Turf war set to spiral after gang boss jailed

Kenichi Shinoda would have been hoping never again to wake up in a cell. At 63, the most influential of Japan's underworld dons would have looked forward to breakfast business meetings instead of roll calls, and fine restaurants of an evening instead of prison meals.

But Shinoda lost his final appeal before the Supreme Court and had his six-year sentence confirmed on Monday. He was convicted of allowing two bodyguards to carry guns and bullets at a hotel where he stayed during a meeting of the dreaded Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza in the western city of Osaka in 1997.

There is irony in the fact that police were unable to pin a crime on Shinoda - known in the underworld as Shinobu Tsukasa - but used new legislation to hold a gang leader responsible when an underling breaks the law.

Yet this does not mean he is no longer in control of the gang. Even though its leader is behind bars, Japan's largest crime syndicate is expected to continue with its strategy of 'incorporating' small gangs and expanding its sphere of influence.

Inevitably, that will bring it into conflict with the gangs that rule Tokyo's underworld.

'He will continue to pull the strings from inside prison, through the gang's lawyers or other intermediaries, because the Yamaguchi-gumi operates with very tight discipline,' said Benjamin Fulford, who has written three books on Japan's criminal gangs.

'I expect a temporary leader will be installed while Shinoda serves his six-year term, although as the gang is a union of several close-knit families with a clear hierarchy, there may be some form of coalition.