Word: yamaguchi
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...over, he allegedly used it to murder Iccho Itoh, the mayor of the southwestern Japanese city of Nagasaki, outside his campaign office. While the April 17 shooting first appeared to be an assassination, it soon emerged that Shiroo, a 59-year-old yakuza (gangster) with ties to Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest criminal syndicate, seemed motivated less by politics than by a petty personal grievance. He blamed a minor car accident on city construction work and wanted $17,000 in damages from the Nagasaki government. The result was absurd: an aging hoodlum gunning down a high-profile politician over pride...
...While it may seem odd that yakuza could be hit by budget cuts, they're not immune to government belt-tightening. The construction industry has always been the lifeblood of the yakuza-the gumi in Yamaguchi-gumi is also frequently used to denote construction companies. During Japan's bubble economy in the 1980s, crime lords feasted on the lucrative real estate sector. Yakuza made a mint by intimidating residents into selling their property at below-market prices. Many gangs plowed profits into real estate projects-especially golf courses, which became one of the most mobbed-up industries in Japan. When...
...Police apprehended Itoh's attacker moments after the shooting. They've identified him as Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, and said he was a senior member of a gang affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's biggest yakuza criminal syndicate. Police say Shiroo admitted to the shooting upon his arrest. His motive remains unclear: local media are reporting that Shiroo had a personal grudge against the mayor and his local government, but at least one anti-nuclear activist wondered whether there might be a political motive...
...Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation John D. “Jack” Spengler said that he hopes the referendum passes...
...While Abe earned points for his handling of the nuclear crisis?even Yamaguchi admits that the administration "isn't making any mistakes"?his peacemaking visits to Beijing and Seoul will prove even more important, given the economic ties between the three nations and the need to coordinate regional responses to future diplomatic crises. That Abe managed to schedule the meetings at all was an impressive achievement, requiring the blue-blooded conservative to dodge toward the ideological center. China and South Korea had cut off most high-level contacts with Japan to protest former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits...