Kodo-kai

Kodo-kai
The daimon of the Kodo-kai
Founded1984
FounderShinobu Tsukasa, 24 other members including Kiyoshi Takayama
Years active1984-present
TerritoryNagoya, Japan
EthnicityJapanese
Membership4000[1]
ActivitiesBanking, investment banking (for the criminal underworld) real estate, securities, show business
AlliesSeibu Rengo, Komatsu-gumi, Koike-gumi, Fukushima Rengo, Jido-kai, Omi-ikka

The Kodo-kai (弘道会 Kōdō-kai, Koh-doh-kai) is a yakuza criminal organization based in Nagoya, Japan.[2] It is a secondary organization of the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest known yakuza syndicate in Japan.[3] With an estimated membership of 4,000,[4] it is the second-largest Yamaguchi affiliate after the Yamaken-gumi, and operates in at least 18 prefectures.[5]

The Kodo-kai is under close surveillance by the National Police Agency, as the NPA considers the organization to not be a traditional yakuza organization, but to be more like a mafia-type organization or terrorist organization.[6] The Kodo-kai is notorious for its defiant attitude toward the official, and has dispensed with the yakuza's traditional policy of co-operating with the police.[4]

The Kodo-kai has been one of the wealthiest clans in the Yamaguchi-gumi, with an immense working capital estimated at around $5 billion.[6]

  1. ^ "Yakuza chief arrested in Japan". TheGuardian.com. 18 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Nation's No. 2 gangster arrested", November 19, 2010, Daily Yomiuri
  3. ^ "Police anti-gang drive in trouble", December 11, 2010, Asahi Shimbun
  4. ^ a b "Yakuza chief arrested in Japan", November 18, 2010, The Guardian
  5. ^ "Police wary as Yamaguchi-gumi prepares to fete sixth don", August 19, 2005, The Japan Times
  6. ^ a b "The "Top Operations" for destroying the Yamaguchi-gumi Kodo-kai, arresting from the kumicho to the number 3" Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, December 17, 2010, Weekly Friday (in Japanese)