Source: Yomiuri Shimbun

Japan's biggest crime syndicate has a new boss and Tokyo police fear he will widen its activities in the capital.

Kenichi Shinoda, a 63-year-old convicted killer known in Yakuza circles as Shinobu Tsukasa, was confirmed as Yamaguchi-gumi leader recently at its Kobe headquarters, reportedly in a ceremonial exchange of sake cups with his lieutenants.

He has replaced Yoshinori Watanabe, 64, who retired in July because of poor health, according to some sources, though others say Watanabe was encouraged to go by a growing threat of civil damages cases.

In November, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that Watanabe and three associates were to pay about C$1 million for causing the death of a Kyoto policeman during a 1995 intra-gang dispute.

Shinoda has legal liability problems too; he is appealing a High Court sentence of six years' jail for obliging his bodyguards to carry firearms during a meeting at an Osaka hotel in 1997. Previously the chief of Koda-kai, Shinoda spent 13 years in jail for killing a rival with a sword in 1969.

Yamaguchi-gumi and the other main yakuza in the capital are engaged in a wide array of illegal and semi-legal activities, including extortion, drug trafficking and prostitution.

According to a Yomiuri Shimbun report, police are concerned Shinoda's ascent could provoke a resumption of gang wars.