The Kokusui-kai ("Patriotic Society") (國粹会), founded in 1958, is a Tokyo-based yakuza organization with an estimated 1000 members. Despite its relatively low membership, it is widely viewed as a wealthy and successful gang, controlling Tokyo's fashionable

Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

district. Its ''oyabun'', or godfather, was

Kazuyoshi Kudo was a Japanese people, Japanese organized crime figure. He was the 4th head of the Kokusui-kai, a Tokyo-based yakuza gang. He was also the 7th ''socho'' of Kanamachi-ikka. In August 2005, Kudo shocked the yakuza world when he became sworn brother ...

until his suicide in February 2007.The Guardian - Suicide suspected in yakuza death
/ref> The gang had long been a member of the Kantō Hatsukakai, a federation of Tokyo yakuza groups opposed to the powerful,

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

-based Yamaguchi-gumi. This changed in August 2005, when in a surprise move, the Kokusui-kai withdrew from the Kantō alliance and became an affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi. The timing of the change was particularly interesting: the Yamaguchi-gumi's new godfather, Kenichi Shinoda, had been installed just weeks before and had made clear his intent to expand into the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

. The merger with the Kokusui-kai, in which Shinoda became sworn brothers with Kazuyoshi Kudo in a sake-sharing ritual, was concrete evidence of the Yamaguchi's expansion.

References

Organizations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Japan Far-right politics in Japan Yakuza groups Yamaguchi-gumi {{crime-stub