Aizukotetsu-kai

The Fifth Aizukotetsu-kai (五代目会津小鉄会 Godaime Aizukotetsu-kai?) (sometimes written Aizu-Kotetsukai or Aizu Kotetsu-kai), based in Kyoto, is Japan's fourth-largest yakuza organization. Its name comes from the Aizu region, "Kotetsu", a type of Japanese sword, and the suffix "-kai", or society.

Rather than a stand-alone gang, the Aizukotetsu-kai is a federation of approximately 100 of Kyoto's various yakuza groups, comprising an estimated 7,000 members.

In 1992 the Aizukotetsu-kai became one of the first yakuza syndicates named under Japan's new anti-boryokudan legislation, which gave police expanded powers to crack down on yakuza. Its chairman at the time, Tokutaro Takayama, campaigned publicly against the new laws, and the group launched a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality. In September 1995 the Kyoto District Court threw out the lawsuit.

In October 2005, the group formed an alliance with the Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza clan.

Successive kaichos

References