The Shibata-gumi was a subsidiary of the Tojo-kai yakuza organization of Japan. It was founded in 1985 by Kazuo Shibata, who was allowed to start his own family after mediating a dispute between the Uenoseiwa-kai and the Sasai-kai; Shibata had secretly set up the gang war between the two gangs (with the help of Isao Katsuragi and Junji Sugiuchi. It came to have two subsidiaries, the Hatsushiba-kai and Kanemura Enterprises, but the family was torn apart by infighting in 2010, with Katsuragi turning on his overly ambitious boss Shibata, and Hiroaki Arai betraying and shooting Shibata. Shortly after, Arai was arrested, and the Shibata-gumi was dissolved because of Shibata's treachery.