Exploring the Yamaguchi-gumi Split Conflict from Police and Yakuza Perspectives as it Enters Its 10th Year
During the prolonged conflict, a decisive event marked the ascendancy of the sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi. In October 2019, young head Kiyoshi Takayama completed his prison sentence and was released from Fuchu Prison. Following Takayama’s release, members of the sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi’s affiliated organizations began to compete by instigating incidents.
The most symbolic incident occurred in November 2019, when Keichi Furukawa, an executive of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, was killed by multiple gunshots from an automatic rifle in a shopping district in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture. The sound of continuous gunfire echoed through the evening shopping district. The arrested suspect was a former member of the Takekuni-gumi, a faction of the sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi.
Just before Takayama’s release, an incident occurred where two members of the Yamaguchi-gumi, a group under the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, were simultaneously shot and killed. A member of the Kōdō-kai, a faction of the sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi, was arrested. A different police official stated, ‘The situation rapidly turned in favor of the sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi largely due to Takayama’s release. Takayama was the cause of the split and also the catalyst for the shift in favor of the sixth-generation side. Everything seems to revolve around Takayama.’
An experienced member of a designated violent organization based in the Tokyo metropolitan area, who had been closely observing the conflict, pointed out, “I was questioning the lack of retaliation from the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi side,” and shared the following thoughts.
