The Hyogo Prefectural Assembly approved an ordinance Wednesday to ban gangster leaders from setting up offices or buying homes in neighborhoods and near schools.
Numerous mob bosses under the umbrella of the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, the nation's largest underworld syndicate, have set up in the city because they are ordered to pay daily visits to its headquarters.
According to police, gangster leaders currently own around 30 second houses in Kobe.
Under the ordinance to be enacted April 1, establishment of offices or homes in a residential area or within 200 meters of an educational facility is prohibited. Violations can draw as much as one year in prison or a fine of up to ¥500,000.
The ordinance also prohibits real estate and construction agents from signing housing contracts with gangsters.
Similar ordinances have been introduced in Ehime, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki and Kagoshima prefectures.