Katsumi Sugai (died December 2016) was a Japanese yakuza boss who served as Acting Chairman of the Tojo-kai from 2015 to 2016 (in Daigo Dojima's absence) and as patriarch of the Sugai-gumi.
Biography[]
Sugai watching Little Asia burn
Katsumi Sugai was born in Tokyo, Japan, and he became a member of the Tojo-kai yakuza clan during the tenure of its second chairman in the early 1980s. Sugai failed to make much of a mark over the course of several decades, only serving as an advisor to the chairman through to Daigo Dojima in the 2010s. However, the cunning Sugai plotted to seize control of the clan in the aftermath of the devastating 2012 Tojo-Omi war, as Kazuma Kiryu's return to prison weakened Daigo's hold over the clan. In 2015, Sugai became part of a pact with Tsuneo Iwami and the Saio Triad's leader Big Lo, staging a fake war between the Saio Triad and the Tojo to remove Daigo from his position in exchange for enabling the Saio Triad to take over Little Asia. The collaborators committed arson in Little Asia and watched the fire from a suite in Kabukicho Hills, after which they pinned the blame on Daigo Dojima and Goro Majima, who were arrested. Sugai rose to be acting chairman of the Tojo Clan, with the ambitious Takumi Someya as his designated heir. Iwami then had Sugai rule over the Tojo as his puppet, and he ordered him to murder Saio Triad leader Big Lo and his heir Jimmy Lo. However, only Jimmy was killed, leading to Lo leading the Saio in a brutal war against the Tojo.
In December 2016, Sugai learned that Kiryu had returned to Tokyo after his adoptive daughter Haruka Sawamura was critically injured in a hit-and-run on Senyro Avenue. Kiryu confronted Sugai and Someya at Tojo headquarters, where they said that the Tojo had no role in her accident; while saying that he believed them, Kiryu threatened to bury the Tojo Clan if he discovered their involvement. Not long after, as Kiryu attempted to find the infant Haruto Sawamura's father in Onomichi, he and the small Hirose-gumi began to cause problems for the larger Yomei Alliance, including interfering with Someya's plan to swear an oath of brotherhood with Yomei captain Kanji Koshimizu. This caused Iwami and Sugai to plan to murder Kiryu and his friends from the Hirose to consolidate control over both Tokyo and Hiroshima, but a sympathetic Someya warned Kiryu of Sugai's plot, hoping to usurp Sugai, become the Seventh Chairman, and eventually challenge Kiryu to prove he was worthy of leading the clan.
However, Sugai soon learned of Someya's ambitions and responded by kidnapping Someya's ex-wife Kiyomi Kasahara from Onomichi. When Sugai learned of Kiryu's intention to assault the Sugai-gumi offices in the Millennium Tower, Sugai had Someya wait there for Kiryu's arrival, while attempting to coerce Someya into killing Kiryu to spare Kiyomi's life. Sugai and Koshimizu watched the fight through a video live stream, witnessing Kiryu defeat Someya. Sugai then revealed to Kiryu that his family had been holding Kiyomi hostage, and Tsuneo demanded that Kiryu kill Someya in exchange for Kiyomi's life. Kiryu hesitated, so Someya committed seppuku with the knife.
Sugai's suicide
Sugai later attended Heizo Iwami's funeral after Tsuneo murdered his father and seized control of the Yomei. When Kiryu and Tsuyoshi Nagumo arrived to take them down, they revealed that they had taken Haruka and Haruto as hostages, and Sugai brutally attacked Kiryu with a steel pipe. However, Sugai was soon surrounded by the Hirose-gumi. After Tsuneo's defeat, Sugai attempted to shoot the hostages, but Kiryu took the bullets for them. Cornered by Kiryu's allies, Sugai used his last bullet to shoot himself.