Masaru Takumi

Takumi featured on a nonfiction book after his death

Masaru Takumi (宅見 勝 Takumi Masaru; June 22, 1936 – August 28, 1997) was a powerful Japanese organized crime figure assassinated in 1997. Until his death, he was the second-in-command (wakagashira) and financial overseer of Japan's largest yakuza gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi. Known as "the man who never sleeps," he also headed his own sub-organization, the 1000-member Takumi-gumi.

He was considered a likely successor to the Yamaguchi-gumi's fifth godfather, Yoshinori Watanabe,^[1] but in August 1997, Takumi was shot and killed in a coffee shop on the fourth floor of the Oriental Hotel in Kobe by members of a breakaway Yamaguchi affiliate, the Nakano-kai^[2]. An innocent bystander was killed by a stray bullet in the attack, which led to the downfall of the Nakano-kai.

His last position at the Yamaguchi-gumi was as wakagashira (the number-two), and after his death, the wakagashira post became vacant and had been vacant until 2005 when it was succeeded by Kiyoshi Takayama.^[3] The Takumi-gumi's head position was succeeded by Tadashi Irie.^[4]

His wife was the sister of Hideki Saijo^[5][6], a Japanese singer and television celebrity most famous for singing the Japanese version of the Village People's hit song Y.M.C.A.,^[7] called Young Man.

Preceded by (none)

Kumicho of Takumi-gumi 1967-1997

Succeeded by Tadashi Irie

References

1. ^ "Police wary as Yamaguchi-gumi prepares to fete sixth don", August 19, 2005, The Japan Times
2. ^ "Tokyo police continue gang sweeps", September 18, 1997, The Japan Times
3. ^ "Into the Yamaguchi-gumi's 'total domination' of the underworld", September 10, 2008, Monthly Central Journal, Central News Bank (Japanese)
4. ^ "Osaka Police Nab Another Yakuza Boss as Crackdown Continues", December 1, 2010, The Wall Street Journal
5. ^ 森功『同和と銀行』（講談社、2009年）p.175
6. ^ 田中森一・夏原武『バブル』（宝島社、2007年）
7. ^ Pearlman, Jeff (June 2008). America's favorite ballpark sing-along is (gasp!) a disco anthem about gay sex. pp. 75–78. http://books.google.com/books?id=I8dEa7CkvDwC&pg=PA76&dq=%22Hideki+Saijo%22&as_brr=3&cd=1#v=onepage&q=%22Hideki%20Saijo%22&f=false. Retrieved 16 May 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Takumi, Masaru
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 22, 1936
Place of birth
Date of death	August 28, 1997
Place of death