Editing Sumiyoshi-kai

{{Short description|Yakuza group based in Tokyo}}
{{ref-improve|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox criminal organization
| name = Sumiyoshi-kai
| image = Sumiyoshi-kai.svg
| image_size = 
| caption = The [[Mon (emblem)|daimon]] of the Sumiyoshi-kai
| founded = {{start date and age|1958}}
| founder = Jusaku Abe
| named_after = 
| founding_location = [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]]
| years_active = 
| territory = [[Tokyo]]
| ethnicity = 
| membership = 2,100 members<ref name="npa">{{cite web|url=https://www.npa.go.jp/publications/statistics/kikakubunseki/r6jyousei.pdf|title=Organized Crime Trends in 2024|pages=18–19, 40|website=[[National Police Agency (Japan)|National Police Agency]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250403084126/https://www.npa.go.jp/publications/statistics/kikakubunseki/r6jyousei.pdf|accessdate=3 April 2025|archive-date=3 April 2025}}</ref> 1,100 quasi-members<ref name="npa"/>
| leaders = Shūji Ogawa<ref name="npa"/>
| activities = 
| allies = 
| rivals = 
| notable_members = 
}}
The {{nihongo|'''Sumiyoshi-kai'''|住吉会}}, sometimes referred to as the {{nihongo|''Sumiyoshi-rengo''|住吉連合|Sumiyoshi-rengō|"Sumiyoshi Union"}}, is the second-largest [[yakuza]] group in Japan with an estimated 2,100 members.<ref name="npa"/>

== Outline ==
Their territories mainly consist of upscale districts such as [[Kabukichō, Tokyo|Kabukichō]] and [[Ginza]]. Shops operating in these territories are often part of [[protection racket]]s in which they must pay a fee called a {{nihongo|''mikajime-ryō''|みかじめ料}}.
The Sumiyoshi-kai is a confederation of smaller gangs. Structurally, the Sumiyoshi-kai differs from its main rival, the [[Yamaguchi-gumi]]. The Sumiyoshi-kai, as a federation, has a looser [[command hierarchy|chain of command]] and while there is a chairman, some power is delegated to affiliate clan leaders.

The group has a complex history, with numerous name changes along the way. It was founded in 1958 as the '''Minato-kai''' (港会) by Jusaku Abe who was the 3rd {{nihongo|''sōchō''|総長||"Supreme Leader"}} of the [[Sumiyoshi-ikka]]. [[Yoshimitsu Sekigami]], who was the 4th ''sōchō'' of Sumiyoshi-ikka, renamed it to Sumiyoshi-kai. It was dissolved in 1965.

In 1969, the group was rebuilt as a union, the '''Sumiyoshi-rengo''', by [[Masao Hori]], who was the 5th ''sōchō'' of Sumiyoshi-ikka. He remade it as the '''Sumiyoshi-rengokai''' (住吉連合会) in 1982, and Hori became ''kaicho'' (president). Chief Director [[Ryoji Kawaguchi]] assumed the role of ''kaicho'', and Hori was promoted to ''[[sosai]]'', or chairman, in 1988. Kawaguchi died of illness in May 1990, and Hori died of illness in October of the same year.

[[Shigeo Nishiguchi]], born in 1929, became the 6th ''sōchō'' of Sumiyoshi-ikka and ''kaicho'' of this group in February, 1991. At that time, it was again renamed the Sumiyoshi-kai. Chief Director [[Hareaki Fukuda]], born in 1943, became ''kaicho'', and Nishiguchi was promoted to ''sosai'' in June 1998. Fukuda became the 7th ''sōchō'' of the Sumiyoshi-ikka on April 17, 2005. 

On 19 April 2003, Takao Nishida, head of the affiliated Nishida-gumi, was gunned down in [[Ōizumi, Gunma]]. Police stated that they were probing for possible links between the murder and a series of shootings between the Sumiyoshi-kai and the Yamaguchi-gumi in neighboring [[Tochigi Prefecture]].<ref>{{cite news |date=21 April 2003 |title=Mob boss gunned down in Gunma |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2003/04/21/national/mob-boss-gunned-down-in-gunma/#.XqEcMh5Ok0P |work=The Japan Times |access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref>

On the morning of Monday, 5 January 2007, boss [[Ryoichi Sugiura]] was shot in his car in [[Tokyo]]. Within hours the offices of the Yamaguchi-gumi were fired upon in retribution.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6341253.stm BBC News - Tokyo death sparks gang war fear]</ref> The following month, 70-year-old Kazuyoshi Kudo, head of the Kokusui-kai, was discovered dead in his home in Tokyo, police said. A gun was found by his side, suspected to be a suicide, raising tensions between the Sumiyoshi-kai and the [[Yamaguchi-gumi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/07/japan.justinmccurry|title=Tokyo gang boss found shot dead|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2022-10-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/07/japan.justinmccurry|title=All-out turf war feared in Japanese underworld|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2022-10-11}}</ref>

In September of 2017, Sumiyoshi-kai ''sosai'', or chairman, [[Shigeo Nishiguchi]] died of natural causes at the age of 88.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Tokyo Reporter |date=2017-09-12 |title=Sumiyoshi-kai boss Shigeo Nishiguchi dies at 88 |url=https://www.tokyoreporter.com/crime/yakuza/sumiyoshi-kai-boss-shigeo-nishiguchi-dies-at-88/ |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=TokyoReporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

In April 2020, a report from the National Police Agency shows that the total number of members of organized crime gangs fell to historical lows, having just 2,800 members and 1,700 associated members.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00694/|title=Yakuza Membership Hits New Record Low|work=Nippon.com|accessdate=2022-10-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01007/|title=Life of Crime: Yakuza Membership Hits New Record Low|work=Nippon.com|accessdate=2022-10-11}}</ref>

On May 31, 2022, [[Isao Seki]], the eighth leader of the Sumiyoshi-kai, died at the age of 76.<ref name="isaoseki">{{cite web|url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ504HR8Q50UTIL014.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630142741/https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ504HR8Q50UTIL014.html|script-title=ja:指定暴力団・住吉会トップの関功代表が死亡|language=ja|publisher=[[Asahi Shimbun]]|date=31 May 2022|archive-date=30 June 2022|access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> [[Shūji Ogawa]], who holds the position of ''kaicho'', was the leader of the Sumiyoshi-kai at the time of Isao Seki's funeral.<ref name="ogawa">[https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/55230 住吉会代表が死去「供花や名札の配置は気を使う」「香典には数千万円を包んでくる組織も」 “義理事”は最重要儀式だが…現代ヤクザの葬儀事情はどんなもの？.] [[Bungeishunju]]. 19 June 2022</ref>

==References==
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{{Designated Boryokudan}}

[[Category:Organizations established in 1958]]
[[Category:1958 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Yakuza groups]]