Kanto-kai
Encyclopedia
The was a Japan
ese underworld organization formed by Yoshio Kodama
in 1964, and named for the Kantō region
from which it drew most of its membership. Kodama envisioned the Kantō-kai as a secret national police force, with the aim of forwarding the far right-wing views he and other organized criminals often held.
Kodama had originally envisioned a Japan-wide gangster society, but in 1963 Kazuo Taoka
withdrew his powerful Kansai
-based Yamaguchi-gumi
gang, leaving Kodama with a Kantō-heavy organization.
The group disbanded in January 1965, after only fifteen months, but was a crucial step in uniting the many post-war gangs into a more coherent entity (the modern yakuza
) instead of disparate, warring factions.
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...
ese underworld organization formed by 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....
in 1964, and named for the Kantō region
Kanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
from which it drew most of its membership. Kodama envisioned the Kantō-kai as a secret national police force, with the aim of forwarding the far right-wing views he and other organized criminals often held.
Kodama had originally envisioned a Japan-wide gangster society, but in 1963 Kazuo 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....
withdrew his powerful Kansai
Kansai
The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Mie, Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo, and Shiga. Depending on who makes the distinction, Fukui, Tokushima and even Tottori Prefecture are also included...
-based 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....
gang, leaving Kodama with a Kantō-heavy organization.
The group disbanded in January 1965, after only fifteen months, but was a crucial step in uniting the many post-war gangs into a more coherent entity (the modern 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...
) instead of disparate, warring factions.