Explosion rocks Yamanashi neighborhood; yakuza involvement suspected

TOKYO (TR) – In what police believe is connected to an ongoing gang war in Yamanashi Prefecture, an explosion shook a residential neighborhood on Sunday evening, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 1).

At around 10:40 p.m., a can exploded outside the home of an organized crime member in Kamisukiawara City. No injuries or damage to structures were reported.

Police are attempting to confirm that the incident is connected to a gangland war, which has included a number of shooting incidents and possibly one suicide, between the Yamanashi-ikka, an affiliate gang to the Inagawa-kai, and the Yamanashi Kyoyu-kai organized crime group.

The dispute dates back to last November, when an upper member of the Yamanashi Kyoyu-kai was seriously injured after being shot in the riverbed of the Arakawa River.