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 ...
gang based 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 ...
,
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 ...
. It was the largest affiliate, followed by the
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
-based
Kodo-kai The Kodo-kai ( ''Kōdō-kai'', ''Koh-doh-kai'') is a yakuza criminal organization based in Nagoya, Japan. It is a secondary organization of the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan. With an estimated membership of 4,00 ...
, of the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan, 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 ...
until 2015. From 2015 to 2020, it was under the umbrella of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. In July 2021, the group split from the Yamaguchi-gumi, with a large number of their members opting to stay with the Yamaguchi-gumi.
Before the split, the Yamaken-gumi was estimated to have between 3,000 and 7,000 members. Following the split the number dropped to around 800.
Yoshinori Watanabe
was a yakuza, the fifth ''kumicho'' (chairman or Godfather) of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization. He became kumicho in 1989. He was known for a more low-key approach than his predecessors, partly due to an anti-gang law pas ...
The Japan Times
''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo.
History
''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'' Watanabe retired from that post in July 2005, but the Yamaken-gumi remains largely loyal to him. Many of its members were upset that the sixth Yamaguchi don was not chosen from their ranks, instead, the
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
-based
Kenichi Shinoda
, also known as , is a Japanese Yakuza, the sixth and current ''kumicho'' (supreme kingpin, or chairman) of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization.
Career
Shinoda was born in Ōita, Kyushu.Kunio Inoue (born 1948 in Oita,
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
). The number-two (''wakagashira'') is Kuniharu Yamamoto (born 1949 in Oita, Kyushu).
On 16 September 2021, 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 ...
announced that it will be welcoming back Yamaken-gumi members who had disunited from them in 2015.
Leadership
*1st ''kumicho'' (1961-1982): who was a of the Third Yamaguchi-gumi. He was a former member of .
*2nd ''kumicho'' (1982-1989): who was ''wakagashira'' of the Fourth Yamaguchi-gumi. He was 1st of the , and would later become ''kumicho'' of the Fifth Yamaguchi-gumi.
*3rd ''kumicho'' (1989-2005): who is a of the Fifth Yamaguchi-gumi. He was ''kaicho'' of the Second Kenryu-kai.
*4th ''kumicho'' (2005-): who is a of the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi. He was ''kaicho'' of the Fourth Kenryu-kai. He is an adopted son of Kuwata.