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 ...

criminal organization In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

based on the

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

island of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

,"Police of Japan 2011, Criminal Investigation : 2. Fight Against Organized Crime"
, December 2009, ''

National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Canada: Royal Canadian Mounted Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: National Revolut ...

'' with an estimated membership of 210"Boryokudan Situation in 2010", p.27
April 2011, ''

'' –270. Headquartered in

Naha, Okinawa is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

, the Kyokuryu-kai is one of the two designated yakuza groups in

Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan. It consists of three main island groups—the Okinawa Islands, the Sakishima Islands, and the Daitō Islands—spread across a maritime zone approximately 1,000 kilometers east to west an ...

along with its splinter group Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai, and had been Okinawa's largest organized crime group since 1983 until 1990 when the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai broke away."Outline of Boryokudan in Okinawa Prefecture"
, October 2007, '' Okinawa Prefectural

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

History

The Kyokuryu-kai was formed in 1970 as the by two gangs, the

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

Clan and the Koza Clan. These two gangs were practically not "

" groups descended from the yakuza tradition (Okinawa was originally not part of Japan's territory) but were just a bunch of primitive bandits whose activities consisted of mugging United States military servicemen and smuggling valuables from nearby wealthier places such as Taiwan and Hong Kon

and they had originally opposed each other until that merger. They formed the union in the year of 1970, shortly before the Okinawa Prefecture#History, return of Okinawa to Japan, with the alleged purpose of preventing yakuza's invasion from the mainland. Asahi-machi Naha Okinawa02s3s4230

From 1973 to 1981, the Kyokuryu-kai was in fierce 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 longshoreman, dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest organized cr ...

, the largest known yakuza syndicate attempting to expand its influence into Okinawa at that time. Later dubbed the and described as a "war of slaughter", this conflict often involved carbines, magnum bullets and hand grenades among other weapons, and was considered one of the most brutal yakuza conflicts in the 20th century. Unlike the

Dojin-kai The is a yakuza organization headquartered in Kurume, Fukuoka, on the Kyushu island of Japan,

, which had also been in conflict with the Yamaguchi-gumi in the late 20th century, the Kyokuryu-kai had never committed unconventional gruesome acts such as mass destruction and mass murder, but the victims included an innocent ''katagi'', or ordinary civilian; a policeman who was shot with a carbine by a Kyokuryu member. The first president resigned in 1976, and the second president was shot to death in 1982 by an affiliate organization. Yoshihiro Onaga became the third president in 1983,"A phenomenon of boryokudan unification, The third Kyokuryu-kai president changes"
, 3 July 2010, '' Ryukyu Shimpo'' and membership reached 1,000. In 1990 an internal war broke out, and Kiyoshi Tominaga founded a splinter organization, the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai. In June 1992 the Kyokuryu-kai, along with the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai, was registered as a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law. The Kyokuryu-kai seems to have adopted the yakuza tradition extensively; the

's 1993 Police White Paper introduced a total of two notable cases of ''

yubitsume or ''otoshimae'' is a Japanese ritual to atone for offenses to another, a way to be punished or to show sincere apology and remorse to another, by means of amputating portions of one's own little finger. In modern times, it is primarily perfor ...

'', or finger cutting, and in these two cases, one was of a Kyokuryu-kai member, the other was of an Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai member."1993 Police White Paper Chapter 1 : The Actual Condition of the Boryokudan"
1993, ''

Condition

The Kyokuryu-kai had been in conflict with the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai for years, but it has been reported that they have been pondering a reconciliation since 1998.

Activities

The Kyokuryu-kai's official policy forbids its members from engaging in

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

."Drug cases, The prefectural police : '40% are related to the boryokudan'"
, 29 November 2008, '' Ryukyu Shimpo''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyokuryu-Kai Organizations established in 1970 1970 establishments in Japan Yakuza groups based in Kyushu