Hisayuki Machii
Encyclopedia
, nicknamed the , was the founder of one of Japan
's most notorious yakuza
gangs, the Tosei-Kai.
A Korea
n, Machii was born Jeong Geon Yeong (정건영/) in 1923 when Korea was under Japanese occupation. After World War II
, Machii settled in Tokyo
and became involved in postwar Japan's thriving black market. By 1948, he had formed his own gang, the Tosei-kai or "Voice of the East Gang" which grew to over 1,500 members by the early 1960s. The Tosei-kai became so powerful in Tokyo that they were known as the Ginza police, and even the Yamaguchi-gumi
's all-powerful Taoka
had to cut a deal with Machii to allow that group to operate in Tokyo.
Like fellow Yakuza powerbroker Yoshio Kodama
, Machii had good relations with the US occupation
authorities due to his staunch anti-Communist stance: Tosei-kai soldiers were often used as strikebreakers during the occupation years. Machii himself worked with the United States Counter Intelligence Corps. While leaders of the Japanese yakuza were imprisoned or under close scrutiny by the American occupying forces, the Korean yakuza were free to take over the lucrative black markets. But rather than trying to rival the Japanese godfathers, Machii made alliances with them, and throughout his career, he remained close to both Kodama and Taoka.
Machii's vast empire included tourism, entertainment, bars and restaurants, prostitution, and oil importing. He and Kodama made a fortune on real estate investments alone. More importantly, he brokered deals between the Korean government and the yakuza that allowed Japanese criminals to set up rackets in Korea. Thanks to Machii, Korea became the yakuza's home away from home. Befitting his role as fixer between the underworlds of both countries, Machii was allowed to acquire the largest ferry service between Shimonoseki, Japan, and Busan, South Korea—the shortest route between the two countries.
He was widely believed to have helped the Korean Central Intelligence Agency kidnap then-leading Korean opposition leader Kim Dae-jung from a Tokyo hotel (see kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung). Kim was whisked out to sea where he was bound, gagged, blindfolded and fitted with weights so that his body would never surface.
By 1965, increasing police pressure led Machii to disband the Tosei-kai. But in their place, he formed two "legitimate" front organizations, the Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai
( East Asia Friendship Enterprises Association) and the Toa Sogo Kigyo ( East Asia Enterprises Company), which was headed by Kodama.
The Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai, commonly known as the Toa-kai, is still an active Yakuza gang in Japan with an estimated membership of 1,000. The group is still composed mostly of ethnic Koreans, Machii having paved the way for Korean involvement in the Japanese underworld. Machii himself retired in the 1980s.
In the late 20th, following South Korea's increasing demand for travel due to the country's economic growth, the Busan
-Shimonoseki Pugwan Ferry company attempted to expand into the Kyushu
island, however the project was abandoned - several articles dated at that time reveal that nearly 70 Toa-kai members were shot or stabbed within a week in Tokyo, and it was strongly believed that the perpetrators, from the underworld, were those belonging to the Kudo-kai
(controlling the Kokura
Port) or the Dojin-kai
(controlling most ports in western Kyushu). The Dojin-kai theory, which indicated that the Dojin-kai attempted to compel the Toa-kai to co-operate in drug trafficking but the Toa-kai rejected it and then the mass attacks started and continued until the Toa-kai determined to abandon the project and pay an outrageous amount of "settlement money" to the Dojin-kai, was more believed, as this type of gangland attack was historically the Dojin-kai's specialty but not the Kudo-kai's. Speculation exists that if Machii was active, this would never happen; at that time the Toa-kai was headed by Morihiro Okita, the third-generation president with a bad reputation among the members due to his poor leadership. The Pugwan Ferry company's Hiroshima Port office opened in 2002 and had been active until 2005 before its closure. The Shimonoseki office is still active today.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's most notorious yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
gangs, the Tosei-Kai.
A Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n, Machii was born Jeong Geon Yeong (정건영/) in 1923 when Korea was under Japanese occupation. After World War II
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, Machii settled in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and became involved in postwar Japan's thriving black market. By 1948, he had formed his own gang, the Tosei-kai or "Voice of the East Gang" which grew to over 1,500 members by the early 1960s. The Tosei-kai became so powerful in Tokyo that they were known as the Ginza police, and even the Yamaguchi-gumi
Yamaguchi-gumi
is Japan's largest and most infamous yakuza organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for dockworkers in Kobe pre-WWII....
's all-powerful Taoka
Kazuo Taoka
was one of the most prominent yakuza Godfathers.Known as the "Godfather of Godfathers", Taoka was third kumicho of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization, from 1946 to 1981....
had to cut a deal with Machii to allow that group to operate in Tokyo.
Like fellow Yakuza powerbroker Yoshio Kodama
Yoshio Kodama
was a prominent figure in the rise of organized crime in Japan. The most famous 'kuromaku', or behind-the-scenes power broker, of the 20th century, he was active in Japan's political arena and criminal underworld from the 1950s to the early 1970s....
, Machii had good relations with the US occupation
Occupied Japan
At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power...
authorities due to his staunch anti-Communist stance: Tosei-kai soldiers were often used as strikebreakers during the occupation years. Machii himself worked with the United States Counter Intelligence Corps. While leaders of the Japanese yakuza were imprisoned or under close scrutiny by the American occupying forces, the Korean yakuza were free to take over the lucrative black markets. But rather than trying to rival the Japanese godfathers, Machii made alliances with them, and throughout his career, he remained close to both Kodama and Taoka.
Machii's vast empire included tourism, entertainment, bars and restaurants, prostitution, and oil importing. He and Kodama made a fortune on real estate investments alone. More importantly, he brokered deals between the Korean government and the yakuza that allowed Japanese criminals to set up rackets in Korea. Thanks to Machii, Korea became the yakuza's home away from home. Befitting his role as fixer between the underworlds of both countries, Machii was allowed to acquire the largest ferry service between Shimonoseki, Japan, and Busan, South Korea—the shortest route between the two countries.
He was widely believed to have helped the Korean Central Intelligence Agency kidnap then-leading Korean opposition leader Kim Dae-jung from a Tokyo hotel (see kidnapping of Kim Dae-jung). Kim was whisked out to sea where he was bound, gagged, blindfolded and fitted with weights so that his body would never surface.
By 1965, increasing police pressure led Machii to disband the Tosei-kai. But in their place, he formed two "legitimate" front organizations, the Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai
Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai
The is a yakuza syndicate based in Tokyo with a predominantly Korean Japanese membership. Originally named the , with its historic leader Hisayuki Machii, the Toa-kai was deeply involved in the history of Tokyo's South Korean community and Japan's anti-communist circles in the 20th century...
( East Asia Friendship Enterprises Association) and the Toa Sogo Kigyo ( East Asia Enterprises Company), which was headed by Kodama.
The Toa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai, commonly known as the Toa-kai, is still an active Yakuza gang in Japan with an estimated membership of 1,000. The group is still composed mostly of ethnic Koreans, Machii having paved the way for Korean involvement in the Japanese underworld. Machii himself retired in the 1980s.
In the late 20th, following South Korea's increasing demand for travel due to the country's economic growth, the Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
-Shimonoseki Pugwan Ferry company attempted to expand into the Kyushu
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
island, however the project was abandoned - several articles dated at that time reveal that nearly 70 Toa-kai members were shot or stabbed within a week in Tokyo, and it was strongly believed that the perpetrators, from the underworld, were those belonging to the Kudo-kai
Kudo-kai
The is a yakuza group headquartered in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka on the Kyushu island of Japan, with an estimated 690 active members. refers to the Kudo-kai as an affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi, but that is false...
(controlling the Kokura
Kokura
is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyūshū, Japan, guarding, via its suburb Moji, the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshū and Kyūshū. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound Sanyo Shinkansen line, which is owned by JR Kyūshū and an important part of the...
Port) or the Dojin-kai
Dojin-kai
The is a yakuza organization headquartered in Kurume, Fukuoka on the Kyushu island of Japan, a designated yakuza syndicate, with approximately at least 850 members....
(controlling most ports in western Kyushu). The Dojin-kai theory, which indicated that the Dojin-kai attempted to compel the Toa-kai to co-operate in drug trafficking but the Toa-kai rejected it and then the mass attacks started and continued until the Toa-kai determined to abandon the project and pay an outrageous amount of "settlement money" to the Dojin-kai, was more believed, as this type of gangland attack was historically the Dojin-kai's specialty but not the Kudo-kai's. Speculation exists that if Machii was active, this would never happen; at that time the Toa-kai was headed by Morihiro Okita, the third-generation president with a bad reputation among the members due to his poor leadership. The Pugwan Ferry company's Hiroshima Port office opened in 2002 and had been active until 2005 before its closure. The Shimonoseki office is still active today.