Inside the Sixth-Generation Yamaguchi-gumi Mochi-Pounding Event with Shinobu Tsukasa

The boss himself wields the mallet for mochi-pounding

“Yoisho! Yoisho!”

On December 28, near the end of last year, the 10th Seto Family, a direct affiliate of the 6th Yamaguchi-gumi in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture, held the 6th Yamaguchi-gumi’s traditional mochi-pounding event, with the shouts of members swinging mallets echoing outside.

Executive members including Advisor Kiyoshi Takayama (78) and Wakagashira Teruaki Takeuchi (65), along with direct subordinates, gathered over 100 members in total. In the courtyard of the hall, a temporary mochi-pounding area covered with tents had been set up. Around the hall, investigators from prefectural police in Aichi, Shizuoka, Niigata, as well as Tokyo Metropolitan Police, had gathered from early morning. They watched closely every time members entered or exited. Outside the hall, a tense atmosphere prevailed, completely different from the heated energy inside the mochi-pounding tent.

The hall is surrounded by walls about three meters high, making it impossible to see inside, including the courtyard.

“Even so, we could get a sense of what was happening each time members went in or out. Columns covered with red-and-white curtains stood in rows, and in the center was a large sake barrel for kagami-biraki. The mochi-pounding area under the tent had six mortars, apparently prepared for each block nationwide. Occasionally, some members carried bulletproof bags that seemed to contain iron plates. It made me realize once again that the conflict with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi has not yet ended,” said a photographer reporting on site.

The mochi-pounding began around 8 a.m., but just after 11 a.m., nearly all the alert investigators gathered at the hall’s front, and tension peaked. A Mercedes carrying Boss Shinobu Tsukasa (83) arrived. While Takeuchi Wakagashira and other top executives greeted him, Tsukasa slowly stepped out of the rear seat wearing sunglasses and entered the hall with the welcoming executives.

A journalist familiar with the yakuza world spoke about the scene inside:

“Boss Tsukasa went with Wakagashira Takeuchi and Chief Yamashita to the sake barrel, performed kagami-biraki himself with a wooden mallet, and enjoyed the zoni soup served afterward. He continued energetically throughout—pounding mochi with the mallet, talking with top executives like Advisor Takayama and Wakagashira Takeuchi, and even calling out to the members pounding mochi.”

After 12 p.m., Boss Tsukasa left the venue, followed by Advisor Takayama, and Wakagashira Takeuchi departed just before 1 p.m. By around 2 p.m., the mochi-pounding event had concluded smoothly.

The paid edition of FRIDAY GOLD features numerous photos from the mochi-pounding event, as well as a detailed report on the prospects for the 6th Yamaguchi-gumi in ’26.