A notorious yakuza boss has had his death sentence overturned after becoming the first ever senior member to receive the sentence in 2021 – telling the judge ‘you’ll regret this decision for the rest of your life’.
Satoru Nomura, 77, was handed down a life sentence at the Fukoka High Court on Tuesday after he was found not guilty of his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting of a former head of a fisheries cooperative in 1998.
He was initially sentenced to death over four cases of attacks on ordinary citizens – including the murder.
But the head of the violent Kudo-kai crime syndicate was acquitted of the shooting with Judge Futoshi Ichikawa saying he ‘cannot recognise Nomura’s complicity through logical or empirical reasoning.’
However, the elderly gang boss was found guilty of three cases of attempted organised murder against a former police officer, a nurse, and a dentist, between 2012 and 2014.
Yakuza godfather Satoru Nomura, 77, head of the Kudo-kai gang, was sentenced to death for conspiracy to commit murder in 2021, but had his execution overruled on Tuesday
Nomura was found to be the ultimate mastermind behind all four attacks, despite his constant denial of his involvement.
The court also upheld the 2021 Fukoka District Court’s ruling of life imprisonment for Fumio Tanoue, 67, the gang’s second-in-command.
The high court recognised that both Nomura and Tanoue had significant decision-making power and status within the gang, concluding that the duo conspired with other Kudo-kai members in the attacks.
Nomura’s defence attempted to claim his innocence, but Tanoue admitted to instructing Kudo-kai members to attack the nurse and dentist – but denied any intent to kill, according to The Japan Times.
Prosecutors allegedly said there were no issues with the lower court ruling, which stated the pair had been behind the order of the attacks.
After pleading not guilty at Fukoka District Court, Tanoue reversed his claim during the High Court hearing, saying that he ordered the two attacks on his own, without any collaboration from Nomura.
But his statement was deemed untrustworthy by prosecutors who believed he was attempting to protect his leader.
He reportedly remained expressionless and stared directly at Judge Ichikawa while he read out that his death sentence had been overturned.
Tsuyoshi Iwashita, the head of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, vowed to continue efforts to ‘eradicate’ Kudo-kai in a statement issued following the high court ruling.
Kudo-kai is often described as Japan’s ‘most violent’ yakuza gang.
The yakuza grew from the chaos of post-war Japan into multi-billion-dollar criminal organisations, involved in everything from drugs and prostitution to protection rackets and white-collar crime.
The Kudo-kai is acknowledged as a particularly dangerous yakuza group by local governments because of its apparent willingness to target civilians, local reports have stated.
Unlike the Italian Mafia or Chinese triads, yakuza have long occupied a grey area in Japanese society – they are not illegal, and each group has its own headquarters in full view of police.