The city at the end of the north, dyed in blood - the Kitami War of 1985-1986

The city at the end of the north, dyed in blood - the Kitami War of 1985-1986

Kitami City, Hokkaido, Japan, at the end of the Showa period (1926-1989). A quiet provincial city was suddenly engulfed in violent violence. The trigger was August 1, 1985. Akira Hanada, head of the Hanada clan of the Kamota group, was shot at a supermarket by a senior member of the Hoshikawa clan of the Inagawa-kai group. Hanada died a few days later, and his death was more than just a single incident.

The rivalry was between the Ichiwakai and the Inagawa-kai. The Kansai-based Kamota-gumi, once part of the Yamaguchigumi, became independent and formed the Ichiwakai. The Hanada-gumi, entrusted with the expansion into Hokkaido, had established a foothold in Kitami. The Hoshikawa clan of the Inagawa-kai, based in eastern Japan, confronted them. The two forces intersected, turning the city into a battlefield.

The reprisals did not stop, and three months after Hanada's death, Hoshikawa Horioki, the leader of the Hoshikawa clan, was also shot dead. Still the shooting did not stop, and lives were lost one after another in the province. In 1986, however, a hand-wringing ceremony was held at a hotel in Shiraoi-cho, and the war finally came to an end.

Kitami regained its serenity, but the memory of the blood that flowed there still remains in a corner of the city.