The Third was a yakuza group based in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan. It was a secondary organization of the Kumamoto-rengo (熊本連合). Founded by Yoshiaki Yamano in 1954 under the name , it changed its name to "Yamano-kai" in 1956. Masatoshi Minoda succeeded as its president in 1972, and Tetsuo Ikeda became the president in 1986. The group dissolved in April 2001. However, many of its members formed a new group, the Sanshin-kai, in September of that year. The Yamano-kai was designated by the Japanese police as a bōryokudan group from December 1992 to November 2001. Successive presidents 1st: Yoshiaki Yamano (山野 義明) 2nd: Masatoshi Minoda (蓑田 正敏) 3rd: Tetsuo Ikeda (池田 鉄雄) References Organizations established in 1954 1954 establishments in Japan Organizations disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in Japan Yakuza groups based in Kyushu