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Politics
Martina Baradel, Marie Curie postdoctoral researcher, University of Oxford

Yakuza battle Chinese gangs for control of Japan's criminal underworld

Kabukicho: Tokyo's main red-light district, where Chinese gangs have been active in recent years. Sean Pavone via Shutterstock

On the afternoon of October 16 last year a brawl erupted between two groups of gangsters in a restaurant on the 58th floor of the Sunshine 60 high-rise building in Ikebukuro, a central neighbourhood of Tokyo. A group of around 70 people crashed a private party and fighting broke out, resulting in one person bleeding from the head and sustaining minor injuries.

The Tokyo police subsequently revealed that the party had been held by members of a criminal group known as the Chinese Dragons. The Dragons were celebrating the release from prison of one of their leaders and were attacked by a rival Chinese gang.

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