Prosecutors in Kyoto have requested that the trial of a gang leader, who was arrested for the murder of the president of Gyoza no Ohsho, be held without lay judges. Yukio Tanaka, a 57-year-old member of a group associated with the yakuza crime syndicate Kudo-kai, was taken into custody in October 2022 on suspicion of killing Takayuki Ohigashi. The incident occurred in December 2013 when Ohigashi, then head of Ohsho Food Service Corp, was shot dead in a parking lot outside the company’s headquarters in Kyoto.
According to NHK reports, prosecutors expressed concerns that lay judges could face intimidation and threats from gang members. Currently, pre-trial preparation procedures are being finalized.
Ohigashi, known as the “Gyoza King,” suffered four gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen from a .25-caliber automatic weapon as he exited his car at the Yamashina Ward parking lot. Surprisingly, several hundred thousand yen in cash were discovered untouched inside his vehicle.
During their investigation into the crime scene two months prior to the murder, police found traces of gunshot residue on a stolen motorcycle’s handlebar believed to have been used as an escape vehicle. Additionally, another stolen motor scooter was suspected to have been involved in this incident. Both vehicles were eventually recovered near where the crime took place during spring 2014.
Tanaka’s arrest came after DNA evidence from a cigarette butt found near the scene matched his genetic profile. Investigative sources revealed that Tanaka smoked cigarettes of this brand at that time.
Currently serving time for shooting at an Obayashi Corp company car carrying three individuals back in 2008 Fukuoka incident; Tanaka received a ten-year prison sentence handed down in November 2020.
In March 2016, an independent committee investigating connections between Ohsho Food Service and antisocial organizations disclosed inappropriate business transactions between the company and its former corporate group leader before Ohigashi assumed control in 2000.
Ohsho Food Service is listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange’s top-tier Prime Market and operates over 700 Gyoza no Ohsho Chinese dumpling restaurants across Japan since its establishment back in 1967.