Yamaguchigumi VI and Shinobu Tsukasa visited Yokohama with a new young leader “Yakuza from all over the country gathered at the ‘funeral’ of the president of the Inagawa-kai” at a powerful site.

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With a loud voice, the iron gate of the Inagawa-kaikan opened. As if on cue, the tension among the 40 or so police on guard in the vicinity rose dramatically. In the midst of the high alert, Shinobu Tsukasa, 83, head of the Yamaguchi clan VI, Japan’s largest designated crime syndicate, emerged from a courtesy car along with top leaders including Shomei Takeuchi, 65, a young leader who was newly appointed to the post on April 18.

It was a fine May day on May 15. At Inagawa Kaikan in the suburbs of Yokohama City, a “funeral” for the late Yamaguchigumi President Jiro Kiyota was held from 10:00 in the morning. More than 100 yakuza from all over the country attended the service, as it was the occasion for the final address by inviting other groups with which he had close ties.

The condolences were attended by the heads of 25 yakuza groups. Leading the way was the Yamaguchigumi VI. The relationship between the two groups is very deep, as they are ‘five-fifths brotherhood’ between Wakao Takeuchi and Kazuya Uchibori, chairman of the Inagawa-kai. At the ceremony, Chairman Uchibori personally greeted them, bowed to them, and invited them in.

The intention of the advisor is apparent.

After the burning of incense, they were served tea by Chairman Uchibori in the reception room. Mr. Tsukasa stayed for about 10 minutes and then went home.

There was no end to the number of mourners after that, including Shuji Ogawa, chairman of the Sumiyoshi-kai, as well as officials from the Kyosei-kai in the Chugoku region, the Kudo-kai in the Kyushu region, and others. The ceremony went on without a hitch and ended shortly after noon. The journalist mentioned above said, “Big names from all over the country, including the Yamaguchigumi VI and the Sumiyoshikai, attended the ceremony. The amount of money donated to the temple must have reached several hundred million yen.

The VI Yamaguchigumi showed its strong relationship with the Inagawa-kai both at home and abroad. Even in such condolences, one change could be seen. Seiji Takayama, 77, the former advisor to the young head of the group, who had been present at all of the social affairs as the number two for many years, did not participate in this year’s mourning.

In early April, the Yamaguchigumi VI declared a substantial end to its ‘split war’ with the Kobe Yamaguchigumi. From now on, I think they will proceed with a “replacement” with Takeuchi as the seventh head. In order to lay the groundwork for this, Advisor Takayama may be trying to give the opportunity to Wakao Takeuchi to take the center stage.

In fact, he did not show up at the meeting in early May, which was attended by the direct participants, and Waka-head Takeuchi was in charge. On the surface, the reason for his absence from the funeral was his poor health, but behind this, we can see Advisor Takayama’s intention to entrust Wakao Takeuchi with his duties.

In the world where the bigwigs of the Inagawa-kai have left, the Yamaguchigumi VI is steadily moving toward a new structure.

From the June 6-13, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY