan. It is a Yakuza#Designated boryokudan, designated yakuza group and Yamaguchi Prefecture's largest, with an estimated 60 members. History The group was formed in 1948 as the i ...

, and the

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

-based Shinwa-kai.

In popular culture

The ''

Battles Without Honor and Humanity , also known in the West as ''The Yakuza Papers'', is a Japanese yakuza film series produced by Toei Company. Inspired by a series of magazine articles by journalist Kōichi Iiboshi that are based on memoirs originally written by real-life yaku ...

'' yakuza film series is based on actual 20th-century yakuza conflicts engaged in by Hiroshima yakuza syndicates, particularly the events leading up to the formation of the Kyosei-kai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyosei-Kai Organizations established in 1964 1964 establishments in Japan Yakuza groups