January 1, 1924 - Susumu Ishii
As the second kaicho of the Inagawa-kai, one of Japan's most powerful yakuza organizations, Ishii helped guide the syndicate during a period of significant expansion in the postwar Japanese underworld. His career traced a path from wartime naval service to organized crime leadership, eventually reaching the upper tier of a hierarchical system that operated in parallel with legitimate Japanese society for decades. Even a six-year prison term for gambling fraud did not end his influence within the organization.
From Wikipedia
Susumu Ishii (Japanese: 石井 進; 1924–1991) was the second kaicho (godfather) of the Inagawa-kai yakuza gang in Japan. He was also fifth socho of the Yokosuka-ikka.
Ishii was born in Yokosuka in 1924. As a child, he moved with his family to Kamakura where they ran a small noodle shop. In World War II, he was assigned to a kaiten unit of the Japanese Navy but was not given the chance to take part in a suicide attack. After the war, he became a yakuza and joined the Inagawa-kai in 1958. He rose to the number two position in that gang, but was imprisoned for a gambling scam from 1978 to 1984. After serving his time in prison Ishii spoke to the media, saying; "We cannot succeed in the yakuza world unless we are active and aggressive until our early forties.
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