Kudo-kai
Encyclopedia
The is a yakuza
group headquartered in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka
on the Kyushu
island of Japan
, with an estimated 690 active members. An article by the Independent newspaper refers to the Kudo-kai as an affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi
, but that is false. The Kudo-kai has been a purely independent syndicate ever since its foundation, and has caused numerous conflicts with the Yamaguchi-gumi (at least on eight separate occasions in 2000; at least one Yamaguchi-affiliate boss was shot to death by the Kudo-kai in 2000).
The Kudo-kai is the largest yakuza group in the Kitakyushu area, and like other yakuza groups based in the northern Kyushu region, it is noted for its extremely militant stance, by using the likes of machine gun
s and hand grenade
s in their activities. The Kudo-kai is regarded as the best example of Kyushu
yakuza who strongly oppose the police, get angry easily, and "fight with pride".
The National Police Agency
's official report refers to the Kudo-kai as a "particularly nefarious group". One notable incident happened in March 1988, while feuding with a Chinese mafia syndicate attempting to enter the Kitakyushu area, the Kudo-kai attacked the Consulate General Fukuoka office of the People's Republic of China, which had, of course, nothing to do with the mafia, with shotgun
s and a dump truck
.
The Kudo-kai is a member of an anti-Yamaguchi fraternal federation, the Yonsha-kai, with three other northern-Kyushu based organizations, the Taishu-kai
, Dojin-kai
, and Kumamoto-kai. The Yonsha-kai had been known as the "Sansha-kai" until 2005 when the Kumamoto-kai joined it. The Kudo-kai is the principal member of this federation.
organization named the "Kudo-gumi" in Kokura
by the first president Genji Kudo.
In 1987, the Kudo-kai annexed the Kusano-ikka, a Kitakyushu-based yakuza clan which had frequent violent conflicts with the Kudo-kai until then. The Kudo-kai was registered as a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law in 1992.
Hideo Mizoshita became the third president in January 2000, and he died on July 1, 2008 at the age of 61. His funeral was held on July 6 of that year, where the attendees included many yakuza magnates from all over the country, such as those from the Sumiyoshi-kai
, Inagawa-kai
, Soai-kai
, Matsuba-kai
, Kyokuto-kai
, Aizukotetsu-kai
, Sakaume-gumi
, Azuma-gumi
, Asano-gumi
, Kyodo-kai
, Goda-ikka
, Shinwa-kai, Kyosei-kai
, Kozakura-ikka
, Kyokuryu-kai
, Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai
, and even Kiyoshi Takayama
of the Yamaguchi-gumi
, and possibly some Russian
or Italian or Mexican yakuza magnates.
In June 2011, following the 4th president Nomura's promotion to the Grand President (sosai), the 4th number-two (rijicho), Fumio Tanoue, became the president.
such as public construction projects, and in legitimate businesses such as commerce and trade.
with grenades (alleged cases), a bar managed by an anti organized crime campaign leader with a hand grenade, future Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
's Shimonoseki house and office with molotov cocktails on several occasions, among many others with grenades or firearms.
The NHK Broadcasting Center
received a threatening phone call from a man claiming himself to be a Kudo-kai insider after the NHK
television network made a nationwide broadcast about the series of gun attacks on the office buildings of the Saibu Gas allegedly done by the Kudo-kai.
, Tokyo
, more specifically the Ura-Harajuku area known as "Ura-Hara". The origin of this "ownership" allegedly traces back to the early 1980s, when the Sumiyoshi-kai
, the original "owner" of this area, yielded to the Dojin-kai
in a conflict in which many of the Sumiyoshi-kai's traditional "territories" were seized by the Dojin-kai. The Kudo-kai was allegedly given this "territory" by the Dojin-kai, and that is the alleged key reason why it was in Kitakyushu where the leading Ura-Hara brand Good Enough
s first flag shop opened, and why many leading figures in the 1980s-1990s "Ura-Hara" movement frequently visited Kitakyushu and many of them were actually from Kitakyushu (Toru Iwai, a co-founder of Good Enough, for one), and why the volume of distribution of drugs especially methamphetamines and relatively new drugs such as MDMA in Tokyo has rapidly increased since then.
's official report.
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...
group headquartered in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka
is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan. It is midway between Tokyo and Shanghai.- Demographics :Kitakyūshū has a population of just under one million...
on 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 of Japan
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...
, with an estimated 690 active members. An article by the Independent newspaper refers to the Kudo-kai as an affiliate of 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....
, but that is false. The Kudo-kai has been a purely independent syndicate ever since its foundation, and has caused numerous conflicts with the Yamaguchi-gumi (at least on eight separate occasions in 2000; at least one Yamaguchi-affiliate boss was shot to death by the Kudo-kai in 2000).
The Kudo-kai is the largest yakuza group in the Kitakyushu area, and like other yakuza groups based in the northern Kyushu region, it is noted for its extremely militant stance, by using the likes of machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s and hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s in their activities. The Kudo-kai is regarded as the best example of 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....
yakuza who strongly oppose the police, get angry easily, and "fight with pride".
The National Police Agency
National Police Agency (Japan)
The is an agency administered by the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office in the cabinet of Japan, and is the central coordinating agency of the Japanese police system....
's official report refers to the Kudo-kai as a "particularly nefarious group". One notable incident happened in March 1988, while feuding with a Chinese mafia syndicate attempting to enter the Kitakyushu area, the Kudo-kai attacked the Consulate General Fukuoka office of the People's Republic of China, which had, of course, nothing to do with the mafia, with shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s and a dump truck
Dump truck
A dump truck is a truck used for transporting loose material for construction. A typical dump truck is equipped with a hydraulically operated open-box bed hinged at the rear, the front of which can be lifted up to allow the contents to be deposited on the ground behind the truck at the site of...
.
The Kudo-kai is a member of an anti-Yamaguchi fraternal federation, the Yonsha-kai, with three other northern-Kyushu based organizations, the Taishu-kai
Taishu-kai
The is a yakuza organization based in Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan, with an estimated 180 active members.-History:The Taishu-kai was formed around 1954 under the name by , a mineworker who became the first president. The Ota Group was later renamed the , and again renamed 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....
, and Kumamoto-kai. The Yonsha-kai had been known as the "Sansha-kai" until 2005 when the Kumamoto-kai joined it. The Kudo-kai is the principal member of this federation.
History
The Kudo-kai was founded before the WWII as a bakutoBakuto
Bakuto were itinerant gamblers in Japan from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. They were one of the forerunners of the modern Japanese crime gangs known as yakuza....
organization named the "Kudo-gumi" in 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...
by the first president Genji Kudo.
In 1987, the Kudo-kai annexed the Kusano-ikka, a Kitakyushu-based yakuza clan which had frequent violent conflicts with the Kudo-kai until then. The Kudo-kai was registered as a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law in 1992.
Hideo Mizoshita became the third president in January 2000, and he died on July 1, 2008 at the age of 61. His funeral was held on July 6 of that year, where the attendees included many yakuza magnates from all over the country, such as those from the Sumiyoshi-kai
Sumiyoshi-kai
The , sometimes referred to as the , is the second-largest yakuza group in Japan with an estimated 20,000 members.The Sumiyoshi-kai is a confederation of smaller gangs. Its current sosai, or president, is Shigeo Nishiguchi. Structurally, the Sumiyoshi-kai differs from its main rival, the...
, Inagawa-kai
Inagawa-kai
The is the third largest of Japan's yakuza groups, with approximately 15,000 members. It is based in the Kanto region, and was one of the first yakuza organizations to begin operating overseas.-History:...
, Soai-kai
Soai-kai
The is a yakuza organization based in Chiba, Japan. The Soai-kai is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 230 active members.-History:The Soai-kai was formed in 1945 by Toramatsu Takahashi, then a member of a Yokohama-based bakuto group named the Sasada-ikka...
, Matsuba-kai
Matsuba-kai
The is a yakuza organization based in Tokyo, Japan. The Matsuba-kai is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 1,500 active members and 600 semi-active members.-History:...
, Kyokuto-kai
Kyokuto-kai
The is a yakuza organization based in Tokyo, Japan. The Kyokuto-kai is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 1,200 active members.-History:The Kyokuto-kai was registered as a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law in July 1993....
, Aizukotetsu-kai
Aizukotetsu-kai
The , based in Kyoto, is Japan's fourth-largest yakuza organization. Its name comes from the Aizu region, "Kotetsu", a type of Japanese sword, and the suffix "-kai", or society....
, Sakaume-gumi
Sakaume-gumi
The is a yakuza organization based in Osaka, Japan. The Sakaume-gumi is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 110 active members.The Sakaume-gumi is an old-established, small group that focuses primarily on gambling, and not on other activities like extortion and drugs...
, Azuma-gumi
Azuma-gumi
The is a yakuza organization based in Osaka, Japan. The Azuma-gumi is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 170 active members.-History:The Azuma-gumi was registered as a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law in August 1993....
, Asano-gumi
Asano-gumi
The is a yakuza group based in Okayama, Japan. The Asano-gumi is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 130 active members.-History:The Asano-gumi was formed in 1945 as a bakuto organization named the by Kunio Oyama. The group restarted as the Asano-gumi with the head of Shin'ichi Asano in...
, Kyodo-kai
Kyodo-kai
The is a yakuza group based in Hiroshima, Japan. The Kyodo-kai is a designated yakuza group with an estimated 180 active members and 300 semi-active members, and is the second largest yakuza group in the Chugoku region after the Kyosei-kai.-History:...
, Goda-ikka
Goda-ikka
The is a yakuza group based in Yamaguchi, Japan. The Goda-ikka is a designated yakuza group and Yamaguchi Prefecture's largest yakuza group with an estimated 440 members.-History:...
, Shinwa-kai, Kyosei-kai
Kyosei-kai
The is a yakuza group based in Hiroshima, Japan, with an estimated 280 active members and 470 semi-active members. The Kyosei-kai is the largest yakuza organization in the Chugoku region.-History:...
, Kozakura-ikka
Kozakura-ikka
The is a yakuza organization based in Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan, with an estimated 100 active members. The Kozakura-ikka is the only designated boryokudan group in Kagoshima Prefecture....
, Kyokuryu-kai
Kyokuryu-kai
The is a yakuza criminal organization based on the Okinawa island of Japan, with an estimated membership of 210–270.Headquartered in Naha, Okinawa, the Kyokuryu-kai is one of the two designated yakuza groups in Okinawa Prefecture along with its splinter group Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai, and had been...
, Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai
Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai
The is a yakuza criminal organization based on the Okinawa island of Japan. A designated yakuza group with an estimated 523 active members and 145 semi-active members, the Okinawa Kyokuryu-kai is the largest yakuza organization in Okinawa Prefecture.-History:...
, and even Kiyoshi Takayama
Kiyoshi Takayama
is a yakuza, the founding head of the Nagoya-based Takayama-gumi, the president of the 2nd Kodo-kai, and the number-two boss of the 6th Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan....
of 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....
, and possibly some Russian
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
or Italian or Mexican yakuza magnates.
In June 2011, following the 4th president Nomura's promotion to the Grand President (sosai), the 4th number-two (rijicho), Fumio Tanoue, became the president.
Activities
The Kudo-kai's illegal activities have allegedly included protection racketeering, drug trafficking, unlawful involvement in public worksPublic works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
such as public construction projects, and in legitimate businesses such as commerce and trade.
Attacks on civilians
The Kudo-kai is notorious for not hesitating to attack katagi civilians, or ordinary civilians, notably, the Kudo-kai has attacked; the Kyushu Electric Power president's house and the Saibu Gas chairman's house located in FukuokaFukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
with grenades (alleged cases), a bar managed by an anti organized crime campaign leader with a hand grenade, future Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Shinzo Abe
was the 90th Prime Minister of Japan, elected by a special session of the National Diet on 26 September 2006. He was Japan's youngest post–World War II prime minister and the first born after the war. Abe served as prime minister for nearly twelve months, before resigning on 12 September 2007...
's Shimonoseki house and office with molotov cocktails on several occasions, among many others with grenades or firearms.
The NHK Broadcasting Center
NHK Broadcasting Center
The , headquarters of NHK, is located in Jinnan, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It includes studios and offices, as well as shops and the popular Studio Park, which is a popular attraction for schoolchildren and tourists....
received a threatening phone call from a man claiming himself to be a Kudo-kai insider after the NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
television network made a nationwide broadcast about the series of gun attacks on the office buildings of the Saibu Gas allegedly done by the Kudo-kai.
Territories
The Kudo-kai maintains its headquarters office in Kokura Kita, Kitakyushu and its known offices in two other prefectures. The Kudo-kai's notable "territories" outside of Kitakyushu allegedly include HarajukuHarajuku
Harajuku is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan....
, 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...
, more specifically the Ura-Harajuku area known as "Ura-Hara". The origin of this "ownership" allegedly traces back to the early 1980s, when the Sumiyoshi-kai
Sumiyoshi-kai
The , sometimes referred to as the , is the second-largest yakuza group in Japan with an estimated 20,000 members.The Sumiyoshi-kai is a confederation of smaller gangs. Its current sosai, or president, is Shigeo Nishiguchi. Structurally, the Sumiyoshi-kai differs from its main rival, the...
, the original "owner" of this area, yielded to 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....
in a conflict in which many of the Sumiyoshi-kai's traditional "territories" were seized by the Dojin-kai. The Kudo-kai was allegedly given this "territory" by the Dojin-kai, and that is the alleged key reason why it was in Kitakyushu where the leading Ura-Hara brand Good Enough
Hiroshi Fujiwara
is a Japanese musician, producer, and designer.He is known as the godfather of Harajuku culture and is a globally influential streetwear designer, including being the pioneer for Nike's "HTM" line, and the "Fenom" line for Levis....
s first flag shop opened, and why many leading figures in the 1980s-1990s "Ura-Hara" movement frequently visited Kitakyushu and many of them were actually from Kitakyushu (Toru Iwai, a co-founder of Good Enough, for one), and why the volume of distribution of drugs especially methamphetamines and relatively new drugs such as MDMA in Tokyo has rapidly increased since then.
Authority's view
The Kudo-kai is a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law, and has been referred to as a "grossly vicious group" in the National Police AgencyNational Police Agency (Japan)
The is an agency administered by the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office in the cabinet of Japan, and is the central coordinating agency of the Japanese police system....
's official report.
Leadership
- 1st president: Genji Kudo
- 2nd president: Takaaki Kusano
- 3rd president: Hideo Mizoshita
- 4th president: Satoru Nomura
- 5th president: Fumio Tanoue