New Criminal Syndicate Splits Off From Japan’s Biggest Yakuza Family

Around 3,000 members left the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi group to form a spinoff that police say will bear the name of Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Splinter groups from Japan’s largest yakuza family Yamaguchi-gumi have merged into a separate criminal syndicate, with police fearing this could trigger a major turf war in the country, police sources told the national news agency Kyodo.

Around 3,000 members have reportedly left the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi group to form a spinoff that police say will bear the name of Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.

It was created during a Saturday meet-up in Kobe of clan bosses that agreed on the merger of 13 breakaway factions, and is expected to be led by Kunio Inoue, the 67-year-old boss of the Yamaken-gumi group.

Police fear upcoming clashes between the two rival gangs, which both draw revenue from gambling, racketeering, financial schemes and prostitution.

Yamaguchi-gumi was created in 1915 and has the biggest membership in Japan, although mounting police pressure on the syndicate in the past decade has seen it dwindle from some 40,000 to slightly above 20,000 members. Japan estimates to have around 20 yakuzas, with a total membership of 70,000.