OSAKA - The Osaka High Court upheld the acquittal on May 12th of Hiroshi Nakata, the 67-year-old head of the Yamaken-gumi faction, who had been charged with shooting and seriously injuring a member of a rival crime syndicate in Kobe in 2019.
Nakata had been accused of shooting a 51-year-old member of the Kodo-kai, a core organization of the designated crime syndicate Yamaguchi-gumi, on a street in Kobe’s Chuo Ward during a period of violent conflict between the groups.
During the first trial at the Kobe District Court, Nakata denied the allegations.
Prosecutors had attempted to build their case using circumstantial evidence, including a “relay analysis” that arranged footage from multiple security cameras in chronological order to trace the suspect’s movements.
However, the Kobe District Court ruled that it could not exclude the possibility that another person committed the crime, and handed down a not guilty verdict. Prosecutors appealed the ruling.
In its May 12th decision, the Osaka High Court supported the lower court’s acquittal, stating that “it is difficult to say the identity of the defendant as the person shown in the security camera footage has been sufficiently proven,” and dismissed the prosecution’s appeal.
The Kodo-kai is one of the most powerful and feared factions within the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest designated crime syndicate, and has played a central role in reshaping the country’s underworld over the past two decades.
Based primarily in Nagoya, the group rose rapidly under the leadership of Kenichi Shinoda, better known as Shinobu Tsukasa, who later became the overall head of the Yamaguchi-gumi. The Kodo-kai gained a reputation for its tightly centralized structure, aggressive expansion strategy, and strong financial discipline, distinguishing it from the more loosely organized traditions of older yakuza factions.
Its growing influence triggered friction within the wider Yamaguchi-gumi organization, particularly among Kobe-based groups that felt power and money were increasingly concentrated in Nagoya. Those tensions eventually erupted in 2015, when several major factions broke away to form the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, launching the largest split in Japan’s organized crime world in decades.
The Yamaken-gumi, led by Hiroshi Nakata at the time of the shooting case, became one of the core factions aligned with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi after the split. Historically, the Yamaken-gumi had been among the most influential Kobe-based groups within the original Yamaguchi-gumi structure and maintained deep roots in the Kansai region.
The breakup sparked years of violent confrontations, shootings, and intimidation incidents across western Japan, particularly in Kobe, Osaka, Hyogo, and surrounding prefectures. Police agencies nationwide strengthened surveillance and anti-gang measures as fears grew that the feud could escalate into a broader gang war reminiscent of the violent yakuza conflicts of the 1980s.
Authorities later designated the conflict as a “specified anti-conflict syndicate struggle,” allowing police to impose stricter operational restrictions on the rival groups. Under those measures, gang offices faced tighter monitoring, while members were prohibited from gathering in certain areas or using offices during periods of heightened tension.
In recent years, Japanese organized crime groups have faced mounting pressure from tougher anti-yakuza legislation, declining membership, and growing financial isolation. Banks, real estate firms, and businesses across Japan have increasingly cut ties with organized crime groups, making it more difficult for syndicates to operate openly.
Despite the decline in overall yakuza membership nationwide, the Yamaguchi-gumi and its affiliated factions continue to wield influence in parts of western Japan, with internal rivalries and splinter groups remaining a persistent concern for law enforcement authorities.
Source: MBS
