Kyushu Seido-kai

Kyushu Seido-kai

Daimon of Kyushu Seido-kai
Founding location	Omuta, Fukuoka, Japan
Years active	2006 - June 11th, 2013
Membership (est.)	150[1]
Criminal activities	Drug trafficking, loansharking, among others
Rivals	Dojin-kai

The Kyushu Seido-kai (九州誠道会, Kyūshū Seidō-kai) was a yakuza organization based in Fukuoka Prefecture on the Kyushu island of Japan, with an estimated 150 active members.^[1] Headquartered in the southern Fukuoka region of Omuta, the Kyushu Seido-kai maintains its offices in five other prefectures including Tokyo.^[2]

Since its formation, the Kyushu Seido-kai has been known for its blatant armed conflicts with its former parent syndicate, the Dojin-kai,^[3] involving various hazardous weapons such as automatic firearms (especially the AK-47), petrol bombs and hand grenades.

While violently feuding with the Dojin-kai, the Kyushu Seido-kai has caused deaths among several innocent civilians as well as numerous yakuza members,^[4] and because of that, despite being a relatively recently established group, the Kyushu Seido-kai has been a designated yakuza group since 2008.^[5]

History

The Kyushu Seido-kai launched in 2006 as the Dojin-kai's splinter group^[6] led by the Omuta-based Murakami-ikka clan,^[5] after the long-time Dojin-kai boss Seijiro Matsuo announced his resignation, sparking a war of succession.^[7] In 2007 a Dojin-kai member attempted to murder a Seido-kai member, but ended up killing an innocent bystander.^[8] The Kyushu Seido-kai ended up receiving official registration as a designated yakuza group under the Organized Crime Countermeasures Law on February 28, 2008.^[9]

In 2011, the Seido-kai's feud with the Dojin-kai escalated,^[10] and many Seido members were killed by the Dojin-kai; two Seido seniors were killed by alleged Dojin-kai's grenades in Omuta (April),^[11] one Seido member was stabbed to death in Ogi, Saga (April),^[12] and one Seido senior was shot to death in Imari, Saga (April).^[13]

Condition

The Kyushu Seido-kai is one of the five independent Fukuoka-based designated yakuza syndicates, along with the Kudo-kai, the Taishu-kai, the Fukuhaku-kai, and the Dojin-kai.^[14] The Kyushu Seido-kai maintains its offices in six prefectures;^[2] Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Yamagata,^[15] and Tokyo.^[2]

In 2008, the Kudo-kai's third-generation president Hideo Mizoshita died and his funeral was attended by many yakuza magnates representing their respective syndicates from all over the country. The Seido-kai was the only designated yakuza syndicate absent from this event.^[16]

The second president Namikawa has allegedly maintained a close relationship with Kunio Inoue. Inoue is the president of the fourth-generation Yamaken-gumi, an affiliate of the largest-known Yamaguchi-gumi syndicate.^[17]

Activities

The Kyushu Seido-kai's illegal activities have allegedly included loansharking and methamphetamine trafficking.^[18] The Seido-kai was allegedly the largest drug trading division of the Dojin-kai, as rumored by some local Omuta in-the-know men, hence the informal dub name of the "Seido Pharmacy". Even the 55-year-old founding president Murakami was arrested for methamphetamine possession.^[19]

On June 11, 2013, Kyushu Seido-kai announced the end of its gang war with Dojin-kai as well as its dissolution.^[20]

References

1. "Organized Crime Situation 2023" (PDF). National Police Agency. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
2. "Boryokudan Situation in 2010", April 2011, National Police Agency (in Japanese)
3. "Gangster tied to slaying in Saga hospital arrested", 26 November 2007, The Japan Times
4. "Firing on a car belonging to a Dojin-kai insider, possibly from a conflict with the Seido-kai" Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, 30 March 2011, Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese)
5. "National Police Agency searches the Kyushu Seidokai's office, for blackmail among others", 31 October 2008, Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese)
6. "Japan: Residents go to courts to evict yakuza", 26 August 2008, The Guardian
7. "The town that took on the yakuza", 9 September 2008, The Independent
8. "Gangster tied to slaying in Saga hospital arrested | the Japan Times Online". Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
9. "Boryokudan Situation in 2007" Archived 2015-11-12 at the Wayback Machine, April 2008, National Police Agency (in Japanese)
10. "Shot : One hurt in the Dojin-kai President's house, Kurume"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, 26 August 2011, Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese)
11. "Explosive in car kills ex-gang boss, brother", 8 April 2011, Yomiuri Shimbun
12. "Seido-kai member was stabbed to death immediately after getting off his car" Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine, 21 April 2011, Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese)
13. "Hospital murder, Dojin-kai member was arrested" Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, 10 July 2011, Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese)
14. "Police of Japan 2011, Criminal Investigation : 2. Fight Against Organized Crime" Archived 2011-08-10 at the Wayback Machine, December 2009, National Police Agency
15. "Kyushu Seido-kai as a shitei boryokudan, The Fukuoka Prefectural Public Safety Commission started the procedures", 27 December 2007, Chiba Nippo (in Japanese)
16. The Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi Complete Databook 2008 Edition : "The funeral of the Fourth Kudo-kai Honorary Adviser Hideo Mizoshita" (p.192–197), 1 February 2009, Mediax, ISBN 978-4-86201-358-3 (in Japanese)
17. "Increasing dangerousness of the Yamaguchi-gumi's internal conflicts after the Elimination Strategy (The Commissioner General)", 19 December 2010, Atsushi Mizoguchi, Gendai Business (in Japanese)
18. "Kyushu Seido-kai as a shitei boryokudan, The Fukuoka Prefectural Public Safety Commission started the procedures", 27 December 2007, 47 News, Kyodo (in Japanese)
19. "九州誠道会会長を逮捕". Archived from the original on 2008-04-19.
20. "Kyushu Seido-kai yakuza gang announces dissolution". 28 June 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2014.