Ou Blood War Record--Heisei 1-nen Yamagata War Secret History

Ou Blood War Record--Heisei 1-nen Yamagata War Secret History

In 1989, Yamagata Prefecture was rocked by a gang war known as the "Michinoku War. This war was an event in which local organizations and outside forces clashed over territory, resulting in a series of shootings and violent clashes. In the background was the transition of gang power in the entire Tohoku region, and in the course of the times, the former structure of dominance was beginning to crumble.

In the late 1980s, Japan's gangster society was undergoing a period of major restructuring. As the major organizations in the Kansai and Kanto regions were strengthening their influence in the regions, the conflict between existing local organizations and outside forces was becoming more serious in the Tohoku region as well. Yamagata Prefecture was no exception, and in 1989, multiple organizations repeatedly clashed over territory, resulting in a number of shootings and attacks.

In Yamagata Prefecture, the power struggle heated up with violent confrontations between certain local gangs and organizations that had advanced from the Kansai and Kanto regions. Finally, it escalated into a shooting incident, and retaliation was repeated. Tensions continued to rise, and the police were also forced to step up their crackdown.

In the shadow of this conflict, the name of one man emerged. In June 1973, he became a member of the Yamaguchigumi after exchanging a father-son drinking cup with Kazuo Taoka, the third head of the Yamaguchigumi, and became a member of the Yamaguchigumi. In June 1984, he was promoted to assistant to the fourth Yamaguchigumi leader, Masahisa Takenaka, and in May 1989, he was welcomed as a prefect's apprentice by the fifth Yamaguchigumi leader, Yoshinori Watanabe.

It is said that Chief Kimura sometimes functioned as a mediator to maintain the balance of gang forces in the Tohoku region. During the Michinoku War, he is said to have worked behind the scenes to control the spread of the situation, but he was unable to completely break the chain of violence.

The Yamagata Prefectural Police, taking a serious view of the situation, conducted a large-scale intensive investigation of the rival organizations and attempted to calm the conflict by making numerous arrests. Meanwhile, influential figures in the region, such as President Kimura, took steps to mediate, and the clashes were gradually brought under control.

Although the Michinoku conflict continued intermittently through the 1990s, it gradually subsided, partly due to the strengthening of anti-gang laws nationwide. However, the reorganization of gang forces continued, and on December 7, 1992, Shigeo Kimura passed away. After his death, the power structure in the Tohoku region was further transformed, and the old order gradually became a thing of the past.

In 1989, the "Michinoku War" rocked Yamagata Prefecture. Behind it was a struggle between those who wanted to change the gangster society and those who wanted to retain their former influence. The war died down, and the era moved on. However, the scars of the war are still quietly etched in a corner of the city of Yamagata.