“ In Tokyo’s glamorous Akasaka district, where the Sumiyoshi-kai gang has its headquarters, new neighbours have moved in. The Inagawa-kai, a rival yakuza faction from outside the city, has set up a “Tokyo liaison office,” according to police. While both factions have roughly the same number of members (about 10,000), the Inagawa-kai has the backing of Sumiyoshi-kai’s enemies, giving it a force estimated to be 40,000 strong. Police are now bracing themselves for an all-out turf war. They suspect mobsters are arming themselves with hand grenades and anti-personnel mines, and there was a spate of daylight killings last year. Japan’s yakuza generally operates with authorities’ unspoken consent, says Eric Cazdyn, an associate professor of East Asian studies at the University of Toronto. But having two rivals so close to each other might be too much to ignore. Permanent patrols have been set up, and police are working overtime to prevent the market carnage from spilling over to become blood on the streets.
