KITA-KYUSHU--Once Japan’s most feared yakuza gang, Kudo-kai based here in Fukuoka Prefecture now exists mostly in name only. Its leader is in prison, the group’s ranks are depleted and those left are so starved of revenue sources that some can’t even afford a drink in a bar.

The gang’s downfall 10 years ago will be celebrated in the annals of successful police operations for decades to come.

Residents have taken back control of city streets where members once swaggered with impunity.

Sept. 11 marked the 10th anniversary of “Operation Summit” by Fukuoka prefectural police that spelled the end of Kudo-kai with the arrest of its don, Satoru Nomura, now 77.

“It was such a relief to see firsthand that we had finally come this far,” said a resident as she recalled her feelings on hearing that Nomura had finally been arrested.

That was on Sept. 11, 2014. The gang’s propensity for violence earned it the special designation of most dangerous yakuza group in Japan.

In the woman’s view, Kudo-kai was “too ferocious to be merely called a gang.”

“Kudo-kai was more of a terrorist group,” she said. “But this was not fully understood at that time, which is why not everybody was eager (to fight the yakuza).”

The woman was working as a hostess at a nightclub in the city’s Kokura-Kita Ward in August 2003 when a Kudo-kai member lobbed a grenade into the establishment, injuring 12 individuals, including her.

The club, which has since closed, was run by a man who spearheaded a campaign against Kudo-kai.

Even after the audacious attack, mobsters from Kudo-kai openly roamed the streets of Kita-Kyushu at night. The woman relocated to another club nearby only for the same gangster to show up at her new workplace and sit next to her.

In April 2012, a former police inspector who had headed investigations into Kudo-kai was gunned down on the street and seriously wounded.

It was the trigger for other police organizations such as Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka prefectural police to send their officers to Kita-Kyushu to team up with Fukuoka prefectural police to bring down Nomura and his second in command.

Four months later, a system that obliged business operators to erect signs barring gang members from entering commercial facilities started in Fukuoka Prefecture. Mobsters who took no notice of the edict faced fines and other penalties.

Immediately after the system began, a woman working at a restaurant where the sign posted was slashed in the face.

A building housing a shop that prominently displayed the anti-yakuza sign was set on fire.

After a succession of violent incidents, the woman’s club removed the sign. The club staffer was terrified after learning that a store that posted the anti-yakuza label had received a threatening call.

On her way home after each shift, the woman made a point of holding her cellphone in the palm of her hand with the screen prominently displaying the number of a police acquaintance she could summon quickly if she ran into trouble.

“I felt much safer wandering around the town, as there were police officers and security cameras everywhere,” she said. “It was frightened to stay home by myself.”

PROTECTION MONEY

Nomura’s arrest brought about a dramatic change in the mindsets of not only the citizenry but also gangsters.

In court, members who quit Kudo-kai opened up about their involvement in a range of incidents. Their accounts helped detectives investigating cases linked to the group. At the same time, Fukuoka prefectural police stepped up their efforts to protect individuals who cooperated with investigators.

About 90 former yakuza members and others provided their recollections at Nomura’s first trial. Nomura was handed an unprecedented death sentence by the Fukuoka District Court in his first trial on murder and other charges.

On appeal, Nomura was given an indefinite term of imprisonment by a higher court, which he has appealed.

While “Operation Summit” was successful in rounding up senior members of Kudo-kai, including Nomura, to effectively immobilize the organization, Fukuoka prefectural police simultaneously took steps to shut off its sources of income.

According to court testimonies and other sources, Kudo-kai raised funds through “donations” from general contractors responsible for large-scale engineering projects as well as “mikajimeryo” protection fees from restaurants, pachinko parlors and the like.

A local businessman acknowledged that he paid 1 million yen ($7,000) to Kudo-kai during the Bon holiday season in summer and again at new year in the form of mikajimeryo. Aside from that, his monthly protection fee came to 100,000 yen.

The man said he arranged meetings with gang members in the parking lots of large retailers, where he would hand over cash through the window of his car without either side leaving their vehicle.

“It was taken for granted in Kita-Kyushu that those having trouble with someone would be accompanied by (gangsters) when negotiating a settlement,” the businessman said.

GANG’S OFFICES TARGETED

The prefectural police mounted a major investigation into mikajimeryo payments following the staging of Operation Summit. The crackdown emboldened the businessman to stop making his payments.

“Kudo-kai has been constantly going downhill in the face of the loss of its sources of income,” he said. “Gang members can no longer swagger down the street with impunity.”

Statistics from Fukuoka prefectural police show that a total of 28 offices affiliated with Kudo-kai have been shut down since Operation Summit. There used to be 40 or so facilities, according to investigative sources.

Kudo-kai’s headquarters in the city’s Kokura-Kita Ward were demolished in 2019. The site was acquired by nonprofit group Hoboku with the aim of building a shelter for poor people and a welfare center for locals under a Kibo no Machi (Town of hope) project.

A lawyer who fought to rid the city of yakuza offices explained the reason for this success.

“People got behind the movement to do away with Kudo-kai facilities because they feel so safe following Operation Summit and have little fear in terms of potential reprisals from the gang,” the lawyer said.

A questionnaire survey by city authorities in 2023 on yakuza links with local companies found that none of the 133 respondents answered “yes” to the question of whether they had been subjected to unreasonable demands for money and goods or forced to sign contracts with crime syndicates.

In 2003, when Kudo-kai reigned unchallenged in the city, 33.9 percent answered “yes” to the same question. The ratio had hovered around 2 percent since 2015.

It was the first time for the percentage to hit zero since the study began in 2001.

RISING LAND PRICES

Another spinoff from Kudo-kai’s downfall is that standard land prices along major roads in Kita-Kyushu are now on an upward trend. The value per square meter of land by Heiwa-dori street in front of JR Kokura Station bottomed out in 2015 at 490,000 yen and rose to 860,000 yen in 2024.

A local real estate appraiser noted that leading general contractors used to avoid joining development projects in Kita-Kyushu due to a string of assaults on citizens in the past.

“Investors even from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area are now interested in buying properties here as people increasingly deem the municipality to be safe and secure,” said the estate appraiser. “This has pushed up land prices.”

The police crackdown that cut off revenue sources for Kudo-kai motivated many gang members to sever ties with the group.

“I barely have enough to live on these days since I have no income,” said a veteran member of decades standing with Kudo-kai.

He had to quit his home and now lives alone in an apartment in Kita-Kyushu.

“Even if I feel like having a drink in town, it is no longer possible,” the man said.

Despite his plight, the Kudo-kai member said he maintains his loyalty to Nomura.

“Many members who remain at our organization are waiting for him and what the Supreme Court will say in its ruling,” said the gangster.

Fukuoka prefectural police believe Kudo-kai is still collecting funds via fraudulent bank transfers and stimulant sales.

“Although the organization has been increasingly weakened, this does not mean everything is over,” said Kazuhito Sumitomo, head of the Fukuoka prefectural police. “Our mission is to pursue all the members to the end.”