Why did the assistant head of Yamaguchigumi VI pay a surprise visit to Inagawa-kai after the “joint sake cup ceremony”?

On December 19, in front of the Inagawa-kai headquarters building in a corner of Roppongi, Tokyo, where businessmen were busy at the end of the year, an unusual atmosphere enveloped the area.

Around 10:00 a.m., luxury black cars pulled up in front of the headquarters one after another, and before 10:30 a.m., Inagawa-kai executives lined up in front of the headquarters building. All were dressed in black suits, and not a single one of them was wearing a coat, even though a cold wind was blowing. Furthermore, the area around the headquarters building was guarded by investigators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and the scene was enveloped in a strange tension.

The Chairman’s car is here!

In the midst of this high alert situation, a loud voice rang out. Soon, a luxury car appeared in front of the headquarters. From the backseat steps out Kazuya Uchibori, 72, the head of the Inakawakai. In response to our reporter’s call, Uchibori replied, “I’m getting old again. （I’ll work harder (next year)! He was greeted by the executives and entered the headquarters.

Inagawa-kai just held a large-scale sake cup ceremony in late October. We exchanged parent-child kumiai sake cups with the three members at once and performed a ‘joint sake cup ceremony’ to welcome them as new direct members of the association. For generations, the Inakawakai has actively promoted powerful members of its affiliated organizations to direct supervisory positions. I think this time, too, it is a decision made with the future of the organization in mind.

The “real reason for the visit” of a Yamaguchigumi VI executive

It was 30 minutes after the arrival of Chairman Uchibori that the area in front of the Inagawa-kai headquarters once again became noisy. Once again, the executives came out of the headquarters and took a welcoming posture. It was Shomei Takeuchi, 64, an assistant to the head of the Yamaguchigumi VI, who got out of a luxury black car that appeared shortly afterward.

He was greeted by Inagawa-kai executives as he entered the headquarters building. He has a stern expression on his face, in stark contrast to Chairman Uchibori. What was the purpose of a visit to another organization by a senior executive of the Yamaguchigumi VI, which is in the midst of a bitter divisional war?

On that day, a birthday celebration for Chairman Uchibori was being held at the Inagawa-kai headquarters. It is likely that assistant head Takeuchi participated in the celebration of an organization with which he had a close relationship, as a representative of Yamaguchigumi VI. As a souvenir, I heard that he brought a lunch box containing Matsuzaka beef steak and sukiyaki.

Twenty minutes after the assistant head joined the group, the two came out of the headquarters building together. While Inagawa-kai executives and others bowed their heads to see them off, they got into the backseat of Takeuchi’s car, which was waiting at the front of the building, and left the headquarters.

They usually travel in their own cars and have lunch together afterwards, but this time they were together from the beginning. They were probably talking about something they didn’t want to interrupt.

The Inagawa-kai, which is pushing forward with a new structure, and the VI Yamaguchigumi, whose split war entered its 10th year this summer. It seems that the celebration for Chairman Uchibori was a precious time for both groups to deepen their unity.