Takada-gumi

Takada-gumi is a third-tier group in the Inagawa crime family, headed by Takada. Its place in the book is defined less by an organizational portrait than by the people connected to it: Yasunobu Endo, once its second-in-command; Takada, who exercised authority over its members; and the gang’s confrontation with Sekine. The resulting picture is of a local criminal organization whose hierarchy and reputation shaped both community perceptions and police efforts to prevent further violence.

Structure and Local Standing

Inquiries in Konan established that Yasunobu Endo had been the gang’s number-two man beneath Takada. That position placed Takada-gumi within a larger crime-family hierarchy, but Endo’s local reputation did not match the reporter’s expectation that residents would speak of him only with fear. People described him warmly and worried about his welfare after he disappeared. One firefighter recalled that Endo had once driven a truck and had run for mayor in 1984; he had received only 120 votes. The episode suggests how closely the gang’s personnel could be woven into local life, even when their criminal affiliation remained plain.

Debts and Business Connections

The gang also appears in the account of Ryoji Arai’s dealings. Arai, a business partner of Sekine, had borrowed a couple of million yen from Takada and allegedly run off without repaying it. This debt sits alongside a separate dispute involving a Sumiyoshi-kai boss, whose dog Arai had sold and then neglected. After the dog was found in poor condition, Arai fled, changed his name, and spent years away; later he resurfaced and seemed to be working again with Sekine. The episode places Takada-gumi within a network of personal debts and commercial relationships, not only a chain of command.

Conflict Around Sekine

The gang’s authority became especially consequential after Shimizu, identified as a Takada-gumi member, attacked Sekine at his African Kennel shop. Shimizu admitted to the assault but denied that Takada had ordered it. Sekiguchi later visited Takada directly to ask whether he had sent Shimizu. Takada denied doing so, while describing what he would have expected if he had issued such an order: the attack would have had to be fatal. His response conveyed the severity of the gang’s internal expectations without establishing that he had directed this particular assault.

Police Management and Narrative Role

Sekiguchi treated the aftermath as a problem of both law enforcement and gang hierarchy. He explained that he was making the police response to Sekine’s danger visible so Takada’s men would expect serious legal consequences if Sekine were harmed. At the same time, he sought to keep Takada from losing face and deciding to attack Sekine himself. Takada-gumi therefore functions in the narrative as more than a label attached to Shimizu: its leader’s authority, its members’ conduct, and the risk of retaliation all complicate the police effort to protect Sekine.