Yamaguchi-gumi

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The Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan’s largest yakuza group. It was founded in 1915 by Harukichi Yamaguchi in Kobe, where its headquarters remain. What began as a dockworkers’ labor group grew into a nationwide crime syndicate with international reach.

Today it has about 3,300 active members and around 3,600 affiliate members. The group is involved in many illegal activities, including extortion, racketeering, gambling, arms and drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and corruption in business and finance. It also engages in stock market manipulation and online pornography, and it maintains influence over some legitimate businesses.

Key history and leadership:
- The organization expanded under Taoka Kazuo and developed a structure with underbosses and subgroups.
- In the 1980s, a major split produced the Ichiwa-kai, sparking the Yama-Ichi War.
- Leadership changes followed over the years, with Tsukasa Shinobu becoming kumichō (boss) in the mid-2000s and guiding renewed expansion before legal troubles and later developments.
- The group faced a high-profile 2012 U.S. government sanctions and a major split in 2015 when factions formed the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.
- In recent years, there have been efforts to ease conflicts with rival factions and a push to lift designated crime-group status. There have also been arrests of members in scams and other crimes.

The Yamaguchi-gumi has also been known for large public-relief efforts, notably after the 1995 Kobe earthquake and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, when offices were opened and supplies sent to victims. Despite these acts, the organization remains a major criminal enterprise with a long history and significant influence in Japan and beyond.