full-time members of Yamaguchi-gumi had increased by one-third to 16,500 a decade after Watanabe took over. In November 2003, the Osaka High Court ordered that Watanabe and three others pay 80 million yen in damages for the killing of an off-duty policeman in 1995 by a Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate, and his appeal to the Supreme Court failed a year later. The rulings were historic in that they set a precedent in recognizing that a crime boss, though not directly involved in the criminal act, is responsible for the act if his subordinates are found guilty of that crime. These decisions specified what yakuza activities were considered business activities and that gang violence is “closely related with the business.” It was believed this new precedent would greatly affect the money-making ability of Yoshinori Watanabe, Yamaguchi Gumi, and other yakuza organizations. He retired from his position in July 2005, reportedly due to ill health. Accession to Kumicho The 1980s was a turbulent time for the Yakuza organizations, the Yamaguchi Gumi that Yoshinori Watanabe belonged to was not excluded from this turmoil. Kazuo Taoka, the Third Generation Kumicho of the Yamaguchi Gumi, died of a heart attack in 1981. The heir apparent, Kenichi Yamamoto, died in 1982 of liver disease. Kazuo Taoka's widowed wife acted as Kumicho until she named Masahisa Takenaka to lead the Yamaguchi Gumi in 1984. Masahisa Takenaka's succession led to a violent division in the Yamaguchi Gumi and a violent gang war. Masahisa Takenaka was gunned down in 1985 by the Ichiwa-kai gang, a Yamaguchi Gumi splinter gang. Four weeks later, two Ichiwa-kai gangsters were killed at a bicycle track by Yamaguchi Gumi members. A year later, the Ichiwa-kai gang's leader was shot to death. The war between Yamaguchi Gumi and the splinter group killed more than 30 gang members and a few bystanders. At one three-month period, 12 people were killed and 17 people were wounded. This war would be known as the Yama-Ichi War. In 1989, Yoshinori Watanabe took the position of 5th Generation Kumicho of Yamaguchi Gumi and ended nearly ten years of violent power struggle within the largest yakuza organization. Yoshinori Watanabe's huge ceremony to commemorate accession was held at a local shrine and infused traditional and feudal aspects of the yakuza society. All the leadership of the Yamaguchi Gumi wore traditional Japanese clothing and carried fans. During the ceremony, Yochinori Watanabe and Kazuo Nakanishi, the