The was a violent confrontation which occurred in between rival gangs near the Shibuya Station in Tokyo, Japan. The years after World War II saw Japan as a defeated nation and the Japanese people had to improvise in many aspects of daily life. In the chaos of the post-war recovery large and very lucrative black markets opened throughout Japan. Various gangs fought for control over them. There were also many non-Japanese "third nationals" in post-war Japan. These "third nationals" or "third-country people" were former subjects of the Empire of Japan whose citizenship then transferred to other countries like China and Korea. The Shibuya incident involved former Japanese citizens from the Japanese province of Taiwan fighting against native Japanese Yakuza gangs. After the fight, the Chinese nationalist government stepped forward to defend the Taiwanese. Background Post-war Japan The air raids left millions displaced in urban centers, and food shortages, created by bad harvests and the demands of the war, worsened when the importation of food from Korea, Taiwan, and China ceased. Repatriation of Japanese living in other parts of Asia only aggravated the problems in Japan as these displaced people put more strain on already scarce resources. Over 5.1 million Japanese returned to Japan during the fifteen months following October 1, 1945. Alcohol and drug abuse became major problems. Deep exhaustion, declining morale, and despair was so widespread that it was termed the . Inflation was rampant and many people turned to the black market for even the most basic goods. Black markets The black markets were among the first economic entities to spring up after the defeat of Japan. People who were desperate for food and basic necessities turned to the black market with its inflated prices as the official lines of supply and stores had either been destroyed or had nothing to sell. Four days after the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945, the Ozu gang placed an ad in newspapers asking for factory owners, who up to that point only sold to the military, to come to gang headquarters and discuss distribution of their products. In Shinjuku, Tokyo, the Ozu gang then created a large market near the station and by had an enormous sign with 117 hundred-watt bulbs advertising its location; it was so bright that it could be seen from several miles away. Profits were huge, and the vendors – who were known as "peanuts"