Shinobu Tsukasa appears in “Shizuoka”… The “summit operation” that the Yamaguchigumi VI seriously sets up in 23 years.

The Inagawa Kaikan, the base of the designated crime syndicate Inagawa-kai, located in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, was filled with a somber atmosphere. It was a little past 9:00 a.m. on December 20, 2011. There were roughly 60 to 70 members of the gang. A dozen or so investigators from the Kanagawa and Hyogo Prefectural police forces were on guard around the area, and a helicopter was flying overhead.

Around 10:20 a.m., a man appeared from the rear seat of a white one-box. He was Seiji Takayama, a young leader of the Yamaguchigumi’s designated gang “Yamaguchigumi VI. About an hour later, Osamu Teraoka, chairman of the Chivalrous Friends Association, also entered the Inagawa Kaikan.

What took place that day was an ‘apology’ from Chairman Teraoka to Wakao Takayama. Originally, Chiyukyokai was the core organization of the designated gang “Kobe Yamaguchigumi. As Kobe gradually became inferior, Chairman Teraoka advocated the retirement of the head of the Kobe gang, Kunio Inoue, and conducted negotiations with the outside world. However, that did not go well, and he announced last August that he would leave the Kobe Yamaguchigumi. And this time, he made an apology to the Yamaguchigumi VI and Wakao Takayama accepted it.

On that day, it is said that Wakao Takayama and Chairman Teraoka talked together for about 30 minutes, with Chairman Teraoka leaving around 12:20 p.m. and Wakao Takayama leaving Inagawa Kaikan a short time later. When we asked Kazuya Uchibori, chairman of the Inagawa-kai, who acted as “go-between,” about the purpose of the meeting, he replied, “I apologize for going off the beaten path.

“It’s an apology for what he did that went astray, the dissolution of the organization, and that he should be allowed to live quietly as a cripple.”

There are two ways it can end.

Nonfiction writer Masahiro Ojima, author of “The True Story of the Yamaguchigumi Split” and other books, said.

‘ President Teraoka retired, and the chivalrous gang submitted a dissolution notice to the Hyogo Prefectural Police on December 21.’ All five organizations that were the core organizations on the Kobe side when Yamaguchigumi split in August 2003 – the Sanken Gumi, Takumi Gumi, Ikeda Gumi, Masaki Gumi, and Chiyukai – have all left. The Takumi group, which had been with us until the end, also left, and now the Chiyukai has dissolved. I think the shock is very big.

The Yamaguchigumi split war will mark its ninth year this August, and the VI Yamaguchigumi, led by head Shinobu Tsukasa, is stepping up its offensive. Last June, 17 bullets were fired into the home of Inoue’s gang leader. The perpetrators were members of the Yamaguchigumi VI. In October of the same year, the head of the Ikeda clan, an independent gang that left the Kobe Yamaguchigumi, was attacked in a barbershop by Yamaguchigumi VI-affiliated leaders. In this context, what meaning does this “apology play” have? Mr. Tomohiko Suzuki, a nonfiction writer well versed in the gang situation, tells us.

Tomohiko Suzuki, a nonfiction writer who is familiar with the situation in Japan, said, “The fact that Chairman Teraoka apologized in front of the media this time put pressure on the Kobe side. In other words, they said, ‘If you apologize and go back to work, we will guarantee your life. So, you must fall on our side. There is a possibility that some people will actually switch sides as a result of this.

Prior to the case of Chairman Teraoka, Shomei Takeuchi, assistant head of the Yamaguchigumi VI, visited Inagawa-kai on December 19. There is no pause in the strengthening of relations with friendly groups. Mr. Suzuki continues.

Mr. Suzuki continues, “I think there is a good chance that the split war will end by the end of this year. There are two ways it can end. Either the Kobe Yamaguchigumi will dissolve, or the Yamaguchigumi VI will try to crush the other party. There is a possibility that the current retirement of Chairman Teraoka will cause some people to switch sides, weakening the momentum of the Kobe side and causing it to dissolve.

However, the VI side believes that Inoue and Tadashi Irie, the head of the Takumi clan, which has become an independent organization, will not quit. Therefore, there is a possibility that they will “try to crush them. It would not be surprising to see an incident that would take the life of the top leader, not on the level of the Ikeda-gumi attack.

At the “Jikki-Meeting Ceremony” held on December 13 in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, the head of the Tsukasa clan had a big smile on his face, perhaps because he was comfortable with the situation. The “summit operation” launched by the Yamaguchigumi VI may finally put an end to the divisional war, which was said to “take 10 years to end.

From the January 20 and 27, 2023 issues of FRIDAY