Yamaguchi-gumi Boss Shinobu Tsukasa Personally Joins Outreach to 10 Major Groups—Exclusive Photos

The annual seasonal greetings to allied and friendly organizations, including the Inagawa-kai

In a residential neighborhood in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, the leaders of two of the underworld’s largest organizations came face to face.

On July 3, as investigators from the local Aichi Prefectural Police and Hyogo Prefectural Police stood guard, five senior executives of the Sumiyoshi-kai visited the headquarters of Hirai-ikka, a second-tier organization under the Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi. Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi boss Shinobu Tsukasa (84) personally welcomed them, marking the beginning of the diplomatic meeting between the two organizations.

“The Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi holds a gathering every year where the leaders of allied and friendly organizations come to offer their seasonal greetings. It is essentially the underworld’s equivalent of a summer greeting ceremony, and nine organizations from across Japan, including the Inagawa-kai, came to pay their respects.

The Sumiyoshi-kai, which became the tenth organization, is not an allied or friendly organization, but the two groups have rapidly strengthened their relationship in recent years, and the Sumiyoshi-kai has also been participating in these seasonal greetings. The Sumiyoshi-kai is currently in a period of turmoil, with its chairman under arrest and effectively absent from the organization, but its senior executives, including the chairman’s deputy, came together to make the visit that day. The meeting lasted only about 15 minutes, but they reportedly discussed their respective situations and other matters,” said a journalist well-versed in Yamaguchi-gumi affairs.

The fact that Tsukasa personally came out to see off the Sumiyoshi-kai executives as they departed also suggests how highly the Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi values the organization. Tsukasa, who was the only person dressed entirely in a white suit, stood out even more (top photo).

The aggressive diplomatic outreach is believed to be connected to the declaration issued by the Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi to the Hyogo Prefectural Police last April, announcing the end of its conflict with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. Since then, under Deputy Leader Teruaki Takeuchi (66), the Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi has been pursuing internal organizational reforms. On June 19, an unusual personnel appointment was revealed. Masahiro Nouchi (60), head of the Fourth-generation Kodo-kai, who had only been promoted to an executive position within the Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi in March, was appointed to the key position of acting head of the Chubu/Tokai Bloc.

Atsushi Mizoguchi, a nonfiction writer well versed in organized crime affairs, sees the appointment as a personnel move looking ahead to a change in leadership.

“Takeuchi himself previously held this position, so I believe the appointment is intended with Nouchi’s promotion to deputy leadership in mind. The Kodo-kai is the organization from which Boss Tsukasa, senior adviser Kiyoshi Takayama (78), and Deputy Leader Takeuchi all originated. By placing its leader in the position of deputy leader, they likely want to solidify the Takeuchi leadership structure. Beyond that lies the creation of a ‘Seventh-generation Yamaguchi-gumi’ under Takeuchi as its boss.

The chairman emeritus system, in which the boss is elevated to a supreme adviser position and maintains influence while handing over the organization’s day-to-day management to a successor, is increasingly being introduced among subordinate organizations. They presumably want to push forward with introducing this system while Boss Tsukasa remains in good health. I believe the Seventh-generation Yamaguchi-gumi could emerge as early as this year, or by the first half of next year at the latest.”

Meanwhile, there are said to be ominous signs surrounding the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, which has continued to remain silent.

“In late July, a senior figure said to have been the closest confidant of leader Kunio Inoue (77) will be released from Fuchu Prison after completing his sentence. This individual is rumored to be in line for promotion to deputy leader, and authorities are also stepping up their vigilance,” said the journalist quoted above.

As the Sixth-generation Yamaguchi-gumi actively conducts diplomacy to consolidate its organization, the embers of conflict continue to smolder beneath the surface.

From the July 31, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY”