Wanted Yakuza Arrested in 2017 Kobe Gangland Killing

Jun 24, 2026 | News On Japan

KOBE - A 50-year-old member of an organization affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi crime syndicate has been arrested in Yamaguchi Prefecture after nearly nine years on the run over the 2017 fatal shooting of a bodyguard for the leader of a rival group in Kobe.

The suspect, Tatsumi Hishikawa, was seen sitting in the back seat of a car without changing his expression after his arrest.

The case dates back to 2017, when a vehicle carrying the head of the rival Ninkyo Yamaguchi-gumi was attacked on a street in Nagata Ward, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture.

Hishikawa is suspected of shooting and killing a gang member believed to have been serving as a bodyguard.

Police had been investigating the case as an organized attack and placed Hishikawa on a nationwide wanted list as a suspected perpetrator who had fled after the shooting.

The case moved forward on June 23, 2026, nearly nine years after the killing, when Hyogo Prefectural Police arrested Hishikawa in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, at 6:39 a.m. on suspicion of murder and violating the firearms and swords control law, according to Noriaki Adachi, head of the prefectural police organized crime division.

Hishikawa was arrested at an apartment in Yamaguchi Prefecture, about 300 kilometers from the scene of the shooting.

The apartment room had been rented under another person’s name, according to police.

Police plan to continue their investigation, believing that others were also involved in the case.

Source: FNN

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