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Hiromitsu Seizu

Hiromitsu Seizu (1908-1988) was a Japanese yakuza boss who served as patriarch of the Seizu-kai of Kobe during the 20th century.

Biography[]

Hiromitsu Seizu was born in Kobe, Japan in 1908, the son of the patriarch of the Seizu-kai yakuza clan. He succeeded his father as patriarch of the Seizu-kai by the end of World War II, and he had a new outlook on yakuza politics, seeking to become actively involved in the Japanese business world and unite the clans. Akihiro Shiromatsu, a traditionalist clan leader from the generation of Hiromitsu's father, rejected Seizu's offer of a merger between the Seizu-kai and the Shiromatsu-kai in 1954 while also rejecting the yakuza's modernization and involvement in the radio, automobile, and television industries. Hiromitsu responded by attempting to muscle in on the Shiromatsu clan's operations in Osaka, making a deal with American scrap metal businessman Anthony Panetti, and, after Shiromatsu refused to retire and merge into the Seizu-kai, Seizu secured the loyalty of Shiromatsu lieutenants led by Orochi Suzuki. Orochi volunteered to oversee an assassination attempt on Shiromatsu at a tailor's shop, but this attempt was foiled by Shiromatsu's American associate Nick Lowell, although it inadvertently led to the death of Orochi's blood brother Kiyoshi Yanagisawa. This resulted in a gang war, with the Shiromatsu-kai retaliating with a spate of revenge killing targeting the Seizu-kai leadership. Seizu would later arrange for a peace conference to be held with Akihiro Shiromatsu at the Osaka dockyards, where Orochi killed Akihiro and invited the rest of the Shiromatsu-kai to join the Seizu-kai if Lowell would leave Osaka and his ex-girlfriend Miyu Yanagisawa forever. Lowell refused, and he instead confronted and killed Orochi with a katana at Seizu's dojo. Seizu ordered that his guards let Lowell go, as he declared that the feud was over now that Orochi was dead. He eventually died of old age in 1988.

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