January 1, 1937 - Kazuyoshi Kudo
A senior figure in Japanese organized crime, Kudo is remembered less for the violence that defined the end of his life than for a single ceremonial act that reshaped alliances within the yakuza world. His sworn brotherhood with Yamaguchi-gumi godfather Kenichi Shinoda brought his Kokusui-kai faction into alignment with what had been a rival organization — a realignment significant enough to reverberate across Japan's criminal landscape. The territorial conflict that followed, culminating in the death of a rival boss and Kudo's own apparent suicide, underscored how fragile such alliances remained.
From Wikipedia
Kazuyoshi Kudo (工藤 和義, Kudō Kazuyoshi; 1937? – February 15, 2007) was a Japanese organized crime figure. He was the 4th head of the Kokusui-kai, a Tokyo-based yakuza gang. He was also the 7th socho of Kanamachi-ikka.
In August 2005, Kudo shocked the yakuza world when he became sworn brothers with new Yamaguchi-gumi godfather Kenichi Shinoda in a sakazuki (sake-sharing) ceremony. As a result of the ritual, the Kokusui-kai became an affiliate of their former enemies, the Yamaguchi-gumi.
On February 15, 2007, he was found dead bleeding from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suicide followed a rash of shootings and retaliations between Kokusui-kai and a rival gang, Sumiyoshi-kai, over gang territory, including the shooting death of Sumiyoshi-kai's boss.
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