An Inside Look at the Hong Kong Mafia’s Alliance with Japan’s Sumiyoshi-kai and Chinese Dragon
The final installment of freelance writer Tomohiko Suzuki's short series on the age of liquefied crime, in which the "Tokuryu" roam the streets.
<Anonymous, fluid-type criminal groups—commonly known as “Tokuryū”—have been causing various incidents across Japan. Often connected via social media, sometimes without even knowing each other’s faces, they repeatedly commit crimes. Freelance journalist Tomohiko Suzuki, who mainly investigates yakuza organizations, refers to this current state as the “Liquefied Crime Era.” In Part 2, he delved into the truth behind the “Sunshine Brawl Incident” instigated by the Chinese Dragon group in 2022.
In the final installment, we will explore the mysterious roots of this organization and its latest form.>
The two origins of the dragon
There are two main factions of the Dragon group, known in Japan as anti-social organizations. One traces its roots to the Doraken biker gang from Kasai, Tokyo; the other stems from the Kakon group that formed around the same time in Ōji, Tokyo. Both are pronounced “Dragon,” but because the kanji for Doraken appear more intimidating, and due to a widely publicized early incident involving the fatal stabbing of a rival gang member by a high school student in Urayasu, Chiba (the assailant was later acquitted on self-defense grounds), the media long treated the Kasai faction as the mainstream “Dragon.”
These two factions emerged in Tokyo during the same era and share similar social backgrounds. In principle, when someone claims to be a member of the “Dragon” group, they are either from Doraken in Kasai or Kakon in Ōji. Other groups formed mainly by descendants of Chinese orphans left behind in postwar Japan may have ties to or be associates of the Dragon group, but are not true members. For instance, JP Dragon, a group operating in the Philippines and involved in special fraud schemes, merely adopted the dragon motif and has no actual connection to the Japanese Dragon factions.
Even the Ueno Group—implicated in the “Sunshine Riot” incident—is technically not a true Dragon group. They trace their lineage to the “Black Dragon” team founded by the Satō brothers, famous delinquent second-generation Chinese orphans known as Da Wei (Tarwei) and Xiao Wei (Siaowei). Though often referred to as “Dragon” in the media, these brothers never joined the original group. Instead, they formed the Black Dragon group in Kinshichō, which, unable to evolve its structure, eventually gave rise to the Ueno Group as it exists today.
The fact that Doraken has never cooperated with the press is one reason for the ongoing confusion and misinformation about the group.
“Even during the biker gang era, Dragon was in a league of its own. It was like martial law in that world. Both Kasai’s Doraken and Ōji’s Kakon were notorious for never speaking to the media—and they were genuinely feared. I once interviewed other gangs in Ōji, including some all-girl teams, and they were visibly tense. When I asked, ‘Are you worried the police will come?’ they replied, ‘No—we’re scared Kakon will show up. If they do, it’ll be a disaster.’”
—Kenji Higa, former editor-in-chief of the biker magazine Teens Road
Kakon, the other Dragon faction, was even more secretive than Doraken. It only shared information through select magazine articles, never corrected false reports, and refused interviews even when approached directly. Because of this secrecy, the media has consistently portrayed Kakon as a sub-faction or offshoot whenever Dragon-related incidents come to light.
For a long time, the Dragon group has been a mysterious, elusive organization. Even in the Reiwa era, misunderstandings about them are rampant in the media, and with every incident, off-the-mark articles continue to circulate.
For those involved, this ambiguity likely worked in their favor. The fear that stems from an unclear reality served a dual purpose: each time the name “Dragon”—a quasi-yakuza group—surfaced in connection with an incident, it fed into the image of them as violent criminals, stoking public anxiety. Their silence and the fear surrounding them became a kind of camouflage that both protected their members and served as a shield against social punishment.
I’ve gone on at length here not to play the role of a “Dragon sommelier,” but rather to point out that even if outsiders can’t tell the difference, those within the world know exactly who’s a true Dragon member and who’s merely an associate. The media too often defaults to a lazy narrative when it comes to Dragon. While they are a difficult group to report on, the fact remains—they do exist, right in the heart of Tokyo.
In a previous article, I wrote that “Chinese Dragon” is a term used casually by the police. But in fact, when the group Kakon was first formed, they did call themselves “Chinese Dragon.” Most of the members were second-generation descendants of Chinese orphans left behind after the war. The team’s origin stemmed from resistance against the bullying they faced in Japan.
At the time, the delinquent scene was dominated by biker gangs, so Kakon also started out with gatherings involving motorcycles and cars. When their aggressive violence and ruthlessness became known among biker gangs across the Kanto region, Japanese delinquents who admired their dark glamor began to join them. Similarly, the Yanagawa-gumi in Osaka, made up of ethnic Koreans living in Japan, also swelled in numbers by incorporating Japanese youth after gaining a fearsome reputation for violent turf wars, eventually earning the nickname murder squad. Minority outlaw groups, through their extreme violence, managed to attract the majority and rebranded themselves as major combat groups. Kakon eventually grew by absorbing even their former enemies—Japanese members—and dropped “Chinese” from their name.
Despite this, the police have recently begun to repeatedly use the term “Chinese Dragon.” Likely, their intent is to bundle together all groups formed by second- or third-generation Chinese orphans and delinquent Chinese nationals under one label—“Dragon”—to paint it as a larger threat. In Japan, where overtourism from Chinese tourists has become chronic and xenophobia is on the rise, the “China threat” narrative becomes the perfect fuel. The more anxiety grows, the easier it becomes to secure generous budgets.
While such a tactic may be convenient for law enforcement looking to create a common enemy, it’s the general public that pays the price—fed only fear and uncertainty. When fear is stoked without clear reason, it could ultimately lead to an increase in anti-Chinese hate.
The true face of the underground syndicate known as “Hong Kong 14K”
As mentioned earlier, it can be inferred that in the sakazuki ritual case that led to arrests in June of this year, the police wanted to announce that the Chinese Dragon had expanded across borders and grown into an anti-social force that poses a greater threat to public safety than even the yakuza. However, that alone does not fully explain the strangeness of the recent news.
After all, this was a sakazuki (ritual sake-sharing) event with “Hong Kong 14K,” a mafia organization even more enigmatic than the Dragon. Because so little is known about its actual nature, the media can link it to current crime trends like drug trafficking or anonymous fluid-type crime groups (Tokuryū) without causing much suspicion or resistance among the public—an ambiguity that, in turn, serves to further elevate the perceived threat of the Dragon.
However, Hong Kong 14K is no longer the mafia organization it once was. Even if its form still exists, there’s no way an outlaw group could operate freely in Hong Kong after it was returned to China, a strictly authoritarian communist country. The Kudo-kai in Kitakyushu, which has been designated as a particularly dangerous crime syndicate, was only able to carry out acts akin to terrorism against the police because Japan is a free country with the rule of law firmly in place—and even then, its leader was found not guilty of murder at trial. If the same acts were committed in China, they would immediately be arrested and the top leaders, along with their executives, would all be sentenced to death.
The relationship between 14K and Japanese yakuza is nothing new. Due to geographic proximity, Okinawan gangs have had ties with them since the Showa era through smuggling operations using ships and even established local branches. In 2014, I traveled to Macau on the recommendation of the head of a designated Japanese crime syndicate. The person he introduced me to, saying “I’ll introduce you to a brother,” turned out to be the boss of Hong Kong 14K. So in that sense, it’s not surprising at all for a Japanese yakuza and a 14K leader to perform a sakazuki ritual.
The intentions of law enforcement behind the reports
So why did the police make a major announcement about this incident and have the media report on it?
Though it’s only speculation, it’s possible this case served as a warning to Chinese authorities. This is because China’s secret police frequently make contact with Dragon members and delinquent second- or third-generation descendants of Japanese war orphans left behind in China.
The goal of the secret police is not to spy on Japan. Their intelligence-gathering targets are entities that could destabilize the Chinese Communist Party’s one-party rule—such as pro-democracy activists, members of oppressed ethnic independence movements like the Uyghurs, or followers of Falun Gong, which is deemed a heretical cult by the Chinese government.
“If you have 10 Dragon members, I’d say the secret police probably try to contact at least eight of them and ask them to cooperate. On the surface, it’s not a violation of Japanese law, and it’s not like they’re selling out Japan. Since they’re offered large expenses and rewards, I’m sure some do agree to cooperate,” said a senior Dragon member.
The secret police seek collaborators among all levels of Chinese society to track down where dissidents are living in Japan and then approach them directly.
“At first, they tried to persuade them to return to China, saying past issues will be overlooked. If they refuse, they threaten to pressure their family back in China. Most activists know they’ll face both carrot and stick tactics. So sometimes rougher methods are used. It wouldn’t be surprising if some delinquents helped out,” the same source continued.
As the investigation progressed, it was discovered that among the three individuals reported to be connected to the “Chinese Dragon,” one was suspected of being a collaborator with the secret police. Furthermore, the Hong Kong 14K itself now operates as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party. In fact, members of the Hong Kong mafia acted as enforcers of state power and violently crushed Hong Kong’s democracy movement. It’s possible that the Japanese police issued a stern warning: they would not tolerate domestic yakuza becoming tools of China, and they sent this message through the media.
In April 2023, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno referred to news of two individuals arrested by U.S. authorities for operating a secret police station in the United States, and stated clearly that if any infringement of sovereignty were to occur in Japan, it would be absolutely unacceptable.
“In any case, we are working to uncover the full picture of (China’s) activities in our country, and we will take appropriate action based on the findings,” (Reuters, April 18, 2023).
There is every possibility that this incident was Japan’s way of sending a jab to China.
Interview and text： Tomohiko Suzuki
