<figure id="attachment_463215" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463215" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="352b96ed"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/f1dc567537f95360b51b3fc1aee8706c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463215" class="wp-caption-text">The young leader of the Yamaguchigumi VI, Mr. Takeuchi, appeared in a residential area in Tokyo. He gave a sharp look to the camera.</figcaption></figure>
<h3><span class="strongInContent"> The &#8220;unusual&#8221; sake cup ceremony took place.</span></h3>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;Here he comes!</span></p>
<p> The voice of a gang member echoed through the air.</p>
<p> On March 17, in front of the headquarters building of the Ochiai Kanamachi Rengo, a direct affiliate of the Yamaguchigumi VI in Taito-ku, Tokyo, a total of about 30 people, including investigators and media photographers on guard, were standing by from early in the morning, creating an atmosphere of excitement. Investigators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the local Asakusa Police Department, Kanagawa, Chiba, and other Kanto prefectural police, Aichi and Hyogo prefectural police, and others from all over Japan gathered in front of the building, casting sharp glances at the cars as they arrived at the hall.</p>
<p> Just before 10:00 a.m., a convoy of luxury cars arrived, greeted by a wild call at the beginning of the day. The first to get out of one of the first cars was Shomei Takeuchi, 66, a young leader of the Yamaguchi Gumi VI. From the luxury car following him was Masahiro Nouchi, chairman of the Kodokai, the core organization of the Yamaguchigumi VI, who was promoted to &#8220;executive officer,&#8221; which is considered a gateway to promotion to assistant wakagashira, as of March 11.</p>
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<p> Waka-head Takeuchi was dressed in a black suit and white tie, while executive Nouchi wore a suit and light gold tie. The senior members who greeted them were also dressed in gold ties. They entered the hall with stern expressions on their faces.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On that day, a ceremony was being held to celebrate the succession of the Tosei-kai, a relative organization of the Yamaguchigumi VI in the east. Waka-taichi Takeuchi was present as the guardian of the group, and Nouchi was present as the inspector. As the name implies, the &#8220;Sake Ceremony for the Succession of the President of the Toseikai&#8221; is a ceremony that takes place when the president of the Toseikai is replaced by a new president.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In this world, there is a principle that &#8220;the young head assumes the position of the next clan leader. However, the person who assumed the post of Toseikai president was Tatsuo Ozawa, a former assistant head of Kodokai who is known as a close associate of Chairman Nouchi in Kodokai. In October of last year, he had moved to Toseikai as a prefect&#8217;s apprentice after exchanging a brother-sister relationship sake cup with Toseikai President Yasushi Hayano as his elder brother. Even though they are related, it is unusual for a person affiliated with Yamaguchigumi VI to assume the post of chairman of another organization, and moreover, it is not usual for the sake drinking ceremony to be held at the headquarters of an organization directly affiliated with Yamaguchigumi VI. From that point of view, it also attracted attention from the community&#8221; (journalist familiar with the yakuza industry).</span></p>
<p> The &#8220;sake cup ceremony&#8221; began shortly after 10:00 a.m., when Wakao Takeuchi and Nouchi arrived. The first floor of the two-story headquarters building, which served as the venue, was windowless, making it impossible to get a glimpse of what was going on inside. At 11:00 a.m., Toseikai President Hayano, who had become the &#8220;former president,&#8221; was escorted out of the building by the executive members. The ceremony of the second generation succession seemed to have been completed without incident.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Aim of the Yamaguchigumi VI behind the succession of the second generation"></div>
<h3><span class="strongInContent">Will it be a foothold for expansion into the Kanto region?</span></h3>
<p> The journalist mentioned above continues.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> After the ceremony, it seems that a &#8220;brother-and-brothers rallying ceremony&#8221; and a &#8220;parent-and-child rallying ceremony&#8221; were held between Chairman Ozawa and the Toseikai members, or so-called &#8220;sake cup-replacing ceremony. After that, from 12:30 p.m., a 30-minute dinner party was held in the hall on the second floor.</span></p>
<p> At 1:30 p.m., the sake cup ceremony was completed without delay.</p>
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<p> Behind the &#8220;unusual substitution&#8221; of a former assistant head of a Yamaguchigumi VI-affiliated organization as chairman of Toseikai, which is considered a prestigious organization in the Kanto region, there is a history of &#8220;kinship&#8221; between Yamaguchigumi and Toseikai that spans more than 60 years. The above-mentioned journalist tells us.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In 1963, a brother and brother-in-law sake cup was exchanged between the founder of Yamaguchigumi, the third Yamaguchigumi boss Kazuo Taoka, and the first chairman of Toseikai, Hisayuki Machii. It was said that Taoka III, who is said to have had a plan to expand into Tokyo, and Toseikai, which was still an emerging organization at that time and was marked by the authorities, had a desire to restrain them with Yamaguchigumi&#8217;s ties.&#8217; The relationship between the two organizations has continued even after the inauguration of the VI regime of the Tsukasa-gumi in 2005.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Some say that Toseikai was also suffering from a decline in the number of its members at the time. With this replacement, Tosei-kai will be able to leave its mark and begin to carve out a new history. Also, the Yamaguchigumi VI will be able to gain a foothold for a full-scale entry into the Kanto region. It can be said that it was a substitution ceremony in which the intentions of both parties were transparent.</span></p>
<p> On the other hand, the police authorities have not relaxed their vigilance, as the Public Safety Commission announced on March 19 the extension of the period of designation of Yamaguchigumi VI and Kobe Yamaguchigumi as specified rival gangs. The eerie tension continues, as if the sake cups of the succeeding generations will not lead to a new spark.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The intimidating atmosphere...the bigwigs gathered at the sake cup ceremony"></div>
<figure id="attachment_463216" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463216" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e47714d4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/413aa39a28045472751c912a22fdd08c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463216" class="wp-caption-text">Shortly after 8:00 a.m., people from well-known organizations showed up one after another at the headquarters of the Ochiai Kanamachi Union.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463217" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463217" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="382b04dc"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/463d3b523352a4c4c755fac48ceb89bb.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463217" class="wp-caption-text"> Surrounding the area, investigators were on the lookout. By the time it was past 9:00 a.m., about 20 people were confirmed to be present.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_463220" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463220" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8b658d76"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/226a9d94f6247118b061b35ece051cc0.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463220" class="wp-caption-text"> Chairman Ozawa showing up at the headquarters</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463223" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463223" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8ce4dbf7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/d39aa740afd60f73b569cc409714b931.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463223" class="wp-caption-text"> Before 10:00 a.m., Mr. Ozawa (right), Mr. Toshio Takeshima (center), an executive of the Yamaguchigumi VI, and Mr. Mitsuo Sato, chairman of the Ochiai Kanamachi Rengo, appeared outside the headquarters to welcome Mr. Takeuchi.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463237" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463237" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="14e8b5c0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/1a0ae3d5f7b6389bfe0103f4343c0f91.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463237" class="wp-caption-text"> Shortly after, Waka-head Takeuchi arrived.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463227" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463227" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d3a6ee72"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/655d8f91ab3e44a076fdc1875134d40b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463227" class="wp-caption-text"> From the following car, Nouchi executives emerged.</figcaption></figure>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Wow...the &quot;sharp eyes&quot; of the young Takeuchi, who had finished the sake cup ceremony"></div>
<figure id="attachment_463229" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463229" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="e736a275"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/90114ec29adb819904671140c3b1e956.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463229" class="wp-caption-text">Just before 1:00 p.m., applause could be heard from inside the headquarters. Soon after, Nouchi executives came outside.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463230" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463230" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="638615f9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/f16dc0be5e86649997022e8104d90e82.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463230" class="wp-caption-text"> Wakagashira Takeuchi followed him out.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463232" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463232" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6103e47f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/b62579007eee4c7acc49011af1228504.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463232" class="wp-caption-text"> His expression was grim.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_463233" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463233" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="fc2e4da3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/a67db2484d25aa912928a3dfde098ee4.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463233" class="wp-caption-text"> He was seen off by the officials and got into the car.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463234" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463234" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="06c1d6e6"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/789e120bf43f393734c60193e0a5e24f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463234" class="wp-caption-text"> Chairman Ozawa stands to see them off.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463235" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463235" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4ca53e61"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/6076efdae7615779057d2f901a595092.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463235" class="wp-caption-text"> The &#8220;unusual&#8221; sake cup ceremony ended around 1:30 p.m. without a hitch.</figcaption></figure>
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 Hiroyuki Komatsu

 A corner of a residential area in Tokyo was enveloped in a mysterious atmosphere from early in the morning. Shomei Takeuchi, a young leader of the Yamaguchigumi VI, showed up with his executives in tow. What they participated in was the "sake cup of succession" of a famous organization in the Kanto area. The following is a report on the inner workings of the event.

A three-hour-long replacement ceremony was held&#8230;Inside the &#8220;famous yakuza&#8217;s sake cup affair&#8221; in which the young leader of the Yamaguchigumi VI, Shomei Takeuchi, participated.

A three-hour-long replacement ceremony was held…Inside the “famous yakuza’s sake cup affair” in which the young leader of the Yamaguchigumi VI, Shomei Takeuchi, participated.

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