The Genealogy of Chivalry with Roots in Asakusa: The Age of the Ianeya Family and Yoji Murayama: From the Mid to Late Showa Period

The Genealogy of Chivalry with Roots in Asakusa: The Age of the Ianeya Family and Yoji Murayama: From the Mid to Late Showa Period

The Ienya Family is an expatriate organization based in Asakusa, Tokyo, and has been known as the core of the Sumiyoshikai. Its history dates back to the end of the Edo period, when the foundation was laid by its founder, Yakichi Ianeya No Yakichi. Since then, based in Asakusa-Hirokoji, Taito-ku, it has expanded its power while being connected to the culture of yuri and betting halls. After successive presidents, the seventh president, Yoji Murayama, is particularly noteworthy in the postwar period.

Murayama was born in Mukden, Manchuria in 1919, and returned to Japan after the war to enter the world of chivalry in Asakusa. He succeeded Tsutomu Takagi VI as president, and while respecting the principles of chivalry, he was also adept at practical management, strengthening ties with the Sumiyoshikai as a whole, and his position within the organization was considered equivalent to that of a vice president. In the 1965s, Murayama is said to have played a role in mediating and controlling the complicated movements of delinquents and gangsters in the Kanto area.

In his later years, he handed over the position of president to his successor and continued to be named as a permanent advisor to the Sumiyoshikai. Murayama was succeeded by the eighth generation, Koichi Kaneko, and then by the ninth generation, Yoshihide Ohno. The Ianeya family has remained intact to the present day, and Murayama's era was a milestone in the history of the family. Yoji Murayama is the embodiment of the tradition that has taken root in Asakusa and the pride of Showa-era chivalry.