All signals are green in case of an attack…Kudo-kai top appeals court, “too much stuff, super strict convoy photo”

You’ll regret it for the rest of your life.

These were the words of Satoru Nomura, 76, the president and head of the Kudo Kai, and Fumio Taue, 67, the chairman and number two in the Kudo Kai, to the then presiding judge when they were sentenced to death and life imprisonment, respectively, in a trial held in August 2009.

On September 13, 2011, two years after this shocking statement, the first appeal hearing was held at the Fukuoka High Court. The court and its surroundings were on high alert, as they had been two years earlier. The floor of the High Court where the trial was held was restricted, and only paper and writing utensils were allowed inside the courtroom.

Meanwhile, the Ropponmatsu area of Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, where the Fukuoka High Court is located, was enveloped in a tense atmosphere. Court staff and plainclothes police officers from the Fukuoka Prefectural Police Department were on guard at all times, keeping a close eye on the surroundings.

Around 9:30 a.m., when the convoy carrying defendants Nomura and Tague arrived at the courthouse, the surrounding streets were closed to traffic. Pedestrians and cars were stopped, and the atmosphere was as if the convoy was passing through some presidential palace.

Police officers were stationed at every intersection along the route from the detention center to the courthouse, all traffic signals were set to green, and a thorough system was put in place to ensure nonstop traffic flow. It seems that these measures were taken in order to prevent any attempts to recapture the defendants or assault them in the event that the convoy was stopped at a traffic light.

Drivers and pedestrians who were caught up in the traffic control without knowing what was going on.

“Is some bigwig going by?”

“Is there some kind of incident?

or “Is there some kind of incident?

The convoy of vehicles was also enveloped in an atmosphere of excitement, and consisted of a Land Cruiser, an undercover police car, a convoy, a convoy, a Hiace undercover police car, an Allion undercover police car, and a backup convoy.

Most of the undercover police cars and convoys organized in this convoy are specially designed vehicles with bulletproof mountings. As mentioned earlier, this is in preparation for recapture or assault, and in the unlikely event of an incident, it could lead to a shootout or other confrontation.

At around 5:00 p.m., after a series of hearings, the convoy carrying defendants Nomura and Tague left the courthouse and returned to the detention center via a route that was once again closed to traffic. Since the area around the courthouse is dotted with schools and other facilities, students rushing home followed the convoy with their eyes, wondering what was going on.

The security measures taken by the Fukuoka Prefectural Police to destroy the Kudo-kai were a clear indication of their seriousness.