Two men linked to the same gang died Sunday after being stabbed in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture and another gangster was shot to death in what police suspect is a war between two crime organizations.
The two men stabbed to death belonged to the Iijima-kai group, based in Taito Ward, Tokyo.
Investigators suspect the incidents were in retaliation for the stabbing death Friday in Obihiro, Hokkaido, of a gangster linked to the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest crime syndicate, by a yakuza affiliated with the Iijima-kai.