The Black Frost in Kitami - The History of the War between the Ichiwakai and the Inagawa-kai (1984-1986)

The Black Frost in Kitami - The History of the War between the Ichiwakai and the Inagawa-kai (1984-1986)

In 1984, the eastern city of Kitami was suddenly caught in the vortex of a gang war known as the "Kitami War. In July, the Inagawa-kai attacked an Ichiwakai-affiliated office with shotgun fire, and the city was engulfed in tension. In the summer of 1960, Hanada Akira, the leader of the Hanada clan, was shot and killed in a parking lot in Kitami City on the 4th, and the conflict quickly escalated into an all-out war.

On November 19, Inagawa-kai Hoshikawa was shot to death in Kitami's Cabaret Hokkaido, and once again bloody retaliation ensued; in December, the Ichiwakai Hanada clan executives and members were shot, and the Kitami entertainment district was enveloped in an atmosphere of fear. The war finally came to an end on January 15, 1986, at a hot spring resort in Shiraoi-cho's Torazuhama, bringing the nearly two-year-long conflict to a close.

The Kitami War occupies a unique position in the history of gangs in Hokkaido, which lasted from the 1950s to the 1960s. In 1980, there was the "Chitose Airport Mass Mobilization Incident" between the Yamaguchigumi affiliate Kamota-gumi and the local Shimonokai, and the Hokkaido Police deployed several hundred people to prevent a clash between the gangs. As these tensions continued, the Ichiwakai was born as a nationwide split from the Yamaguchigumi, and part of the Ichiwakai established a stronghold in Hokkaido. On the other hand, the Inagawa-kai, while still based in the Kanto region, was making inroads into Kitami and other parts of Eastern Hokkaido, and clashes were inevitable.

Nationwide, Yamaguchigumi and Ichiwakai were engaged in an all-out war at the same time, and the rise of public opinion led to the enactment of the Anti-Boryokudan Law. The Kitami War was a local expression of this, showing that even in a regional city, a war between large organizations can directly shake up the local community. In Kitami City, this incident led to the establishment of the Council for the Elimination of Violent Groups, and the collaboration between residents and police became a permanent feature of the city.

The main figures in the council were Hiroshi Yamamoto, chairman, Shigemasa Kamota, vice chairman, and Masaki Sasaki, secretary general of the Ichiwakai, while the Hanada clan, a branch of the Kamota clan in Hokkaido, was at the forefront of the council. Akira Hanada, the leader of the Hanada clan, became the first casualty of the war, and Tokimaro Iida, a young leader, supported the clan. On the side of the Inagawa-kai, led by its original chairman Seijo Inagawa and later Takamasa Ishii, local gang leaders Kishimoto and Hoshikawa clashed with the Ichiwakai. Hoshikawa was ultimately killed by gunfire, symbolizing the intensity of the conflict.

Against an economic background, the hollowing out of the local economy due to the closure of coal mines and the growth of interests in the entertainment district and construction industry became a hotbed of conflict. Cities in the eastern part of Hokkaido are susceptible to the influence of the underworld due to economic instability, and the Kitami War was a typical example of this.

Thus, from 1984 to 1986, the city of Kitami was enveloped in the smell of blood and gunpowder under the frozen winter ground. This war was not just a regional clash, but the aftermath of a nationwide gang war, and at the same time, it is remembered as a historical event that sprouted a sense of "elimination of violence" in Hokkaido society.