Masaru Takumi

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Masaru Takumi (宅見 勝 Takumi Masaru; June 22, 1936 - August 28, 1997) was a powerful Japanese organized crime figure assassinated in 1997. Until his death, he was the second-in-command (wakagashira) and financial overseer of Japan's largest yakuza gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi. Known as "the man who never sleeps," he also headed his own sub-organization, the 1000-member Takumi-gumi. He was considered a likely successor to the Yamaguchi-gumi's godfather, Yoshinori Watanabe.

But in August 1997, Takumi was shot and killed in a coffee shop on the fourth floor of the Oriental Hotel in Kobe by members of a breakaway Yamaguchi affiliate, the Nakano-kai. An innocent bystander was killed by a stray bullet in the attack, which led to the downfall of the Nakano-kai.

Preceded by (none)

Kumicho of Takumi-gumi 1967-1997

Succeeded by Tadashi Irie