Sumiyoshi-kai

The , sometimes referred to as the , is the second-largest yakuza group in Japan with an estimated 2,100 members.

Outline

Their territories mainly consist of upscale districts such as Kabukichō and Ginza. Shops operating in these territories are often part of protection rackets in which they must pay a fee called a .
The Sumiyoshi-kai is a confederation of smaller gangs. Structurally, the Sumiyoshi-kai differs from its main rival, the Yamaguchi-gumi. The Sumiyoshi-kai, as a federation, has a looser chain of command and while there is a chairman, some power is delegated to affiliate clan leaders.

The group has a complex history, with numerous name changes along the way. It was founded in 1958 as the Minato-kai (港会) by Jusaku Abe who was the 3rd of the Sumiyoshi-ikka. Yoshimitsu Sekigami, who was the 4th ''sōchō'' of Sumiyoshi-ikka, renamed it to Sumiyoshi-kai. It was dissolved in 1965.

In 1969, the group was rebuilt as a union, the Sumiyoshi-rengo, by Masao Hori, who was the 5th ''sōchō'' of Sumiyoshi-ikka. He remade it as the Sumiyoshi-rengokai (住吉連合会) in 1982, and Hori became ''kaicho'' (president). Chief Director Ryoji Kawaguchi assumed the role of ''kaicho'', and Hori was promoted to '' sosai'', or chairman, in 1988. Kawaguchi died of illness in May 1990, and Hori died of illness in October of the same year.

Shigeo Nishiguchi, born in 1929, became the 6th ''sōchō'' of Sumiyoshi-ikka and ''kaicho'' of this group in February, 1991. At that time, it was again renamed the Sumiyoshi-kai. Chief Director Hareaki Fukuda, born in 1943, became ''kaicho'', and Nishiguchi was promoted to ''sosai'' in June 1998. Fukuda became the 7th ''sōchō'' of the Sumiyoshi-ikka on April 17, 2005.

On 19 April 2003, Takao Nishida, head of the affiliated Nishida-gumi, was gunned down in Ōizumi, Gunma. Police stated that they were probing for possible links between the murder and a series of shootings between the Sumiyoshi-kai and the Yamaguchi-gumi in neighboring Tochigi Prefecture.

On the morning of Monday, 5 January 2007, boss Ryoichi Sugiura was shot in his car in Tokyo. Within hours the offices of the Yamaguchi-gumi were fired upon in retribution. The following month, 70-year-old Kazuyoshi Kudo, head of the Kokusui-kai, was discovered dead in his home in Tokyo, police said. A gun was found by his side, suspected to be a suicide, raising tensions between the Sumiyoshi-kai and the Yamaguchi-gumi.

In September of 2017, Sumiyoshi-kai ''sosai'', or chairman, Shigeo Nishiguchi died of natural causes at the age of 88.

In April 2020, a report from the National Police Agency shows that the total number of members of organized crime gangs fell to historical lows, having just 2,800 members and 1,700 associated members.

On May 31, 2022, Isao Seki, the eighth leader of the Sumiyoshi-kai, died at the age of 76. Shūji Ogawa, who holds the position of ''kaicho'', was the leader of the Sumiyoshi-kai at the time of Isao Seki's funeral.住吉会代表が死去「供花や名札の配置は気を使う」「香典には数千万円を包んでくる組織も」 “義理事”は最重要儀式だが…現代ヤクザの葬儀事情はどんなもの？.
Bungeishunju. 19 June 2022

References

{{Designated Boryokudan

Organizations established in 1958
1958 establishments in Japan
Yakuza groups