Photo/Illutration Bullet holes are visible in the gate of the home of the head of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi gang. (Akihito Ogawa)

A series of “kamikaze car” attacks and other incidents have raised fears in law enforcement that a yakuza war has reignited and is escalating.

A major crackdown appeared to have quelled the battles between the Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation’s largest organized crime syndicate, and two splinter groups.

But the violence appears to be flaring again.
Kamikaze car attacks involve drivers steering vehicles into the homes of high-ranking members of rival gangs.

Such brazen acts not only raise the fear level in the other gang, but the perpetrator is usually arrested only for property damage, which carries a relatively light penalty, investigative sources said.

One of the sources said the car attacks also raise fears among neighbors, which could increase pressure on the targeted gangster to leave the community.

The yakuza war originally started when the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi broke away from the Yamaguchi-gumi in 2015.

Police later designated the two gangs as being engaged in a turf war and intensified restrictions against them.

Not only do gang members face possible arrest for simply entering a yakuza office, but in the specially designated areas, they are banned from loitering in the vicinity of a rival gang.

Police can also arrest gangsters if at least five of them are found gathering in the same location.

As a result of the crackdown, the number of violent incidents between the two gangs had declined.

But early on May 8, a car rammed into the home of the second in command in the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi who also heads his own affiliate gang, the Takumi-gumi.

No one was hurt in the incident.

Police arrested a 26-year-old member of a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi on suspicion of damaging the home.

However, the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office indicted the gangster on charges of breaking and entering into a residence and assault. Prosecution sources noted that the car not only entered the grounds of the residence, but the gang member also damaged the gate to the home.

“The aim of the incident was to threaten the rival gang so the strictest penalty should be imposed,” a high-ranking police official said.

About a month later on June 5, 10 bullets were fired into the home of Kunio Inoue, who heads the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.

Hyogo prefectural police arrested a 49-year-old man possessing a gun who turned himself in. Police suspect he belongs to a Yamaguchi-gumi-affiliated gang.

Early the next day, a car crashed into the office of a gang affiliated with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi in Saga on the main southern island of Kyushu.

Saga police arrested a 36-year-old member of a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi who turned himself in.

Gang members could freely enter the yakuza office because Saga city was not covered in the “turf-war” designation.

Yamaguchi-gumi members have also been arrested on suspicion of attacking members of the Kizuna-kai, a group that broke off from the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi in spring 2017.

On May 10, a high-ranking Kizuna-kai member was found in a car parked at a hospital in Iga, Mie Prefecture, with a bullet wound in his right arm.

A 26-year-old member of a gang affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

On June 6, a vehicle crashed into the Kobe home of Yoshinori Oda, who heads the Kizuna-kai. The following day, police arrested a 38-year-old man who turned himself in.

Police suspect he belongs to a gang tied to the Yamaguchi-gumi.

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