Masahiro Ojima, 19/06/22
The funeral of Seki Ikio, head of the Sumiyoshikai, the second-largest yakuza group in Japan, was held over several days in Chiba Prefecture in early June. Since he was a major figure nationally, yakuza groups' representatives from all over the country, including the Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi leader, Tsukasa Shinobu, visited the funeral to offer their condolences. Along with the succession ceremony, in which the new leader is announced, the funeral is considered the most important ceremony in the yakuza world, and is called 'girigoto'.
Thus, it is an unwritten rule in the yakuza society that no incidents should take place during a girigoto. However, there is record of an incident that took place during the funeral of a yakuza leader, during whichtwo top Sumiyoshi-kai leaders were shot dead.
That incident occurred in August 2001 at the Yotsugi funeral hall in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo.
"Astonishing that such an incident should take place during a ceremony like this"
During the wake of an executive member of the Kōgomutsugikai (group affiliated to the Sumiyoshi-kai), Kumagawa Kunio, chairman of the Kōgomutsugikai, was shot. A bullet also hit and killed Endō Kōji, member of the Takinogawa Ikka affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai, who was nearby. Kumagawa was seriously wounded and died two days later. The shooters were two executives members affiliated to the Inagawa-kai.
Due to the severity of the damage caused by the shooting at the funeral, and the killing of two of the organisation's top executives, the incident became known as the Yotsugi Saiban Incident.
A senior yakuza member who was familiar with the incidents' details recalls:
'There was a dispute between the Sumiyoshi-kai and the Inagawa-kai over which party a certain group belonged to. There were signs that it would eventually turn into a major fight, but it was completely unforeseeable that such an incident would occur in the middle of a girigoto. In our world, it is really taboo to cause incidents during these ceremonies. At the time, the general perception was that 'something that cannot happen' had happened."
The Inagawa-kai settled the situation by cutting ties with the representative of the Ōmaeda Ikka, the group to which the shooters belonged. However, someone grew dissatisfied with this settlement and caused the next incident, in which three civilians were shot dead, causing extensive damage.
The Maebashi Snack Bar Incident
Yano Osamu, chairman of the Sumiyoshi-kai-affiliated Yano Mutsumi-kai, kept looking for a chance to attack former members of the Ōmaeda Ikka. Then, in January 2003, two Yano Mutsumi Kai executive members stormed into a snack bar in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, where a former executive member of the Omaeda Ikka was spending the night, and opened fire with a handgun.
The former executive escaped unharmed, but three civilians in the snack bar, who were unrelated to the group, were killed. The incident was heavily condemned by civil society. The incident was named the 'Maebashi snack bar shooting'.
There have been other shootings where a number of members of a gang had gathered for a ceremony, although never during a funeral.
Other incidents during girigoto
In May 2020, Maetani Yūichiro, a young head of the (then) Ikeda group of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, was shot and seriously injured in Okayama City. The person who fired the shots was a senior member affiliated with the Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi.
In May 2016, Maetani's predecessor, Noboru Takagi, was also shot and killed in the same city by a member affiliated with the Rokudaime Yamaguchigumi in the same city. Maetani was shot as he was going back with some members to the Ikeda group's office after Takagi's Biddhist memorial service.
Surprisingly, there were various opinions among yakuza leaders about the incident in which Maetani was shot.
One yakuza leader said: 'If it is a Buddhist memorial service, many executives will surely attend. It is problematic that they targeted the day of the ceremony, even if it was after the ceremony and not during it".
On the other hand, the Ikeda-gumi, together with the Yamaken-gumi, was one of the core organisations that in August 2015 split away from the Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi to form the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. As a result of the breakaway, the Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi cut ties with the Ikeda-gumi's leader, Ikeda Takashi. For this reason, some gang leaders point out that carrying out an attack after a memorial service is 'no problem at all'.
Hasn't this shooting broken a rule?
'The Ikeda-gumi had been cut off from the Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi, so apparently they have nothing to do with the yakuza. In other words, even if there was a Buddhist memorial service taking place, it would not be considered a girigoto. Since it is a Buddhist service for ordinary people, even if there is a shooting, it does not mean that they have broken a taboo in the industry. So the logic goes that it is justified."
In group fights, it is assumed that if you get hit, you must hit back. However, there was no retaliation from the Ikeda-gumi to the Rokudaime Yamaguchi-gumi at the time, even though two generations of leaders were shot.
Celebrations and mourning events
According to a senior police official, "The Ikeda-gumi would have wanted to retaliate. However, although we don't know the reason, it seems that the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi did not allow it". Perhaps because of the growing frustration for not being allowed to retaliate, the Ikeda-gumi announced its secession from the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi in July 2020.
A senior police investigator who has been in charge of gang crime investigations for many years argued:
'I think it was unbearable for the Ikeda-gumi members that they were not allowed to retaliate. I think it wouldn't be surprising if they left because of that.'
Girigoto is of the utmost importance to the yakuza. That is why both the police and rival groups are always keeping a close eye on girigoto.
'It is not easy for us to chase yakuza members on the run. That is why, for the police, a yakuza ceremony is a great opportunity to arrest yakuza members. Similarly, it is also a good place for groups to target their opponents. It is often the case that during yakuza celebrations and events of mourning, hidden plans are finally revealed".
