Inagawa-kai

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Inagawa-kai
The daimon of Inagawa-kai
Founded1949
FounderKakuji Inagawa
Founding locationShizuoka, Japan
Years active1949–present
TerritoryTokyo
Membership1,700 members[1]
1,200 quasi-members[1]
Leader(s)Jiro Kiyota (Korean name: Shin Byong-Kyu, 신병규)
AlliesThe Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi
RivalsKobe Yamaguchi-gumi

The Inagawa-kai (稲川会) is the third largest of Japan's yakuza groups, with approximately 1,700 members.[1] It is based in the Kantō region, and was one of the first yakuza organizations to begin operating overseas.

History[edit]

Tatsuo Deguchi (b. 1923 in Miyazaki - 1955), an important underboss in the early Inagawa history

The Inagawa-kai was founded in Atami, Shizuoka in 1949 as the Inagawa-gumi (稲川組) by Kakuji Inagawa.[2] Most of its members were drawn from the bakuto (traditional gamblers), and illegal gambling has long been the clan's main source of income. It has also expanded into such fields as drug trafficking, blackmail, extortion, and prostitution.

The Inagawa-gumi was renamed the Inagawa-kai in 1972.[2] After Kakuji Inagawa, the gang was led by Susumu Ishii, who led it to unprecedented financial prosperity during the 1980s Japanese bubble economy. At one point the clan's assets were estimated to be over $1.5 billion. After Ishii's death in 1990, Inagawa's son Toi Inagawa took over as kumicho and led the clan until his death in May 2005. Yoshio Tsunoda took up the mantle in 2006, heading the clan until his death in February 2010.[3] Kazuo Uchibori may be next in line to lead the clan, but his status as a kyodaibun (blood brother) to Takeuchi Teruaki, a senior member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, may complicate things.

February 2009 saw the Inagawa-kai 'Honbu' (Head Office) relocate from the Roppongi district of Tokyo to Akasaka. There is currently strong resistance from the local political groups and residents of Akasaka meaning that the location of the new Honbu may change yet again.

The Inagawa-kai quietly helped to provide relief in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami by sending supplies to affected areas. As a whole, the group shipped over 100 tons of supplies, including instant ramen, bean sprouts, paper diapers, batteries, flashlights, tea and drinking water, to the Tōhoku region.[4]

Key persons[edit]

Inagawa-kai's renowned figures in the 20th century include Tatsuo Deguchi (known as the "Moroccan Tatsu" or "Tatsu of Morocco"), Kingo Yoshimizu, Kijin Inoue, Takamasa Ishii, Haruki Sho, and Kiichiro Hayashi.[5]

Leadership[edit]

On April 7, 2019, Jiro Kiyota retired from kaicho and assumed the position of sosai,[6] but remains the leader according to the National Police Agency.[1]

In popular culture[edit]

  • In the 2010 movie Predators, one of the main characters is a yakuza enforcer known as Hanzo (played by Louis Ozawa Changchien) who is revealed to be a high ranking member of Inagawa-kai.
  • In the popular tabletop role-playing game Shadowrun, the kaicho (boss/head/oyabun) of Inagawa-kai in the Shadowrun universe is Michizane Oi, a notorious Japanese elf and yakuza gangster and son of a powerful executive, Samba Oi, the Chairman of the Board of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies (or MCT), one of the biggest Keiretsus in Japan.
  • In Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, one of the characters, Tanaka Kusahana is a high-ranking member of Inagawa-kai (saiko-komon or senior advisor).
  • In the video game Terra Invicta, Inagawa-kai is one of many organizations the player can recruit for their faction.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Organized Crime Situation 2023" (PDF). National Police Agency. pp. 2, 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "1993 Police White Paper Chapter 1 : The Actual Condition of the Boryokudan", 1993, National Police Agency (in Japanese)
  3. ^ "Friendly fire - Inagawa-kai faces Yamaguchi-gumi takeover", Janes.com. Apr 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  4. ^ Adelstein, Jake (2011-03-20). "Yakuza to the Rescue". The Daily Beast. The Newsweek / Daily Beast Company LLC. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  5. ^ "Yukyo Yakuza-den, Inagawa-kai Grand President", 13 April 2009, Eiji Oshita and Tadashi Ichinose, ISBN 978-4-8124-6941-5 (in Japanese)
  6. ^ a b トップの交代で新時代到来か 稲川会六代目の就任式を潜入撮！ (in Japanese). Kodansha. 21 April 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
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