OSAKA -- About 350 residents of Osaka's Tennoji Ward held a rally here Friday to demand that the Nakano-kai and Takumi-gumi gangs vacate their offices in a residential district of the ward.At the rally, residents pledged they would not allow any criminal gangs to settle in the ward while the group promotes its campaign against underworld organizations. The residents then marched through the streets from the ward hall to the two groups' office buildings and handed written statements to gang members.The Nakano-kai moved into a three-story building in the ward last month after being forced by a court ruling in November to give up its office in Kobe's Suma Ward. The Takumi-gumi is affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation's largest criminal syndicate.The Nakano-kai was formerly allied with the Yamaguchi-gumi until members of the group allegedly shot and killed the Takumi-gumi leader, the No. 2 man in the Yamaguchi-gumi, last August at a Kobe hotel. The Nakano-kai later severed links with the Yamaguchi-gumi.In November, a real estate broker linked to the Nakano-kai building here was shot and seriously injured. Since the incident, residents have become increasingly anxious that they might become involved in a gang war between the two groups.
