The Shadow of the Dying Ri - Nobuharu Nakagawa and the Three Years of the Yamaichi War (1984-61)

The Shadow of the Dying Ri - Nobuharu Nakagawa and the Three Years of the Yamaichi War (1984-61)

As a senior member of the Ichiwakai, Nobuharu Nakagawa was at the center of the Yamaichi War, the largest gang war of the 1980s, and was trusted as a moderate and rational coordinator in the Ichiwakai, which was formed in 1984 following the split of the Yamaguchigumi. Even in the midst of a succession of shootings and reprisals, he strove to keep the organization from spiraling out of control and took a cautious approach to the cycle of violence.

In the "Ichi-Ni-Roku Incident" that occurred at the Shin Hankyu Hotel in Osaka in January 1985, hitmen from the Yamaguchigumi side shot Ichiwakai executives and others during a meeting. Nakagawa was also a target, but he escaped with his life. There is a testimony that he shouted to his subordinates to "get down" and saved their lives by making a spur-of-the-moment decision.

One year later, on May 21, 1986, fate did not smile on him. While waiting at a traffic light at an intersection in Osaka, Nakagawa was shot at point-blank range by a hitman from the Yamaguchigumi-affiliated Takenaka clan and died instantly. It was a premeditated assassination. His death, which had been the rationale and balance of the organization, pushed the Ichiwakai to further radicalization and determined that the conflict would become a quagmire.

Nakagawa was one of the few who still sought "reason" in gang society. His death symbolizes the end of quiet intelligence in an era of blood and retribution.