Chairman Kazuya Uchibori personally attended the meeting… Special circumstances: “more than a dozen executives of the Inagawa-kai” appeared in Yokohama, where more than 20 investigators were on high alert.

The Chairman’s vehicle is coming in!

The evening of September 11, when the temperature had been over 30ºC since the morning, was still sweltering at around 4:30 p.m. The voices of strong men in black suits and black ties echoed through a funeral hall on the outskirts of Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The “chairman’s car,” a Century, appeared shortly afterward, and Kazuya Uchibori, 71, chairman of the Inakawakai, stepped out with a stern expression on his face.

Please come this way.

The person who rushed up to the Century and greeted him was Shomei Takeuchi, 64, assistant to the young leader of the Yamaguchigumi VI. In the waiting room of the funeral hall, the main direct members of the Yamaguchigumi VI executive branch, including Shinobu Tsukasa (82), Seiji Takayama (77), the number 2 head of the Yamaguchigumi, were all present.

On that day, a wake was held for Masayuki Yamazaki, the fourth president of the Masuda clan and a direct member of the Yamaguchigumi VI, who died on September 5. The funeral hall was attended not only by the top executives of the Yamaguchigumi VI, but also by the heads and executives of each gang that had friendly relations with the Masuda Gumi, and they welcomed Chairman Uchibori, who was the last to arrive.

The “strict conditions” imposed at the funeral

A person related to the Yamaguchigumi VI reveals the inside story.

The Mashida-gumi was organized in Yokohama as a vanguard of the Yamaguchigumi’s expansion into the Kanto region during the reign of Kazuo Taoka, the third head of the Yamaguchigumi, and is a militant organization that has built its ground. President Yamazaki was the third head of the Mashida-gumi, and after he handed over the succession to the current fourth head, Hideaki Mizushima, in 2011, he became the president of the Mashida-gumi while remaining the direct supervisor of the Yamaguchigumi VI, and continued to be active in the Mashida-gumi.

Although there have been occasions in the past when the head of the Tsukasa-gumi and the young leader Takayama have attended the funeral of a direct leader, it was extremely unusual for them to appear together in the Tokyo metropolitan area. With the authorities on high alert, not only the Masuda clan leaders, but also the assistant head, Mr. Takeuchi, must have taken the lead in welcoming the attendees so that the wake could be completed without delay. Mr. Takeuchi exchanged a five-minute sake cup with Chairman Uchibori. He personally greeted the attendees and escorted them to the funeral hall.

More than 20 investigators from the local Kanagawa Prefectural Police, Chiba Prefectural Police, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and Hyogo Prefectural Police were on guard duty.

The funeral was held as a family funeral for the Yamasaki family. The authorities imposed strict conditions, such as finishing the service around the time of the 5 p.m. general wake reception, not wearing a gang badge, and not exchanging greetings outside the building,” said an Inagawa-kai official.