Crime & Courts

Fire Breaks out at Organized Crime Syndicate Head’s House in Kobe; Police Suspect Arson

Yomiuri Shimbun photos
Investigators are seen around the house of Kunio Inoue, head of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group, after a fire broke out there on Sunday in Kobe.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:15 JST, January 20, 2025

KOBE — A fire broke out on Sunday evening at the house of the head of an organized crime syndicate in Kobe, according to police.

The fire, which started at around 6:40 p.m., burned two cars, parts of a fence and a shed at the house of Kunio Inoue, head of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi organized crime group. No injuries were reported, according to the police.

Arson is suspected, the police said.

Immediately after the incident, a 75-year-old man was arrested near the house for allegedly pointing what appeared to be a gun at police officers. The police are investigating the man, who is unemployed and from Hamamatsu, to find out if he had something to do with the fire.

The man denied any involvement, according to police. “I don’t remember because my memory has been blown off,” he was quoted as saying.

Inoue’s house had been targeted from 2022 to 2023 by members of the Yamaguchi-gumi, an organized crime group at odds with the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi. The attackers fired a gun at the building and doused the area in gasoline.