Kazuo Taoka

Infobox Person
name= Kazuo Taoka


caption=
birth_date=March 28, 1913
birth_place= Higashimiyoshi, Tokushima, Japan
death_date=death date and age|1981|7|23|1913|3|28
death_place= Amagasaki, Japan [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9071228/Taoka-Kazuo Taoka Kazuo - Britannica Online Encyclopedia ] ]

nihongo|Kazuo Taoka|田岡 一雄|Taoka Kazuo|March 28, 1913 – July 23, 1981 was one of the most prominent yakuza Godfathers. [ [http://altman.casimirinstitute.net/yakuza.html History and Culture of the Japanese Yakuza ] ]

Known as the "Godfather of Godfathers", Taoka was third "kumicho" of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest yakuza organization, from 1946 to 1981.

Taoka, an orphan, grew up as a young street fighter in Kobe under the guidance of Noboru Yamaguchi, the Yamaguchi-gumi's boss. He earned his lifelong nickname "Kuma" ("the Bear") due to his signature attack of clawing at an opponent's eyes. He was imprisoned for murder from 1937 to 1943, and assumed the role of "kumicho" three years later at the age of 33. [ [http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/KazuoTaoka.html Gangsters Incorporated - Kazuo "The Bear" Taoka ] ]

In 1972 Taoka forged an alliance between the Yamaguchi-gumi and the Inagawa-kai at a sakazuki ceremony at his home.

He had survived a 1978 assassination attempt when he was shot in the back of the neck by a member of the Matsuda-gumi (松田組), a rival gang to the Yamaguchi-gumi, during a limbo dance exhibition at a nightclub in Kyoto. His attacker was found dead several weeks later in some woods near Kobe.

He led the Yamaguchi-gumi until his death from a heart attack in 1981. His wife, Fumiko, briefly filled the gang's leadership role until a new "kumicho", Masahisa Takenaka, was chosen in 1984. [http://web.mac.com/wofat/iWeb/Site/WoFat/68B06743-250B-4F9D-BD2B-DF2EF8DB5B33.html]

From 1983 until 1990 his daughter, Yuki, was married to Kitaro, a noted Japanese New-Age musician.

References

* [http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/3.html Crime Library - Yakuza godfathers]