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 ''yak ...

syndicate based in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Originally named the , with its historic leader Hisayuki Machii, the Toa-kai was deeply involved in the history of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n community and Japan's

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

circles in the 20th century.

History

The group was formed by Hisayuki Machii, a

Zainichi Korean () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

mob boss,"Overview of a 'heretic' of post-war history"
April 2009, ''The Facta Magazine'' as the Tosei-kai in 1948. The Tosei-kai was originally a reported

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

organization of

activism led by Machii as a sympathizer of Kanji Ishiwara,"Review : The Man Called the Wild Bull : 'Tosei-kai' Hisayuki Machii's Post-war History"
, March 2009, Shin'ichi Sano, ''

Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in , Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: '' Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), '' Ute ...

'' which was in conflict with the

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

-associated General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. The Tosei-kai quickly became one of

's most powerful gangs, and had significantly expanded during the time of the post-war economic growth. Membership reached 1,500 in the 1960s. As the leader of the syndicate, Machii became an essential "fixer" between Japan and

."Hisayuki Machii - Top 10 Real-Life Mob Bosses"
20 January 2011, ''

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' Increasing police crackdowns by 1965 forced Machii to disband the Tosei-kai and establish a new gang, the , or "East Asia Friendship Enterprise Association". He also formed a "legitimate" company called the , or East Asia Enterprises Company, and named power-broker Yoshio Kodama as chairman of the board.''Yakuza: Japan's criminal underworld'', p.229, 2003, David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro, Afterwards, the Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai changed the name as and Toa-kai. The founder Machii retired in the 1980s, and died of heart failure on September 14, 2002, in Tokyo. Also known as a successful businessman, he was 79.

Condition

The Toa-kai is a member of a bakuto fraternal federation named the Kanto Hatsuka-kai, along with four other Kanto-based yakuza syndicates, the Sumiyoshi-kai, the Inagawa-kai, the Matsuba-kai, and the Soai-kai."The Yamaguchi-gumi Bakuhu theory"
Kenji Ino, 17 December 2007 The Toa-kai has aligned itself with the largest known

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 longshoreman, dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest organized cr ...

syndicate since the syndicate's Taoka era in the 20th century, and has been closely supported by Shinobu Tsukasa, the sixth-generation godfather of the Yamaguchi-gumi, since 2005 when the sixth era of the Yamaguchi-gumi officially started. Ginza-Dori Avenue at night

Okinawa

The Toa-kai's notable branch organizations include the . Yoshimi-Kogyo was dissolved in 2012. The origin of the Yoshimi-kogyo reportedly traces back to the late 20th century, when Toshio Gibo, an ethnic Okinawan mobster, formed an anti-

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

nationalist organization named the Makoto-kai in Okinawa under influence of Yoshio Kodama. Gibo met with Machii through Kodama, founding an affiliate of the Tosei-kai in Okinawa. Okinawa's underworld has been known for its exclusiveness since the 20th century, where the dominating Kyokuryu-kai has persistently attacked and violently expelled any yakuza syndicate attempting to enter the island. The reason why the Toa-kai has been able to be active on the island may be because the group has historically been more oriented to legitimate businesses, and of its gentle stance, in contrast to other yakuza syndicates which have attempted to expand their influences into Okinawa with heavy violence, such as the

and especially the Dojin-kai. For example, in 2002 in Okinawa, only one Yoshimi member was arrested, while 56 Kyokuryu-kai members and 95 Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai members were arrested.

Leadership

*1st President: Hisayuki Machii *2nd president: Fujimatsu Hirano *3rd president: Morihiro Okita *4th president: Shohei Futamura *5th president: Yoshio Kaneumi *6th president: Yasumi Hayano

References

{{reflist Organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Japan Yakuza groups Anti-communist organizations in Japan category:Yamaguchi-gumi Zainichi Korean organizations