Photo/Illutration Yevgeny Prigozhin, top, serves food to then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at Prigozhin’s restaurant outside Moscow on Nov. 11, 2011. (AP file photo)

“Jingi Naki Tatakai” (“Battles Without Honor and Humanity,” also titled “Yakuza Papers”) is a masterpiece yakuza film series of the Showa Era (1926-1989) that detailed gangland turf wars in Hiroshima Prefecture.

In one scene, a mobster played by Hiroki Matsukata (1942-2017) reflects on his life and softly mumbles in the Hiroshima dialect, “Where did we go wrong?”

The words are spoken with a broad Hiroshima accent. Still, I felt as if I’d just heard this line uttered by someone in faraway Russia.

A private jet crashed on Aug. 23, reportedly killing Russian oligarch and Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was believed to have been on board.

The plane may have been shot down. The possibility of a “purge” is being considered, given that it has been just two months since Prigozhin rebelled against Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.

I am not familiar with the background, but because a number of Putin’s former generals have died under mysterious circumstances after being accused of treason, I keep recalling this famous line from the above-mentioned yakuza film: “A gang war in Hiroshima can end only in one of two ways: Win or lose.”

Once called “Putin’s chef,” Prigozhin was said to have engaged in military operations that were too “shady” for Moscow to be seen as being involved in.

After his June mutiny, he and Putin were believed to have struck a deal, but it could have come to the Russian leader deciding things had gone too far and punishing him for it.

Rebellion, betrayal and a purge. It is frightening, as if we’ve reverted to an era of endless intrigue.

Or perhaps I should liken the situation to a court battle among eunuchs competing for the emperor’s affection, or a mafia turf war.

A year and a half have elapsed since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What is happening now in the inner sanctum of the Putin regime?

Another famous line from the yakuza film, delivered with a Hiroshima accent, is, “Our era is over.”

I wonder if the day will ever come when Putin, himself, will utter these words with profound regret.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 25

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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